Building permits in 27 days; only online payment

Chennai: As part of the TVK govt’s measures to curb bribery and cut red-tapism, Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has directed its town planning department to issue planning permissions and building permits within a maximum of 27 days. It has also barred officials from summoning applicants, architects or engineers to offices during the scrutiny process. All necessary payments shall be made only online.GCC commissioner Dr G S Sameeran told TOI that this step is to ensure time-bound service delivery to the public, avoid delays, and maintain transparency.Under the powers delegated by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, GCC issues building approvals for residential buildings up to two floors, commercial buildings up to three floors besides industries and institutions with height of up to 18.3m and unlimited built-up area. GCC issues 550-600 planning permissions and building permits every month.As per the new order, assistant executive engineers (AEEs) are required to inspect the site within seven days of an application being admitted online and upload their inspection report to the GCC portal within the following two days. The submitted documents must then be scrutinised within five days. If officials require any additional information, the request must be communicated through the online portal, and applicants will be given seven days to respond. The entire process, including communications and grievance redress, will be handled online.The order specifically prohibits AEEs from calling applicants, building owners, registered engineers or architects to their offices during the approval process.Once all valid documents are submitted, the application must be approved within three working days. Payment of fees must be done online, following which executive engineers must digitally sign the approved plans and permits within 24 hours, enabling applicants to immediately access them online.Thus, applications with no deficiencies must be approved within 18 days, while those requiring clarifications must be processed within a maximum of 27 days.GCC has also urged officials to follow the “first in, first out” principle while processing applications, so that applications submitted earlier are cleared before newer ones.Graphics:Average monthly approvals by GCC: 550-600GCC’s new timeline:Site inspection within 7 days of application submissionInspection report uploaded within 2 days7 days for applicants to submit clarificationsApproval within 3 working days after valid documentsDigital permit issued within 24 hours of fee paymentClear applications =18 daysApplications requiring clarifications= 27 daysNo office visits for applicants, architects or engineersOnline payment of fees