The story so far
The Karnataka government in the Belagavi session brought an amendment to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Act, 2020, with retrospective effect to regularise the collection of ground rent from the property owners. With this, the BBMP aims to avoid repayment of about ₹1,712 crore to the property owners and builders in the city which it collected from them.
After a section of builders approached the Karnataka High Court over collection of ground rent by the BBMP, the collection of such fees was termed “illegal.” The court found merit in the argument of the builders that the BBMP was collecting the fee despite there being no such provisions in the BBMP act. The court directed the BBMP to repay the money to the builders. To avoid payment, the government passed BBMP and Certain Other Law (amendment) bills in the recently concluded winter sessions in Belagavi.
