From next week, pay online to CHB

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 24

In a major relief to over 60,000 flat owners in the city, the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) has decided to start online facility for receiving fee, rent, lease money and ground rent.

The facility, which will be launched next week, will enable residents to make payment to the CHB from the comforts of their homes.

In the past more than 40 years, the board has constructed thousands of flats and hundreds of commercial properties.

Till March this year, the CHB constructed a total of 67,565 houses of various categories. According to an estimate, about 25 per cent of the city population lives in CHB houses.

The board is also the implementing agency for the Cooperative House  Building  Societies  Scheme, 1991. Under the Chandigarh Small Flat Scheme-2006, the board has constructed over 25,000 flats  at Maloya, Dhanas  and  Bapudham Colony. At present, the allottees have to deposit the monthly rent by visiting the CHB office.

Lease money is a fixed amount that commercial property owners pay to the CHB every year. Besides, people visit the CHB office to pay fee for works like transfer of property. Penalties are also deposited at CHB counters.

A CHB official said the board has tied up with a bank to start the online facility next week. Recently, the board had issued notices to hundreds of allotttes to pay rent arrears running into crores.

CHB secretary Ruchi Singh said the proposed online system would help   residents deposit payments without any hassle.