An attempt to introduce a relief to ‘B’ khata property owners by levying a heft penalty has been stuck in litigation for several years.
Credit: DH Photo
Even before the implementation of Akrama Sakrama scheme, which is entangled in endless litigation, the BBMP has been throwing a red carpet for property owners — who do not have statutory approvals — to obtain ‘A’ khata certificates without any fear of law. As the revenue officers openly use multiple loopholes in the BBMP’s internal system to process illegal applications, the civic body may have lost a total revenue of Rs 5,000 crore, which is a conservative estimate.
On Friday, the Lokayukta arrested a revenue inspector of Mahadevapura for demanding a bribe of Rs 5 lakh for issuing ‘A’ khata certificate to an apartment located in Kodigehalli. This is just a one-off case.
According to the law, ‘A’ khata (registry) can only be issued for a layout or a site that has obtained all statutory approvals, be it DC conversion or the sanctioned plan. These approvals are legally issued by different state agencies after collecting a certain amount of betterment charges or other types of fees. On the other hand, the BBMP started issuing what it calls ‘B’ khata certificates for buildings and revenue sites that have not obtained mandatory approvals, mainly for the purpose of collecting property tax.
Neither the Karnataka Municipal Corporations (KMC) Act, 1976 nor the BBMP Act 2020 empower the civic body to issue an ‘A’ khata certificate to properties that do not have statutory approvals including occupancy certificate. An attempt to introduce a relief to ‘B’ khata property owners by levying a heft penalty has been stuck in litigation for several years. One of them is the controversial Akrama Sakrama scheme.
‘Revenue for officers’
The prolonged litigation and multiple loopholes in the BBMP’s internal software used for processing khata-related applications have become an illegal revenue source for the officers. So much so that some junior revenue officers and inspectors dispatch costly gifts and even build houses for the higher-ups just for staying put in prime areas that have too many ‘B’ khata properties.
One way of illegally issuing ‘A’ khata certificates is the use of code in the software that is meant for houses built under the government-funded Ashraya scheme or layouts that are approved by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA). Sources in the BBMP said these codes are misused to issue ‘A’ khata to properties that do not have any statutory approvals. The second common misuse in the outlying areas is backdating the property transactions to the time when the area was under panchayat limits.
An internal investigation, which is currently underway, had found that the corrupt revenue officers issued ‘A’ khata certificates to over 45,133 properties that were eligible for the ‘B’ khata. What’s more, these officers collected a betterment fee of Rs 580 crore from these property owners based on the tariff structure that is meant for properties with genuine property records.
At present, the BBMP charges Rs 200 per square metre (core zone) and Rs 250 per square metre (outer areas) for issuing ‘A’ khata certificate for buildings that have obtained all statutory approvals. Neither the government nor the BBMP has fixed a tariff for properties without statutory approvals as the matter is pending in different courts. If introduced, the charges are likely to be two or three times higher than what regular properties pay.
N R Ramesh, a former councillor, who was the first to blow the lid off of the scam, estimates the revenue officers, from the clerk to the senior ups, have pocketed over Rs 17,000 crore in the last ten years. “What the committee has unearthed is just one-fourth of the total irregularities. I suspect the BBMP has issued ‘A’ khata certificates to over 2.5 lakh properties illegally. Some of them have got ‘A’ khata for properties that are spread over five to ten acres each,” he said.
A few councillors believed the BBMP would have earned over Rs 20,000 crore had the government regularized the process of obtaining ‘A’ khata for properties that do not have statutory approvals. “Many states including Andhra Pradesh have introduced such schemes. The prolonged litigation has not helped property owners,” he said.
Illegal khatas issued
Zone Number
Bommanahalli - 6413
Dasarahalli - 3,927
East - 6,136
Mahadevapura - 12,334
RR Nagar - 3,422
South - 2,157
West - 4,623
Yelahanka 6,121
Total 45,133