CHENNAI: To combat bribery and reduce bureaucratic delays, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has mandated that the town planning department issue planning permissions and building permits within a maximum of 27 days. Officials are prohibited from summoning applicants, architects, or engineers during the application review.
According to GCC commissioner Dr. G S Sameeran, this initiative aims to ensure timely service delivery, minimize delays, and enhance transparency for the public.
The GCC has the authority, delegated by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, to approve building permits for residential buildings up to two stories and commercial buildings up to three stories, as well as for industries and institutions with a height limit of 18.3 meters and unlimited built-up area. The GCC handles approximately 550-600 planning permissions each month.
Under the new guidelines, assistant executive engineers (AEEs) are required to conduct site inspections within seven days of an application being submitted online and upload their reports within two days. Submitted documents must be reviewed within five days. Should officials need additional information, they must request it via the online portal, allowing applicants seven days to respond. All communications regarding grievances will be managed online.
The directive explicitly prevents AEEs from calling applicants, building owners, registered engineers, or architects to their offices during the review process.
Once all required documents are submitted, applications must be approved within three working days. Fee payments are to be made online, after which executive engineers must digitally sign the approved plans and permits within 24 hours, making them immediately available to applicants online.
Thus, applications without deficiencies should be approved within 18 days, while those needing clarifications must be processed within a maximum of 27 days.
The GCC has also encouraged officials to adopt a “first in, first out” policy for processing applications, ensuring that earlier submissions are prioritized over newer ones.
