Number of flat purchasers in the suburbs who had booked apartments, which were granted .33 additional FSI, are in soup since the Bombay high court has ruled that these constructions are illegal. The state government and the BMC are also in trouble since together, they have collected about Rs1,000-crore from the builders towards the .33 FSI and this money now has to be returned.

A senior engineer of the building proposals department of the BMC said, “Many builders had constructed buildings assuming that the court would endorse the urban development department’s decision to grant .33 additional FSI in the suburbs. They were planning to get the area built by them beyond the commencement certificate (CC) regularised against the .33 FSI at a later stage. But the HC order has put paid to their plans.’’

The CC specifies the area that can be built-up. Several lakh sq ft of built-up area has been built by builders in the hope of the .33 FSI being upheld by the HC.

President of the Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry Sunil Mantri said the builders concerned now have no option but to buy TDR from the market and regularise what has now become illegal portions of their buildings. Efforts are now being made to persuade the state government to bring about a legislation during the monsoon session of the legislature to amend the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act to provide for the sale of FSI by the state government by charging a premium.

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