Now, pay for computing FSI

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is back to generating revenue by seeking premium from builders for the computation of floor space index (FSI) after exempting areas like staircases, lobby and lobby elevators, thereby contributing a major add to its kitty.

With a State ordinance passed on September 24, it is now mandatory for builders to pay the premium in order to get the computation of the FSI done at the hands of the civic administration. " The revenue generated by seeking premium from builders in total is a huge amount. This amount can now be diverted for using it various developmental projects in the city," said Chief Engineer Devendra Desai in Development and Planning department (DP) department.

The FSI of a plot decides how high a building on that plot can possibly be. According to the Development Control regulation (DC) no. 35 (2)(c), while calculating FSI, some areas of the building like staircases, elevators can be exempted. If the builders wants to include this area in the FSI used, they would have lesser space for flats resulting in changes in the original plan as buildings will not be as high as proposed initially.

The Bombay High Court in the month of August, this year had held that the civic administration does not have the authority to levy premium or any such amount in the absence of any such provision in the Mumbai Regional Town Planning Act (MRTP) Act or DC Regulations. The court had also instructed the civic administration to refund the premiums that were collected from builders within a period of two months or to pay interest at 8 per cent per annum on payments made after the deadline. However, with the state government having the law in place, BMC geared up again for generating revenue.

" We are now collecting the premiums that were not collected in August, due to matter being in court," said a senior official from the DP department who do not wish to be named.