HYDERABAD: Despite collecting ₹1,720 crore in revenue, the Telangana government’s Layout Regularisation Scheme (LRS) continues to face major processing delays, discouraging applicants from paying even with a 25% fee concession.
The sluggish response is attributed to a lack of progress in verifying fee-paid applications, technical glitches in HMDA, GHMC, and DTCP portals, and poor communication from authorities. Officials themselves admit that these factors are key reasons behind the scheme’s slowdown.
Out of 25.67 lakh LRS applications submitted across the state, around 5.67 lakh were rejected due to issues like being on prohibited lands or near water bodies. Fee intimation letters were issued for 20 lakh applications, but only 5.14 lakh applicants have paid their fees.
In April alone, just 1.49 lakh applicants paid the fee, a steep drop compared to 3.50 lakh in March. In February, only 14,104 payments were made, indicating a steady decline.
Under the CDMA jurisdiction, which includes 156 municipal corporations and municipalities, 15.37 lakh applications were received. Of these, fee intimations were sent for 11.48 lakh, and payments were made for 3.24 lakh. Only 87,153 applicants have received proceedings so far. The revenue collected here stands at ₹1,169 crore.
In HMDA limits, 3.44 lakh applications were filed, but only 64,000 paid their fees, yielding ₹189 crore. Delays in issuing proceedings due to software problems have significantly slowed down progress.
Authorities estimate that with the 25% fee concession deadline ending Wednesday, about one lakh more applicants might pay, potentially generating an additional ₹500 crore.
It remains to be seen whether the government will extend the concession deadline to encourage more participation.