Haryana takes U-turn, withdraws hike in development charges

Pradeep Sharma

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Chandigarh, February 23

After an uproar by the Opposition, the BJP-JJP government today withdrew the “hefty” development charges for granting permission for residential and commercial use in the municipal limits.

A day after Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Hooda flagged the issue of unreasonable hike in the development charges, the Urban Local Bodies Director withdrew the February 18 order that had sparked off protests.

People’s victory

The BJP-JJP govt’s decision is the victory of people as it was wary of earning the Oppn’s ire during the forthcoming Budget session of the Vidhan Sabha. — BB Batra, Cong

“This decision is people’s victory as the government was wary of earning the Opposition’s ire during the forthcoming Budget session of the Vidhan Sabha,” said Congress Rohtak MLA BB Batra, who had given a notice for adjournment motion on the issue in the Budget session.

With the Opposition stepping up the attack and the municipal elections slated to be held in April 2022, the BJP-JJP government was in a fix on the issue as the linking of the development charges to the collector rate had put financial burden on the property owners.

In the February 18 order, the state government had pegged the development charges at 5% of the collector rate for both the residential and commercial property. Since the collector rate in several cities, including Gurugram, Faridabad and Panchkula, has gone up substantially in recent years, the public alleged that getting the residential and commercial constructions regularised after the payment of the development charges was getting out of the reach of the common man.

Currently, there is a provision to charge development fee at 5% of the collector rate or the fixed rate, whichever is higher. Official sources said according to the February 18 order, the municipalities were asked to notify 5% of the collector rate as development charges to bring uniformity in the fee. However, it has been decided not to implement it after due consideration, officials added.

Since November last year, the government has taken a U-turn on four issues. These include putting on hold Class VIII board exams till next year, virtually reversing the decision on university autonomy regarding recruitments and ban on the firecrackers during the festive season.