A year after the landmark concept of ease of doing business was
introduced at the World Bank’s instance, the Devendra Fadnavis-led
government has drastically shortened the period for property and sales
tax registration, electricity connection and construction permits to
start a business.
A battery of top bureaucrats led by the chief secretary made a
PowerPoint presentation before the World Bank team in the presence of
the chief minister on steps the state has taken to end procedural
wrangles and red tape in key sectors.
"Last year, our performance was not up to the mark. As a result, our
ranking was very low. Now, we have brought in changes and cut
registration time drastically. In addition, we have submitted physical
data before the World Bank team for verification. Now, we are better
placed in terms of performance," a senior bureaucrat told TOI.
The bureaucrat said the state submitted data on 21 power connections
in Mumbai with 100 kva to 150 kva load. The average time taken for
providing the connections was nine days and only two documents were
required—identify and occupancy proofs. All applications were to be
submitted online.
For registration under the Shops & Establishments Act, the
bureaucrat said the procedures have been reduced to one from two and the
total time reduced to half a day from four to eight days earlier. The
entire process is online, including payment. All physical touch points
have been eliminated, including inspection before issue of certificates.
"We received 65,535 applications, of which 60,584 have been approved
and 4,951 are rejected. All completed applications were approved within a
single working day," he said.
Procedures for construction permits have been reduced to eight from
42 and total time taken for all approvals during the construction cycle
to less than 60 days from 164. "We have introduced a single-window
clearance system, including for building plan and plinth approval,
completion and occupancy certificates, and a common application form.
There is no need to apply or follow up with various departments for NOCs
or approvals."
Elaborating on the impact of reforms, the bureaucrat said between
June 1, 2016, and May 31, 2017, the BMC received 3,157 plans, of which
1,923 were approved, 834 rejected, 251 amended and 148 are under
process. "The average time taken for approval during the past one year
was 17.6 days. In the past six months, 48 building plans were approved
within seven days," he said.
On registration of properties in Mumbai, the bureaucrat said the
number of procedures has been reduced to six from seven. Total time
taken for all procedures to register a property has been reduced to 22.5
days from 45.5. Records of rights and title deeds are available online.
Cost associated with registering property has been reduced to Rs 30,405
from Rs 51,800. Besides, dispute resolution must be completed within
four months.
The period for registration of value-added tax has been reduced to
one day from 10 and the cost to Rs 500 from Rs 525. Professional tax
registration must be done the same day from two days earlier, since the
procedure has been merged with VAT. "Reforms undertaken by the Fadnavis
government will go a long way in improving the state’s ranking," said
the bureaucrat.
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