NEW DELHI, August 19: The Municipal Commissioner today recommended that the levy to be charged for construction of the additional Floor Area Ratio (FAR) be reduced to Rs 450 per square meter as against the original proposal of levying Rs 1,550 per square meter.Presenting the proposal before the Standing Committee, commissioner V.K. Duggal said that the proposal was yet to be approved by the Central Government.The government through a notification issued on July 23 had accepted the recommendations of the Malhotra Committee report on building bye-laws, which had substantially increased the FAR for all plots. According to the earlier recommendation of Rs 1,550 per sq mt on additional FAR, the owner of a 32 sq mt plot in a residential area would have to pay Rs 66,960 for additional construction.However, the Malhotra Committee felt that the levy was too high and has recommended that it should be kept at Rs 450 per sq mt. This would mean that a 32 sq mt plot holder would now have to pay Rs 10,800 for utilisation of the entire additional floor area allowed under the bye laws.Duggal said that as no major infrastructural support such as sewers and water supply will be required for farmhouses, therefore a charge of 50 per cent of the proposal for the residential plots will be reasonable and a proposal on these lines has been sent to the government. The new proposal recommends that a sum of Rs 63,000 should be levied for a two-acre farmhouse.Standing Committee chairman Shanti Desai added that this was not final and they were considering the possibility of completely exempting small plot holders. He added that they might even recommend that instead of a flat charge, they might make different slabs for different plot sizes. However, he said that it would not exceed Rs 450 per square metre.The changes were effected as members of the Malhotra Committee felt that the levy was too high and may prove to be an impediment in implementing the infrastructural augmentation scheme as the residents may not come forward to pay the required sum.The proposal states that in case of existing buildings, which were constructed with a proper sanctioned plan, people will be able to get sanction for the building plans for extra coverage and FAR as per the relaxed norms after they pay the levy finally approved by the government.In case of buildings already constructed with excess coverage and FAR without a proper sanction, such house owners will be asked to apply for regularisation within a fixed period of time. They will be asked to deposit the additional FAR levy along with a compounding fee of Rs 25 per square meter upt o 500 sq mt size plots and Rs 100 above 500 sq mt plots, failing which action will be taken against unauthorised construction as per the law.It has also been proposed that small groups with officers from DVB, DJB and MCD, should be constituted at zonal level, with Delhi government as the Nodal agency,to identify the services which need to be augmented. It has also been suggested that a separate account be created for depositing the betterment levy that is expected to be recovered from the house owners. The funds will be used in a planned manner with first priority to areas where 90 per cent of the construction work has already been completed, following those where construction is still in progress.
