ISLAMABAD: After receiving complaints from the citizens about malpractices and delays, the city managers have introduced a new standard operating procedure (SOP) to ensure a hassle-free transfer of residential property in the capital.

The new SOP has been formulated mainly focusing on the swift issuance of No Demand Certificate (NDC), which is essential for the transfer of a house.

Under the new SOP, all relevant formations have been given specific timeframe to clear the assigned tasks so that the citizens could be facilitated by timely transfer of their residential properties.

Decision taken after receiving public complaints about delays in issuance of transfer letters

Sources said if the new SOP was implemented in letter and spirit, corruption would be curtailed in the civic agency as currently the citizens have to face hurdles created by the CDA officials in the property transfer process.

They said the officials on the pretext of various objections take months even in the issuance of the NDC and in many cases the exhausted applicants hire the services of property dealers to clear their work.

The new SOP will come to force on Feb 6 and initially will be applicable for residential houses in developed sectors only.

A CDA spokesman said newly-appointed chairman Amer Ali Ahmad recently made a snap visit to the one-window operation (OWO) directorate and pointed out several issues. He directed the officials concerned to prepare a new SOP to facilitate the citizens.

He said from now all applications in connection with the transfer of residential property shall be received at the OWO directorate and forwarded to the concerned formations.

The case received at the OWO directorate would be forwarded to the building control section (BCS) within a working day.

The BCS will conduct a measurement survey of the property and submit its NOC/report back to the OWO directorate within five working days.

The report shall contain the actual covered area, plot size and other prerequisites. The NOC/report issued by the BCS will then be forwarded to the revenue directorate for the assessment of the property and tax/water charges.

The revenue directorate will convey the details/NOC back to the OWO directorate within three working days.

After clearance from the BCS and the revenue directorate, a complete case shall be forwarded to the estate management directorate (residential) which will process and issue the NDC within five working days.

In case of any litigation or legal issue, the file shall be referred to the law wing by the estate management directorate for its opinion. The law wing shall return the file within five working days.

After admitting the transfer case to the OWO directorate, the file shall again be forwarded to the estate management directorate for the issuance of the transfer letter.

If the applicant deposits an urgent transfer fee at the time of admitting, the transfer letter will be issued within three working days. Furthermore, a voice messaging system would be developed for intimating the citizens about the status of their applications.

The CDA management has directed all the directorates to ensure implementation of the SOP in true letter and spirit.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2019