12 more govt departments to learn to stick to time limit

Under the Delhi Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services Act, babus will have to pay penalty for delay

12 more govt departments to learn to stick to time limit

Under the Delhi Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services Act, babus will have to pay penalty for delay

Delhi government on Tuesday brought 12 more public services under the purview of a new law that makes babus liable to pay penalty to citizens for delay in delivering desired services within the prescribed time limit.
Earlier on September 15, Delhi government had brought 32 services under the Delhi Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services Act.u00a0

Good news for everyone: The Delhi Secretariat building above. The
Delhi government functions from here. file pic

Number crunching
"The figures between September 15 and October 17 have been extremely encouraging," said Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. During this period, there were 24,175 applications for services in Revenue department and 53,954 applications for services related to Transport department. Almost all government departments, including Revenue, Food and Civil Supplies, Transport and Trade and Taxes as well as civic agencies such as MCD and NDMC have been brought under the legislation now. Officials said a staggering 1.42 lakh applicants sought services from Delhi government in the first one month of the new law coming into force.

Full gaze on NDMC
Of the 12 services brought under the ambit of the law on Tuesday, six are related to civic agency NDMC. As per the law, NDMC will now have to grant new electricity and water connections within 35 days, give approval to building plans within 60 days, take decisions on booking community halls within a day and settle applications for booking of parks for social functions within 15 days of their being filed.

E-solutions
"Citizens will be able to file applications online to get the services provided under eSLA (electronic Service Level Agreement)," said the chief minister. Under eSLA, all departments brought under the ambit of the legislation have to put in place a service delivery mechanism to process applications.

Penalty clause
The legislation has fixed financial penalty of Rs 10 per day for delay in delivery of services and maximum penalty could be Rs 200. According to the notification, Delhi police will have to complete title verification and authentication of declaration regarding registration of newspapers, magazines and journals within 45 days.
Similarly, the Excise department will have to provide luxury tax registration certificate to applicants within 25 days. The registration certificate to cable operators will also have to be issued within 25 days. The Delhi Pharmacy Council will have to issue registration and renewal of registration certificates to pharmacies within seven days of filing of the application.