The Karnataka High Court has permitted the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to levy various charges based on guidance value for properties within its jurisdiction. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Prasanna B. Varale and Justice C.M. Joshi issued an interim order staying a previous ruling by a single-judge bench, which had restrained BBMP from collecting such fees. The interim relief was granted while hearing an appeal filed by the civic body against the June 5 order.
The charges in question include land lease fees, land acquisition certificates, work completion certificates, building construction licenses, and layout approval charges. The court clarified that BBMP is entitled to collect these charges using the guidance value until a final decision is made. However, the bench added that if BBMP loses its appeal, it must refund the collected fees. The original case had emerged from petitions filed by Saptagiri Shelters and other developers, challenging BBMP’s authority to tie charges to property guidance value.
Earlier, a single-judge bench had ruled that such linkage was illegal and directed BBMP to revise fee structures based on empirical data. The ruling cited previous High Court observations from the 2021 Sundaram Shetty case, which deemed the guidance value-based fee model invalid. To counter that verdict, the state government amended the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act in 2021 and 2023. Now, with the stay in place, BBMP can continue charging fees under the amended provisions pending further court orders.