Middlemen eat into LRS fee pie

For 4k applicants `10k got

The Land Regularisation Scheme has been abused by middlemen who pass off as consultants in connivance with officials of the HMDA.

HMDA officials have been accepting applications for regularisation without the mandatory details, including names, and land documents.

The HMDA has received LRS fee of `10,000 for 4,000 applications without addresses. After submitting the applications, the middlemen demand up to `2 lakh from those who have not applied for LRS in time to insert their details into the approved application forms. HMDA officials are not supposed to accept the fee from applicants in cases where all this prescribed information is not provided.

Sources said that the middlemen have been forging certain certificates, which have to to be signed either by the official concerned or the HMDA commissioner in order to approve the LRS application.

Several citizens have been cheated into thinking their lands have been cleared under the scheme and

HMDA officials, consultants pocketed about `5 crore for processing LRS applications

HMDA has accepted fees for 4,000 applications that have no address

Consultants are selling LRS applications for up to `2 lakh

The cheats have been selling forged proceeding certificates have even gone ahead and built structures on them. When they approached the HMDA office, they were shocked to learn that they had unknowingly purchased fake proceeding documents from the middlemen.

A senior official said he was surprised to learn about it. He said that HMDA would reject all 4,000 addressless LRS applications and initiate criminal action against persons who submitted them. Asked about the fake proceeding certificates, he requested applicants not to fall into the trap of fake consultants and instead ask for the LRS number in order to check HMDA's official website.