Building plan approval delayed after you paid the fees

Reviewed on: 2026-07-03.

Ramesh lives in Bhopal. He wants to build a small house on a plot he owns. He submitted his building plan drawings to the municipal office, paid the scrutiny and permission fee, and got a receipt. Then nothing happened. Weeks passed. Every time he visited the office, the clerk said, “File is under process.” No approval, no refusal, no reasons. Just silence.

This is a very common problem across India. You did your part. You paid the fee. The file sits on someone's desk. The good news is the law gives you several tools to force a decision and, in some cases, to treat your plan as deemed sanctioned (approved automatically) if the authority stays silent too long. This guide walks you through every step, in plain words.

For the longer worked-example version of this guide, see building plan approval delayed after fees paid.

## Step 1: Know the timeline the authority must follow

Building permission is a time-bound service. The deadline depends on your state and the size of your building. Two kinds of rules help you here.

### Service-guarantee laws (state-level)

Many states have passed service-guarantee laws. These are laws that say: if a government officer does not give you a notified service within the fixed time, the officer can be fined personally, and you can be paid compensation. The key ones are:

1. Madhya Pradesh Lok Sewaon Ke Pradaan Ki Guarantee Adhiniyam, 2010 (Act No. 24 of 2010). Under Section 3, the State Government notifies each service, the designated officer, the appellate authority, and the time limit. Section 4 gives you the right to obtain the service within the notified time. Building permission is notified under the Urban Development & Environment Department through gazette notifications.
2. Karnataka Guarantee of Services to Citizens Act, 2011 (called Sakala).
3. Bihar Right to Public Services (RTPS) Act.

These laws matter because they put a real cost on the officer who delays your file. The exact number of days for building permission is set by separate notification, so check the current notification for your state and city for the exact figure rather than trusting a single number.

### Deemed sanction rules (the silent-approval route)

Some laws go further. If the authority does not reply within a fixed period, your plan is treated as sanctioned (approved) by law. The main ones are:

1. Model Building Bye-Laws 2016 (issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs / TCPO), clause 2.14.2(d): if the Authority fails to intimate refusal or sanction in writing within 15 days of receiving the notice, the plan shall be deemed to have been sanctioned — but only if (a) you immediately bring this in writing to the Authority's notice, and (b) your construction is on a plot that forms part of an approved layout plan of the Authority.
2. Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, Section 45(5): if the Planning Authority does not communicate its decision within 60 days from receipt of your application (or from receipt of your reply to any requisition, whichever is later), permission is deemed to have been granted — subject to strict conformity with the Development Control Rules and no violation of any draft or final plan.
3. Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961, Section 15(2): if the Planning Authority does not communicate its decision within three months from the date of acknowledgment, the commencement certificate is deemed to have been granted — subject to the proviso that the proposed land use conforms with the outline development plan and the regulations under Section 13(3).

These deemed-sanction rules are powerful, but each has conditions. Read the one that applies to your state carefully before you rely on it.

## Step 2: Send a written status query

Before you escalate, put your request in writing. A written query creates a dated record, and the authority's reply (or silence) becomes proof for your next step.

Keep the letter short:

1. Your name, plot number, address, and the application/reference number on your fee receipt.
2. The date you submitted the plan and the date you paid the fee.
3. One clear question: "Please give me a consolidated list of all objections on my file, and tell me whether the notified time limit has been crossed."
4. Attach a photocopy of your fee receipt and the submitted plan's acknowledgment.
5. Submit by hand and take a **receiving (stamp and signature with date)** on your copy, or send it by **registered post with acknowledgment due**.

Keep that receiving safely. It is your proof that you asked.

## Step 3: File an RTI to trace the file

If the written query gets no clear answer within a reasonable time (say, one to two weeks), file a Right to Information application. RTI is the cheapest and most effective way to pull out what is actually happening inside the file. Under the RTI Act, 2005, the Public Information Officer (PIO) must reply within 30 days under Section 7(1). If the PIO does not reply, or gives an unsatisfactory reply, you can file a first appeal under Section 19(1) within 30/35 days to the First Appellate Authority. The Information Commission can also impose a penalty up to Rs 25,000 on the PIO under Section 20 for deemed refusal or unreasonable delay.

For the full appeal route, see Section 19 of the RTI Act — first appeal. To find the right PIO and portal for your state, use our State RTI portals directory. If you have never filed one before, read how to file RTI online.

Here are five model RTI questions for a stuck building-plan file:

1. Please provide the **file noting sheet** (the internal movement notes) for my building-plan application No. _____ from the date of submission to the date of this RTI.
2. Please give a copy of the **site inspection report**, if any inspection was carried out, with the date of inspection and the name of the inspecting officer.
3. Please furnish the **consolidated list of objections**, if any, raised on my plan, and the date each objection was recorded.
4. Please state whether the **notified time limit** for sanctioning building permission in my area has been crossed as on the date of this application. If yes, give the date it was crossed.
5. Please state the **name and designation of the officer** currently holding the file, and the reason for the delay in communicating a decision.

You can reuse these questions in the RTI template for a municipal corporation. For a deeper walk-through of the same idea applied to layout-level delays, see layout approval RTI and RTI for building plan approval delay.

## Step 4: File a first appeal under the service-guarantee law

If you are in a state with a service-guarantee law (MP, Karnataka, Bihar, and others), the same delay lets you file a first appeal to the designated Appellate Authority named in the notification. This is separate from your RTI appeal. The service-guarantee appeal focuses on the *service not delivered in time*; the RTI appeal focuses on *information not given in time*. You can run both in parallel.

In your appeal, attach:

1. Copy of your application and fee receipt.
2. Copy of your written status query and its receiving.
3. Copy of your RTI reply (if received) showing the file status.
4. A short statement: “The notified time limit of ___ days has been crossed. I pray that the service be delivered and compensation be paid for the delay.”

The Appellate Authority can order the designated officer to deliver the service and can direct compensation to you out of the officer's salary. That personal consequence is what makes these laws work.

## Step 5: If needed, approach a court or tribunal

If the authority still refuses or stays silent, you can approach:

1. The High Court under a writ petition (Article 226) for a direction to decide your application within a fixed period.
2. RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Authority) if a builder/promoter is involved and the delay affects a real estate project. See builder not providing the occupancy certificate copy and RTI for building permission and occupancy certificate.
3. Consumer forum if you have paid a fee for a service and the non-delivery of that service amounts to a deficiency in service.

Carry your RTI replies and the service-guarantee appeal order as evidence. Courts respond well to a clear paper trail.

## Common mistakes to avoid

1. Visiting the office repeatedly without keeping proof. Always carry a written query and take a receiving. Oral follow-up is not proof.
2. Assuming a single national deadline. The deadline and the deemed-sanction rule both depend on your state law and the building size. Check the notification for your city.
3. Relying on deemed sanction without reading the conditions. The 15-day, 60-day and 3-month rules each have provisos (approved layout, DCR conformity, land-use conformity). If your case does not meet the conditions, the deemed-sanction argument is weak.
4. Filing RTI without the application/fee-receipt numbers. The PIO needs the reference to find your file. Always quote them.
5. Forgetting the first appeal. Many people stop after the PIO's reply (or silence). The first appeal is where delay penalties are actually triggered. See Section 19 — first appeal.

## A related delay: land conversion and NA orders

If your plot is agricultural and you are also waiting for a non-agriculture (NA) conversion order or a land-use change, that delay can block your building permission too. See agricultural land conversion NA order delayed for that parallel process.

## Frequently asked questions

Can my plan be approved automatically if the authority says nothing? Sometimes, yes. Under the Model Building Bye-Laws 2016 (15 days, approved-layout plots), MRTP Act Section 45(5) (60 days, Maharashtra), and Karnataka TCP Act Section 15(2) (3 months), silence can equal sanction — but each rule has conditions you must meet, and you must bring the silence to the authority's notice in writing.

What if my state has no service-guarantee law? You still have the RTI route (30-day PIO reply, first appeal, penalty up to Rs 25,000) and the writ-petition route. The deemed-sanction rules above are separate and apply regardless of service-guarantee laws.

Does paying the fee guarantee approval? No. Paying the scrutiny fee only starts the process. The authority can still refuse with reasons. But it cannot sit on the file forever — the timelines and the deemed-sanction rules exist precisely to stop that.

How long should I wait before filing RTI? A reasonable guide is one to two weeks after your written status query gets no clear answer. Do not wait months; your RTI reply itself takes 30 days.

## Support this work

This guide is free because readers like you back it. If it helped you unblock your file, you can:

1. Get the RTI Playbook — our step-by-step downloadable kit with ready-to-use application drafts, first-appeal templates, and a delay-tracking checklist. Download the RTI Playbook.
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