Hyderabad: Many people in Telangana who applied for the Layout Regularisation Scheme (LRS) are confused and upset after receiving payment notices that ask them to pay more than the actual value of their property. With just one day left before the deadline, many applicants are struggling to make payments due to issues like slow or busy online servers.
In some cases, the fee demanded is shockingly high. For example, a person in Bhoothpur village, Mahabubnagar district, was told to pay Rs 4.29 crore for a property worth only Rs 40–50 lakh, even after a rebate of Rs 1.43 crore. Some people who already paid the fees earlier are also being asked to pay again. With very little time left, applicants are unsure about what to do, especially since the government has not shown any intention of extending the deadline.
The LRS scheme was introduced by the previous state government to legalize unapproved layouts. A total of 1.06 lakh applications were received in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area and over six lakh in other urban local bodies around the city. However, the process was delayed for five years due to court cases.
To avoid further delays, the government decided to collect LRS fees at the time of granting building permissions. The regularisation charges were based on property values as of 2020. Those who did not apply earlier or whose properties are in unapproved layouts are now being charged based on current property values, which are higher.
Officials say that around 40 percent of GHMC applicants have already paid the LRS fee and received building permission, but even they are receiving fresh notices to pay again. This has caused more confusion among the public.
The State government started the LRS to bring all illegal and unplanned layouts under planned development. This would help provide basic facilities and improve living conditions for plot owners. The rules were issued through Government Orders (GO) in 2020, and detailed guidelines were later released in July 2024 for processing LRS applications.
According to official data, a total of 25,67,107 applications were submitted. Fee notices were sent to 20,00,493 applicants, but only 3,25,538 people had paid the fees by March 28. As of March 29, the government had collected Rs 103.46 crore.
Officials are urging all applicants to take advantage of the 25% rebate on LRS fees and make their payments before March 31. They have also stated that government offices will remain open on that day to help citizens with the process, even though it is a holiday.
