Hyderabad: The Layout Regularisation Scheme (LRS) is progressing sluggishly across the state, despite the state government offering a 25 per cent rebate on LRS fees from March 1. While many plot owners are eager to avail of the rebate and regularise their plots, procedural complexities and online technical glitches have deterred them.
With the March 31 deadline fast approaching, lakhs of plot owners are still awaiting fee payment links on their mobile phones, delaying the regularisation process. The government anticipated generating Rs 20,000 crore through LRS fees but has so far collected less than Rs 1,000 crore since LRS payments began on March 1, official sources in the stamps and registrations department said.
The state government has set up help desks in all municipalities, municipal corporations, and district collectorate offices to facilitate people in clearing their doubts about LRS, fee payment, and related concerns. These help desks are receiving large-scale complaints from the public.
People were asked to log on to the ‘Citizen Login’ portal (https://lrs.telangana.gov.in/layouts/Citizenlogin.aspx) by entering their registered mobile numbers to check the status of their LRS applications, which were submitted online by paying Rs 1,000 each between August-October 2020. However, many complain that the portal displays the application status as “Pending at L1” (initial stage). When they click on the ‘view status’ button, the system asks them to upload a sale deed, link document, layout copy, plot site plan, and other documents. Many applicants say that except for the sale deed, they have nothing to upload, which prevents them from proceeding with the application.
Due to the absence of these documents, the portal does not generate the LRS fee notice and rebate notice, leaving applicants unable to complete the regularisation process. Many plot owners argue that they purchased plots over a decade ago and cannot obtain these documents at this stage. They contend that the government has digital land records of survey numbers available with the revenue and stamps and registrations departments, and it should retrieve those details instead of asking applicants to provide them. These issues have deterred people from availing of the LRS fee rebate and regularising their plots.
Moreover, officials from the revenue, irrigation, municipal, town planning, and panchayat raj departments are conducting joint inspections and rejecting a significant number of LRS applications, saying disputed lands that cannot be regularised. Data from the stamps and registration department indicates that officials have so far rejected nearly two lakh applications across municipal corporations and municipalities. This includes 51,000 applications in municipal corporations and 1.49 lakh applications in municipalities.
The previous BRS government had launched the LRS scheme in 2020 to regularise unapproved layouts and open plots across the state. Applications were accepted from August 31 to October 31, 2020, and the scheme received an overwhelming response, with 25.7 lakh applications submitted from all districts. Of these, 10.76 lakh applications came from gram panchayats, 10.54 lakh from municipalities, and 4.13 lakh from municipal corporations.
The state government earned nearly Rs 250 crore through application fees alone, with each applicant paying Rs1,000 for small plots and Rs 10,000 for layouts. However, after collecting the application fees, the government halted the process citing legal issues, leaving applicants in limbo for the past four and a half years.
The government received 1.06 lakh applications in GHMC limits, 1.01 lakh applications in Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) limits, and 50,000 applications in Khammam Municipal Corporation limits.
