Residents availing housing-related services from the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) and the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) will benefit from a streamlined online application process, with the state government prescribing specific timelines for various services, including property transfers, sale permissions and determination of slum dweller eligibility.
The Maharashtra Housing Department has undertaken a restructuring of services offered by both authorities to simplify procedures, reduce paperwork and ensure time-bound delivery. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Government Process Re-engineering Committee, chaired by the Chief Secretary on October 9, following which a government resolution was issued.
As part of the exercise, MHADA has consolidated its 25 existing services into 13 categories. These cover ownership transfers, regularisation of property transfers, permission to sell residential flats and commercial premises, plot transfers, issuance of no-dues certificates, certified copies of documents and no-objection certificates (NOCs) for mortgages and rental permissions. Applications for these services will be accepted online, with the corresponding certificates also issued digitally.
The government has prescribed specific timelines for processing MHADA applications. Permission to sell flats and commercial premises will be granted within two days, while ownership transfers in the name of legal heirs will take 21 days. No-dues certificates and certified copies of documents will be issued within 15 and seven days, respectively. NOCs for mortgaging properties and renting out flats will be processed within seven days. Renewal of redevelopment-related NOCs will take 20 days, while NOCs for the transfer of flats allotted under Rule 16 will be issued within 10 days.
The process for obtaining an NOC to register cooperative housing societies in MHADA layouts has also been simplified. Applicants can submit their applications online by paying a fee of Rs 59. The process will not require a physical site inspection and will involve scrutiny at two administrative levels. The authority will have to process applications within 10 days. Applicants will be required to submit the minutes of the first general body meeting and a list of provisional members. Four of the nine information fields in the application will be automatically populated through the Application Programming Interface (API).
The SRA has also streamlined three major citizen services covering Mumbai, Thane and Pune. These include registration of legal heirs following the death of an eligible slum dweller, permission to sell rehabilitation tenements as per applicable rules, and determination of eligibility of slum dwellers.
Under the revised timelines, applications for registration of legal heirs and permission to sell rehabilitation tenements will be processed within 30 days. The determination of slum dweller eligibility will be completed within 90 days. While applications for these services can be submitted online, physical verification at the site will continue wherever required.
The restructuring is aimed at reducing delays and making housing-related administrative services more accessible to beneficiaries. The prescribed timelines will also provide applicants with a defined period within which to expect decisions on their applications.
Source: Loksatta
