The Chandigarh Small Flats Scheme, 2006

What is the Chandigarh Small Flats Scheme, 2006?

The Chandigarh Small Flats Scheme, 2006 is the Chandigarh Administration's slum rehabilitation scheme. Under it, residents of unauthorised colonies built on public land in the Union Territory are shifted into one-room residential flats in multi-storey buildings, allotted on a monthly licence fee basis.

The scheme was notified by the Administrator, Union Territory of Chandigarh, under No. 11/6/106-UTFI(2)-2006/6813, published in the Chandigarh Administration Gazette dated 6 November 2006 at page 1857. The Chandigarh Housing Board is the Nodal Agency, and the Estate Officer appointed under the Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulations) Act, 1952 is the Competent Authority.

The notification opens by explaining the reasoning plainly. Unauthorised habitations had encroached on public land over many years, those habitations were unhygienic and unsafe, and earlier attempts at addressing the problem had had mixed results. The scheme was framed to provide living space that is hygienic, has basic amenities and is safe, and; crucially; to prevent the arbitraging of entitlements for immediate short-term gains. That last phrase explains almost every strict rule that follows.

The defining fact of this scheme

The Chandigarh Administration conducted a biometric survey in March 2006 and identified 18 colonies where unplanned habitations had encroached on public land. Under Rule 2 of the scheme, only those included in that biometric survey are eligible for licence-fee-based accommodation. The scheme has no rolling intake. It is a closed list built in one month, twenty years ago.

Who is eligible for a small flat in Chandigarh?

A person is eligible only if they satisfy every one of these conditions.

You can be allotted a flat if:

• Your name appears in the biometric survey of March 2006 conducted by the Chandigarh Administration.
• Your name appears in the voter list as on 1 January 2006. A 2009 amendment (Notification No. 11/6/106/UTFI(2)/2009/7519 dated 9 November 2009) also accepts a resident of a notified colony whose name is absent from the 1 January 2006 voter list but present in the voter list as on 1 January 2004, 1 January 2005, 1 January 2007 or 1 January 2008.
• Your name also appears in the latest voter list of the year in which the allotment is made, as Rule 6(a)(i) requires.
• You are continuously residing in the notified colony as a Recognised Resident.
• You are actually, physically residing in the notified colony. Rule 7(a) is explicit that mere ownership, unless accompanied by actual physical habitation of a building, structure or covered site, is not enough.

You are not eligible, and cannot apply, if:

• You are not in the March 2006 biometric survey. This is the hard boundary of the scheme, and no later arrival qualifies, a person who settled in a colony after that survey cannot apply at all.
• You own, or have ever been allotted, a residential site on freehold or leasehold basis in the Union Territory of Chandigarh, Panchkula or Mohali by the respective Government, Administration or its agency: in your own name or in the name of any dependent family member. Rule 7(b) is absolute on this.
• You are claiming a second flat. A family unit is entitled to one flat only, and a person who held more than one habitation in the notified colonies, in their own name or a dependant's, is still entitled to only one.
• You are only an absentee owner of a structure in a notified colony without living in it.

Two special categories that are eligible

• Heirs of a deceased recognised resident. Where a Recognised Resident has died, one member of his family, as defined in the scheme, who fulfils the conditions of the Recognised Resident is eligible to become a licensee.
• 1979 scheme applicants whose files were misplaced. Persons who had applied for allotment of plinth sites under the Licensing of Tenements and Sites and Services in Chandigarh Scheme, 1979, were found eligible, but whose allotments could not be made because their files were misplaced in the Estate Office, are also eligible. They must apply within 30 days of publication of the notice.

How "family" is defined

The scheme defines a family as a person, his or her spouse, children and parents residing with them. A married and earning son above the age of 18 is treated as a separate family unit, but only if he was living in a separate habitation as identified during the biometric survey. This definition is what decides whether a household gets one flat or two, and it is a frequent source of dispute.

How to apply for a small flat under the scheme

Applications are not accepted at any time. They open only when the Competent Authority moves to clear a particular block of a notified colony.

1. Wait for the clearance notice. The Competent Authority prepares a phased plan for clearing the notified colonies according to the availability of alternative flats. Before residents are required to vacate, a general notice of at least 21 days is published in the manner the Competent Authority prescribes.
2. File the application within 15 days. Within fifteen days of publication of that notice, every person eligible for allotment must submit an application to the Competent Authority in the form prescribed by the Chandigarh Housing Board, duly filled in and signed by the applicant.
3. Ensure the application is complete. Only complete applications are entered in the Register maintained by the Competent Authority. An incomplete form never reaches the register, and there is no separate intimation stage that will rescue it.
4. Vacate on the date fixed. The Competent Authority fixes the time and date for the actual shifting of residents and publishes notice of it. Every resident is bound to vacate on those dates, and residents must remove their belongings and the superstructure at their own expense within the prescribed period. A person who does not vacate is liable to be removed by process of law.
5. Execute the Deed of Licence. After allotment, submit to the Chandigarh Housing Board a Deed of Licence in the format the Board prescribes.
6. Occupy the flat within 30 days of the offer. Failure to occupy within 30 days of the offer is a ground for cancellation.
7. Collect the smart card. The Nodal Agency issues a smart card carrying a group photograph of the licensee and all family members, with their names, ages, occupations and relationship to the licensee, along with details of all payments made in respect of the flat.

What kind of flat is allotted, and on what terms?

All allotments under the scheme are of a one-room flat in a multi-storey building, held on a monthly licence fee basis. The monthly licence fee is decided by the Nodal Agency, the Chandigarh Housing Board, and deposited in the manner the Board prescribes. The scheme text does not fix a rupee figure — it delegates that to the Board, and the figure has been revised over the years, so ask the Board rather than relying on an old number.

The flat is allotted in the joint names of the couple. If the allottee is single, the allotment is made in the single person's name.

Chandigarh Housing Board records show small flats located at Sector 49, Sector 56, Sector 38-West, Dhanas, Industrial Area Phase I, Maulijagran, Maloya and Ram Darbar.

What are the licensee's obligations?

Rules 9 to 14 of the scheme place clear duties on the licensee.

• Pay water and electricity charges to the authority concerned, over and above the licence fee. Default on water or electricity charges is a ground for the Competent Authority to revoke the licence.
• Make no additions or alterations to the allotted flat.
• Use the flat exclusively for residential purposes and for no other purpose.
• Do not sublet, assign by general power of attorney, or otherwise part with possession of the flat.
• Maintain the flat. Responsibility for maintenance lies with the licensee, and ill maintenance that may damage the structure is a ground for revoking the licence.
• Report family changes within 30 days. Any change in the composition of the family must be intimated to the Competent Authority in the prescribed format, in any case within thirty days of the change. If a change is not reported in time, the additional member is presumed not to be a member of the licensee's family for the purposes of these rules, which matters greatly for succession later.
• Abide by the Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulations) Act, 1952 and the rules made under it.

When is a small flat allotment cancelled?

The allotment stands automatically revoked on contravention of any of the terms and conditions of the scheme. Separately, the Competent Authority shall cancel the allotment if it is found that:

1. The allotment was obtained by supplying false information or by suppressing facts. On this ground alone, the licence cannot be cancelled unless the licensee is first given an opportunity of being heard.
2. The licensee failed to vacate the notified colony by the date and time prescribed under the scheme.
3. The licensee failed to deposit the licence fee despite service of a notice of demand, for a period determined by the Nodal Agency, whether consecutively or otherwise.
4. The licensee owned any land or building, in their own name or in the name of a dependent family member, on freehold or leasehold basis: in the Union Territory of Chandigarh, Panchkula or Mohali prior to allotment under the scheme.
5. The licensee was offered a flat and failed to occupy it within 30 days of the offer.

Non-payment of licence fee is, in practice, the most common trigger. The Chandigarh Housing Board publishes notices concerning small flat rent defaulters and cancellation orders on its website, so a licensee who has fallen behind should check those listings rather than wait for a letter.

Can a licensee ever buy the flat?

Rule 20 of the scheme directs that the Competent Authority shall, as soon as is practicable, prepare a separate scheme creating the option for licensees who have been in continuous and lawful occupation of their flats for 20 years to purchase the flats at prices reflecting the real value of the property.

Two points follow from the wording. First, ownership is not automatic after 20 years. It requires a separate scheme to be framed, and the purchase is at real value, not free. Second, the qualifying condition is continuous and lawful occupation, which means an unbroken record of licence fee payment matters for more than avoiding cancellation.

How to appeal a rejection

1. Identify the order passed by the Competent Authority on your eligibility or your allotment, and the date it was communicated to you.
2. File an appeal to the Appellate Authority appointed by the Administrator, Union Territory of Chandigarh, within 30 days of that communication.
3. If you are late, ask the Appellate Authority to entertain the appeal beyond the limitation period. Rule 17(c) allows it for good and sufficient reasons.
4. The Appellate Authority may confirm, vary or reverse the order and pass such orders as it deems fit. The order passed in appeal is final.

Common reasons a claim fails

• Not recorded in the March 2006 biometric survey. No document produced later can substitute for it.
• Name missing from the 2006 voter list and from the 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008 lists that the 2009 amendment added.
• Name missing from the latest voter list of the allotment year, which Rule 6(a)(i) separately requires.
• Ownership without residence. Rule 7(a) rejects a claimant who owned a structure but did not physically live in the colony.
• Existing property in Chandigarh, Panchkula or Mohali, including in a dependant's name.
• A second claim by the same family unit, where the married earning son was not living in a separately identified habitation in the 2006 survey.
• Application filed outside the 15-day window after the clearance notice, or an incomplete application never entered in the register.

Help and contact

• Chandigarh Housing Board (Nodal Agency): 0172-2511131 to 39
• Email: info@chbonline.in
• Website: chbonline.in, where small flat notices, cancellation orders and the 2006 scheme notification are published
• Competent Authority: the Estate Officer appointed under the Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulations) Act, 1952
• Appellate Authority: appointed by the Administrator, Union Territory of Chandigarh

Rule 21 allows the Administrator, Union Territory of Chandigarh, to issue instructions or directions for the smooth implementation of the scheme, so operational details such as the licence fee amount and the clearance calendar do change. Verify the current position with the Chandigarh Housing Board before acting on any figure.