Hyderabad: Chief minister A Revanth Reddy, who also holds the municipal administration portfolio, will directly oversee Hyderabad’s urban governance under the newly enacted Core Urban Region (Integrated Governance) Act, 2026.A CURE apex governance council, headed by the chief minister, would determine key development priorities for the city and coordinate decision-making across multiple govt agencies. Under the new framework, officials from the three municipal corporations, police, revenue, HMDA, water board, power utilities, Metro, RTC and HYDRAA would come together on a common platform to deliberate and take decisions on major urban issues.The legislation also seeks to simplify property-related services. Mutation would be initiated automatically after property registration, reducing the need for buyers to visit municipal offices. Every property would be assigned an integrated property identity code, linking its municipal records to a single identifier.10% cap on annual property tax hikeThe law rejigged the property tax system while putting a ceiling on annual increases. Properties measuring up to 375 square feet (sf ft) will continue to attract a nominal property tax of Rs 101. For other residential properties, municipal corporations can prescribe tax rates ranging from 0.10% to 0.50% of the guideline value. For non-residential properties, the rate can range from 0.20% to 2%.To prevent a sudden increase in the tax burden, the Act caps the annual rise in property tax at 10% over the previous year’s tax. For instance, a property currently attracting Rs 10,000 in annual tax would be liable to pay a maximum of Rs 11,000 in the first year under the new system.Building approvals to go fully onlineThe CURE framework also seeks to make building approval processes more transparent and time-bound. Building permission applications will be processed entirely online. If officials fail to take a decision within the stipulated time, the application will be escalated to a higher level. The law also provides for deemed approval in cases where no decision is taken within the prescribed period.The licensing regime is also being simplified, while govt will be empowered to designate night-economy zones, allowing businesses in such areas to operate for extended hours.
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