BDA Land Allotment: 90 Days to Apply From 17 September 2026, 180 Days to Pay

On 17 September 2026 Karnataka amended the rules for allotting BDA-acquired land that carries a building. An application under section 38-D of the Bangalore Development Authority Act must now be made within 90 days of the amendment rules coming into force, and they came into force on publication in the Gazette on 17 September 2026. The BDA must then name the amount due within 90 days of your application. You have 180 days from that intimation to pay all of it, where the old rule gave 60, and the land is transferred to you only after full payment.

Who this is for

The owner abroad with a house in Bengaluru on land the Bangalore Development Authority acquired years ago. On 15 September we reported that Karnataka Act No. 42 of 2026 halved the section 38D charge and set two years before the BDA evicts occupants who have not obtained an allotment. That Act left the filing window to the rules. This notification sets it.

Section 38D of the BDA Act: what it says

Section 38D of the Bangalore Development Authority Act, 1976 covers land the BDA has acquired or that vests in it, where a building already stands and the land cannot go into a development scheme or be cut into sites. After an enquiry, the BDA may allot that land by sale to one of three people:

• the original owner of the land;
• a purchaser from the original owner;
• a person in unauthorised occupation who put up the building and is in settled possession.

A tenant, a licensee or a permissive user is not one of them. The text below is the section as the legislature printed it with the 2026 Bill, with the rate table that Karnataka Act No. 42 of 2026 put in on 7 September 2026.

The four conditions in section 38D(1).

1. The building stood on the land, in settled possession, for not less than twelve years before the commencement of the Bangalore Development Authority (Amendment) Act, 2020.
2. The allottee pays the rate for the plot size in the table below.
3. The land allotted to one person does not exceed 4,000 square feet, and no other member of the family can apply for a second allotment on any ground.
4. The applicant applies to the BDA with the particulars, within the time and with the fee the rules prescribe, and files documents that prove possession and construction: a sale deed, an approved plan and building permission, an order for permanent electricity supply, water and underground drainage sanctions, a property tax receipt, or another document the rules prescribe.

The rates, from 7 September 2026.

A corner site with a building pays twice the rate for its slab. Before 7 September 2026 the rates were 10%, 25%, 40% and 50%.

The land that is never allotted. The proviso to section 38D(1) bars allotment of land reserved for parks, playgrounds, open space or civic amenities; land that affects the alignment of a road, a proposed ring road, a national highway, a bypass or a mass rapid transit (rail) project; land abutting a storm water drain, a tank bed, a river course or bed, or sitting below high-tension lines; and land where the twelve years of possession were litigious or interrupted by an interim court order.

Four definitions that decide most cases. The Explanation to section 38D says:

• "guidance value" is the market value published under the Karnataka Stamp Act, 1957, prevailing on the date of allotment, not the date you apply;
• "land" means a site with a building;
• "original owner of the land" means, in the Act's words, "a person who was occupant of the land immediately before publication of development scheme which contained proposal for acquisition of such land";
• "settled possession" means possession of land with a permanent building, without litigious or interrupted possession, and excludes a tenant, licensee or permissive user.

Sub-sections (2) and (3). Section 38D(2) makes the jurisdictional officer who failed to prevent unauthorised occupation or construction after the 2020 amendment liable to a prescribed punishment. Section 38D(3), as substituted on 7 September 2026, says the BDA shall evict unauthorised occupants who do not obtain an allotment within two years of the 2026 Act coming into force on 7 September 2026.

Is the section 38D application window open?

Yes, on the text of the rules. The amendment rules came into force on publication in the Gazette on 17 September 2026, and rule 3(1) now allows an application within ninety days of that date. By our count the ninetieth day is 16 December 2026. The notification prints no closing date, so that date is our arithmetic, not the government's.

The notification does not say how the BDA is receiving applications in this window. Confirm the filing route with the BDA before you rely on it.

What the notification says

The notification is No. UDD 127 MNJ 2020(E) of the Urban Development Department, dated 17 September 2026, published in the Karnataka Gazette Extraordinary, Part IVA, No. 927, the same day. It is made under section 69 read with section 38-D of the BDA Act, 1976, and signed by Rajesh S Sulikeri, Under Secretary to Government. Rule 1(2) says the rules "shall come in to force from the date of their publication in the official Gazette".

Rule 2(i) changes rule 3(1) of the 2020 Rules. The words "within sixty days from the date of commencement of section 38-D" become "within ninety days from the date of commencement of the Bangalore Development Authority (Allotment of Unauthorized Site with Building) (Amendment) Rules 2026".

Rule 2(ii) replaces rule 3(4). The old text gave the applicant sixty days from the BDA's intimation to pay. The new text reads:

The Authority shall intimate the eligible applicant the amount required to be paid under section 38-D of the Act within ninety days from the date of application. The applicant shall pay the entire amount within one hundred and eighty days from the date of intimation. The property shall be transferred in the name of the applicant only after the full amount is paid.

What the notification does not say

It does not print a closing date for applications. It counts 90 days from commencement, and commencement is the date of publication, 17 September 2026. By our count the ninetieth day after that is 16 December 2026. That date is our arithmetic, not the government's. Do not plan to file on the last day.

It does not set out the application form, the fee or where to file. Those sit in the 2020 Rules, which this notification amends. We could not open a Gazette copy of the 2020 Rules, so we do not print their form or fee. The notification quotes only the two passages it replaces.

It does not change the charge. The rates of 5% to 25% of guidance value by plot size come from Act No. 42 of 2026, covered in our 15 September piece.

BDA 38D gazette notifications: where to read them

Three Karnataka Gazette Extraordinary issues carry the 2026 changes, each in Part IVA:

• No. 738, 18 August 2026: the Bangalore Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2026 (LA Bill No. 16 of 2026), with its Statement of Objects and Reasons and an annexure printing section 38D as it stood before the Act.
• No. 910, 7 September 2026: Karnataka Act No. 42 of 2026, in English and Kannada. The gazette declares the Kannada translation an authoritative text under section 6 of the Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Act, 2022.
• No. 927, 17 September 2026: notification No. UDD 127 MNJ 2020(E), the amendment rules on the filing window and payment.

Links to the copies we read are under Sources.

What to do with it

1. Confirm the land under your house is BDA-acquired land and that the building meets the section 38D conditions set out in our 15 September piece.
2. Put the ninety-day window from 17 September 2026 in your calendar and file well inside it. From abroad, that means a power of attorney holder in Bengaluru who can file for you.
3. Once the BDA names the amount, you have 180 days from the date of that intimation to pay it in full. Keep the intimation letter; the date on it starts the clock.

This page reports what the notification says. It is not legal advice on whether your house qualifies.

FAQ

What is section 38D of the BDA Act? It lets the Bangalore Development Authority sell land it acquired, and cannot use because a building stands on it, to the original owner, a buyer from the original owner, or an occupant who put up the building and has been in settled possession for at least twelve years before the 2020 amendment. The charge runs from 5% to 25% of guidance value by plot size, and one person can be allotted no more than 4,000 square feet.

Who cannot apply under section 38D? A tenant, a licensee or a permissive user. No land is allotted if it is reserved for parks or civic amenities, affects the alignment of a road, highway, bypass or mass rapid transit (rail) project, abuts a storm water drain, tank bed or river course, lies below high-tension lines, or if the twelve years of possession were litigious or interrupted by an interim court order.

What did the notification of 17 September 2026 change for BDA allotment under section 38-D? It amended rule 3 of the BDA (Allotment of Unauthorized Site with Building) Rules, 2020. Applications must be made within 90 days of the amendment rules coming into force. The BDA must name the amount within 90 days of the application, and the applicant must pay it within 180 days of that intimation.

When does the application window close? The notification does not print a date. It counts 90 days from the commencement of the amendment rules, which came into force on publication in the Gazette on 17 September 2026. By our count the ninetieth day after that is 16 December 2026.

How long do I have to pay once the BDA names the amount? 180 days from the date of the BDA's intimation. The rule it replaces gave 60 days.

When is the land transferred to me? The new rule 3(4) says the property shall be transferred in the applicant's name only after the full amount is paid.

Did this notification change the allotment charge? No. The charge of 5% to 25% of guidance value by plot size comes from Karnataka Act No. 42 of 2026, which came into force on 7 September 2026.

66 MG Road newsdesk

Sources

• Government of Karnataka, Urban Development Department, Notification No. UDD 127 MNJ 2020(E), 17 September 2026, the Bangalore Development Authority (Allotment of Unauthorized Site with Building) (Amendment) Rules 2026, Karnataka Gazette Extraordinary Part IVA No. 927, 17 September 2026. Read in full; the gazette PDF carries the digital signature of P S Basavaraju, Department of Printing, Stationery and Publications, and the signature verifies over the whole file: https://archive.org/download/in.gazette.karnataka_eo.2026-09-17.11313/11313.pdf
• Karnataka Act No. 42 of 2026, the Bangalore Development Authority (Amendment) Act, 2026, Karnataka Gazette Extraordinary Part IVA No. 910, 7 September 2026. Read in full again on 11 October 2026: https://archive.org/download/in.gazette.karnataka_eo.2026-09-07.11247/11247.pdf
• The Bangalore Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2026, LA Bill No. 16 of 2026, with the annexure extract of sections 10 and 38D of the BDA Act, 1976, Karnataka Gazette Extraordinary Part IVA No. 738, 18 August 2026. English text read in full on 11 October 2026; the PDF carries the digital signature of P S Basavaraju, Department of Printing, Stationery and Publications: https://archive.org/download/in.gazette.karnataka_eo.2026-08-18.11011/11011.pdf