Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir Government has notified a uniform fee structure for building permissions across the Union Territory, bringing all Municipal Corporations, Urban Local Bodies and Development Authorities under a common fee regime.
The Housing and Urban Development Department, through Government Order No. 15-JK(HUD) of 2026 dated July 24, 2026, issued the notification under the Jammu and Kashmir Unified Building Bye-Laws (UBBL), 2021, with the aim of ensuring transparency, uniformity and ease of doing business in the building permission process.
The order stated that Clause 2.10 (c) of the J&K Unified Building Bye-Laws, 2021 empowers the Government to prescribe building permission fees through notification.
The department observed that different Urban Local Bodies and Development Authorities were earlier charging varying fees for similar categories of building permissions, leading to inconsistencies, public grievances and procedural difficulties.
To address these issues, the government has now prescribed a uniform Building Permission Fee Schedule applicable throughout Jammu and Kashmir with immediate effect.
As per the notification, the building permission fee for residential buildings, including housing colonies, has been fixed at ₹80 per square metre.
For commercial, public/semi-public (PSP), industrial and other special category buildings, the fee has been fixed at ₹270 per square metre.
For mixed-use buildings, the permission fee has been fixed at ₹150 per square metre.
The government has also prescribed a malba security fee of ₹3,000 (lump sum) for residential buildings and ₹10,000 (lump sum) for other categories.
Religious buildings have been exempted from the building permission fee.
The order states that a compounding fee equivalent to 40 per cent of the applicable building permit fee for the respective land use shall be levied in addition to the normal building permission fee.
The notified rates will apply to all Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils, Municipal Committees and Development Authorities across Jammu and Kashmir, irrespective of their jurisdiction.
The department has clarified that the Building Permission Fee will be calculated on the basis of the total permissible or approved built-up area in square metres as per the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Unified Building Bye-Laws, 2021 and other applicable statutory regulations.
The government has directed that the new fee structure must be integrated into the Online Building Permission System (OBPS) and Auto-DCR platform to ensure uniform application during processing and disposal of building permission applications.
The notification makes it clear that no Urban Local Body or Development Authority will be allowed to prescribe, revise, increase, reduce or otherwise alter the notified building permission fees without prior approval of the Housing and Urban Development Department.
All urban authorities have been directed to incorporate the uniform fee structure into their building permission procedures, public notices, citizen charters, online portals and other relevant documents.
The Commissioners of Jammu Municipal Corporation and Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Vice Chairpersons of Development Authorities, and Chief Executive Officers/Executive Officers of Municipal Councils and Committees have been made responsible for ensuring strict compliance with the government order.
The Housing and Urban Development Department will review the fee structure from time to time, and any future revision will be notified separately by the government.
