THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Local bodies are not leaving out the ones who applied early for their building permits either. Applicants are advised to pay the new fee for old applications as well. The building designers and architects complained to the government stating that this was a violation of building codes.

Although the increased building permit fee has come into effect from the 10th of this month, the situation is that the building applications submitted last month and earlier are also charged with an increased fee of 19 percent. The authorities are trying to pick the pockets of the poor by putting the failure of the officials who do not process the applications on time.

Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, which receives multiple permit applications daily, is robbing people by charging increased permit fees on previous applications. In the application given on March 2, instead of charging only Rs 3600 as a permit fee, the revised rate of Rs 36,343 was charged. Meanwhile, an application fee of Rs.50 has been charged at the old rate. Along with the permit fee, the application fee was also increased ranging from Rs 300 to 5000.

The corporation is asking the person who submitted his application in January to pay Rs 42,000 instead of Rs 4,600.

24,000 applications

As many as 24,000 building permit applications are pending in the state from January to March in corporations and municipalities, and the move is aimed at squeezing money off these applicants for revenue. Thiruvananthapuram Corporation alone has 1200 applications.