In a significant move for thousands of Mumbai residents, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Standing Committee has approved the Occupation Certificate (OC) Amnesty Scheme, offering a pathway for eligible buildings that have been occupied for years without receiving an Occupation Certificate.
The initiative is expected to benefit homeowners who have faced persistent challenges in property documentation, redevelopment, and other civic processes because their buildings lacked an OC despite being constructed with the necessary approvals.
The scheme will come into effect after it receives the required Corporation resolution. The BMC will then issue detailed guidelines and a standard operating procedure (SOP), following which eligible applicants can begin submitting their applications.
The amnesty scheme applies to:
The scheme is intended for buildings where Occupation Certificates have been delayed due to technical, procedural or administrative reasons beyond the control of residents, including cases involving absconding or defaulting developers.
The OC Amnesty Scheme is designed to regularise eligible buildings that comply with approved plans but remain without an Occupation Certificate because of pending compliance issues.
However, the civic body has clarified that it is not a blanket regularisation scheme. It will not legalise unauthorised constructions, buildings with major regulatory violations or projects that fail to meet mandatory safety requirements. Essential approvals, including Fire NOCs and other statutory clearances, will still be mandatory before an OC is granted.
The Standing Committee approved the policy largely in line with the Urban Development Department's (UDD) December 2025 directions, while incorporating several revisions, including:
The BMC has already requested the State Urban Development Department to further expand the scheme by:
The proposal was submitted to the state government in April, but a decision is still awaited. According to Standing Committee Chairman Prabhakar Shinde, any future approval from the UDD will be incorporated into the scheme.
Applications can be submitted by:
Applications must be filed through a registered architect or licensed surveyor. Applicants will also need to provide documentary proof showing that the building was occupied before the cut-off date. Acceptable documents include property tax records, electricity bills and other official occupancy records.
Although the proposal received the Standing Committee's approval, opposition members expressed concerns over several aspects of its implementation.
Issues raised included the need for greater clarity on eligibility, stronger accountability for developers who abandoned projects or failed to obtain OCs, and stricter action against defaulting builders and architects.
Responding to the concerns, BJP group leader Ganesh Khankar said the scheme does not override existing laws or Development Control Regulations. He emphasised that Occupation Certificates would only be granted after verifying compliance with all mandatory requirements, including fire safety norms.
Committee members also noted that the policy is intended to provide immediate relief to eligible residents while additional revisions proposed to the state government remain under consideration.
The policy gained urgency following the widely discussed Willington Heights case in Tardeo.
In August 2025, the Bombay High Court ordered residents living on the top 17 floors of the high-rise to vacate because those floors lacked an Occupation Certificate. Although the building had received a partial OC, families residing in the unauthorised portion were forced to move into alternative accommodation until the building is fully regularised.
The case highlighted the hardships faced by residents who purchased homes in good faith but became caught in legal and administrative disputes beyond their control.
Residents' representatives have welcomed the decision, saying it provides a long-awaited opportunity to resolve technical issues affecting older buildings that were constructed under regulations prevailing decades ago.
Officials estimate that nearly 58,000 buildings across Mumbai are awaiting Occupation Certificates. For eligible homeowners, the amnesty scheme could finally remove long-standing obstacles to property transactions, redevelopment and legal documentation.
While the scheme offers significant relief, property experts continue to advise prospective homebuyers to verify that a building has a valid Occupation Certificate before purchasing a property, as the amnesty applies only to buildings that satisfy the prescribed eligibility conditions.