Know The Impact Of Akrama Sakrama On Your Property In Bangalore

It is a known fact that 80% of the buildings in Bangalore are illegal, and the Karnataka government has taken steps to rectify this by enforcing a scheme called Akrama-Sakrama. The scheme was introduced after making amendments to several Acts, including the Karnataka Town and Country Act, and bringing a legislation called Karnataka Town and Country Planning (Regularisation of Unauthorised Developments) Rules 2013. The Akrama-Sakrama scheme will allow regularization of properties that have violated buildings norms on payment of stipulated penalties, instead of demolishing them, because demolishing 80% of the buildings can be an overwhelming process that would also lead to severe financial loss as well as discontentment among the citizens.

Know the rules

Going by Akrama-Sakrama in Bangalore, the rules for paying a penalty are as follows:

1. If the violation is less than or equal to 25%, the fee for regularization will be 6% of the total violated area in accordance with market value of land.

2. If it is between 25% and 50%, the fee is 8% of the total violated area's market value.

3. Anything beyond 50% and the building would be liable for demolition.

4. The owners have one year from March 23, 2015, to March 23, 2016, to fill up the Akrama-Sakrama application form.

5. Akrama-Sakrama is valid for the properties constructed before October 2013 and not for under construction properties in Bangalore.

Akrama-Sakrama Bangalore will have a direct impact on the real estate of the city and the prices will vary as the scheme comes into effect. Here are some of the short-term and long-term effects of the scheme:

Short-term effects

As more and more properties are regularized, they will shed their illegal tag and hence garner more interest from the buyers. People do not prefer illegal properties because they fall in the B-Khata category, which means they won't get trading licenses and other documents from the government. As they are regularized, these B-Khata buildings will become A-Khata and, therefore, become hot property in the market. According to the estimates, around 2.5 lakh properties is expected to apply for regularization under Akrama-Sakrama Bangalore. This will make a huge number of properties available on the market, hence decreasing the overall property prices of upcoming flats for sale in Bangalore. For urban local bodies like BBMP, Akrama-Sakrama will regularize unauthorized layouts. As a homebuyer, you need to be careful as the owner might trick you into paying the penalty of Akrama-Sakrama, earning himself a handsome profit at your expense.

Long-term effects

Akrama-Sakrama will also impact the rates of luxury projects in Bangalore in the long run. Many illegal properties will be up for sale regardless of the fact that they might have safety issues or mired in other scandals. When Akrama-Sakrama is in its full flow, there will be a bad name for properties in Bangalore as investors would be unsure if the buildings are actually legal and safe to reside, or if they are a product of regularization by paying hefty fine to the government. This bad reputation will lead to a fall in the prices of properties, thereby turning Akrama-Sakrama into a rather myopic scheme.