Telangana government slashes Layout Regularisation Scheme charges

HYDERABAD: The Telangana government on Thursday gave relief to the people by slashing Layout Regularisation Scheme (LRS) charges. A government order (GO) in this regard was issued by chief secretary Somesh Kumar.
According to the GO, the market value of the plot and regularisation charges were divided into seven slabs instead of four slabs. For regularising plots that have market value up to Rs 3,000 per sq yard, the owners have to pay 20% of basic regularisation charges.Similarly, seven slabs up to 50,000 sq yards with 100 per cent charges were provided in the slabs like LRS scheme in 2015.
In the previous GO, there were four slabs - 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% - for up to Rs 3,000 market value, Rs 3,001 to Rs 5,000, Rs 5001 to 10,000 and Rs 10,001 and above respectively.
The other major modification was if 10% open space is not available in the un-approved layout, pro-rata open space charges @ 14% of the plot value prevailing as on the date of registration of such plot would be collected instead of rate prevailing as on August 26, 2020 which was proposed earlier. Officials said the LRS charges spiked due to these pro-rata open spaces charges.
The government also clarified that in the amended GO that the LRS regularization charges include NALA charges also (i.e, conversion charges for agricultural to non- agricultural use) and no separate NALA charges would be required to be paid by the LRS applicants. In the earlier GO, the government can collect conversion charges which were removed in the amended order.
The state government had announced the LRS scheme (GO No 131) on September 1, 2020 to regularise open plots that have come up in unauthorized layouts and registered before August 26, 2020 on payment of regularisation charges.
Many parties, associations and even developers cried over the exorbitant charges compared to the similar LRS scheme announced in 2015 as for regularising a 200 sq yard plot in the rural areas cost about Rs 50,000. This is a burden on the people, who are now financially suffering due to Covid-19.
Municipal minister KT Rama Rao on September 16, 2020 on the floor of the assembly assured to revise the charges.