Builders exploit FSI Rules and Buyers become the Lawbreaker
A 1,500-sq-ft flat can grow to 2,500 to 4,000 sq ft and cost Rs 10 crore to Rs 16 crore. The main intention is to amalgamate extra spaces with the original carpet area to create one large flat. Law-abiding citizens who buy such flats become criminals and, therefore, corrupt civic officials can keep returning to their door to extort from them.
In several places, developers get area sanctioned for building smaller flats but they build larger flats exploiting Floor Space Index (FSI) rules. In such scenarion the buyer becomes the lawbreaker making him to be extorted by the civic authorities.
The builders pay the civic body a pittance in development charges and scrutiny fees for the BMC-approved carpet area, and then 25% of the Ready Reckoner rate as premium for the extra FSI. They, however, charge flat buyers market rates for both the carpet and additional FSI areas. The BMC building proposals department has reportedly approved plans for such buildings in areas stretching from Malabar Hill to Gamdevi, Girgaum, the Parel mill areas, Elphinstone Road, Dadar, Bandra, Khar, Santa Cruz and the Juhu Vile Parle Development Scheme.
Section 64-B of the Development Control (DC) Regulations gives the commissioner sweeping powers to waive DC rules if a builder expresses difficulty in constructing a building within its framework. The discretionary powers resulted in similar projects varying substantially from each other and open spaces being completely deleted. “It is nothing but lawlessness,” said P K Das, architect and civic activist
Architect Nitin Killawala said the extra FSI is like unaccounted, or black, money. “It is there in the system but unaccounted for. It is better the buyer is given exactly what he is paying for,” he said.
The price of a flat in the upmarket areas ranges from Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000 per sq ft. “The builder makes a killing, while the BMC loses revenue. To accommodate the additional FSI, the BMC also allows the deletion of open spaces, recreation areas and the distance between two buildings,” said Das.
Sanjay Sanghavi, a Dadar-based real estate agent, said doing away with the BMC chief’s discretionary powers would reduce the quantum of black money.
Times of India
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