Telangana penalises 33 officials for delaying applications

HYDERABAD: The Telangana government has penalised 33 officials, including six Municipal Commissioners, for the delay in processing applications for building permissions.

It levied penalty on six officials of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) under TS-bPASS Act 2020, which is aimed at getting hassle-free building permissions online and to facilitate building approval process to citizens in an objective and time-bound manner.

The government said it has come to its notice that there is an extreme delay by some of the officers in processing applications in the Municipalities/Municipal Corporations/ HMDA.

It on Friday instructed the District Collectors concerned to impose penalty on 33 officials. Six Municipal Commissioners and 27 scrutiny officers will be penalised for delaying the process of TS-bPASSA applications within time frame.

The government stated that it is reviewing the performance of different officials regularly and imposing penalties on erring officials. So far, penalties have been levied six times since commencement of TS-bPASS in 2020 and a total of 56 officials penalised.

The government also advised the District Collectors to review the approval process under TS-bPASS more frequently so that there are no delays in future.