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The Karnataka government has removed the requirement for an occupancy certificate (OC) for individual homes of up to 1,200 sq ft built on 30-40 plots in Greater Bengaluru, when they are ground-plus-two or stilt-plus-three stories. The change responds to concerns that even small residential structures were being held up by mandatory OC rules. High-rise, commercial, and mixed-use projects still need OCs. It aims to simplify procedures for many homeowners without affecting larger or riskier buildings.
The state government has decided that individual residential buildings on plots up to 1,200 sq ft in the Greater Bengaluru Authority area will no longer need an occupancy certificate (OC), provided they are ground-plus-two floors or stilt-plus-three floors. Advertisement
This move comes after concerns over delays caused by the existing requirement. In past months, many homeowners could not get utility connections because they lacked an OC. There was also a large backlog in applications, such as those with the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom).
The exemption is based on powers under Section 241(7) of the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, which was enacted earlier this year. This section allows the government to specify which kinds of buildings are exempt from needing an OC.
Authorities say that public service bodies had found the OC process for small houses to be time-consuming and resource intensive. With this change, plan approvals for small homes will still be needed, and building rules such as safety norms, building plans, setbacks, structure, zoning etc. will continue to apply.
While homes meeting these criteria are exempted, larger buildings, mixed-use projects or those that do not comply with the defined plot size or floor limits will still need an OC.
Officials expect that this change will benefit thousands of small homeowners in Bengaluru, reduce bureaucratic hurdles, speed up house completion and legal occupancy, and ease the process for getting utility services.
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