Govt brings 23 new services under Time-bound Delivery Act
The Delhi Government has brought 23 new services under the Delhi Right of Citizens to Time-Bound Delivery of Services Act, 2011. The services covering licences, NOCs, registrations, and approvals across departments, including Labour, Tourism, Jal Board, Energy, Excise, Forest, and RERA, with timelines ranging from a single working day to 60 days, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced on Monday. Currently, the Act covers time-bound delivery of 561 services delivered by various departments of the Delhi government.
Monday’s announcement adds 23 more services to this existing list, expanding its coverage to newer categories of licences and approvals that did not previously carry mandatory delivery timelines.
The Chief Minister said the decision will directly benefit ordinary citizens as well as businesses in industry, trade, hospitality, tourism, construction, and the service sector by ensuring approvals. The registrations are delivered within defined, legally enforceable timelines, reducing unnecessary delays and the need for repeated visits to government offices.
Among the most notable timelines, registration under the Shops and Establishments Act will now be completed within a single day. Approval for the storage of construction material by local bodies will also be issued within one day. These two are among the fastest under the new framework.
Factory plan approvals by the Labour Department will be granted within 15 days. The Delhi Jal Board will provide sewerage connections within 15 days.
Film shooting permissions from the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation will be issued within 15 days. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee will issue authorisations related to the collection, storage, transportation, and recycling of battery waste under the Battery Waste Management Rules within 15 days.
The Agriculture Department will complete processes related to pesticide control operation licences, sales registrations, and seed licences within 21 days each. Permission for the installation of mobile towers will be provided within 30 days. Bar licences under the Excise Department will be issued within 30 days. Registration of builders and real estate agents under RERA will be completed within 30 days each.
Brand and label registrations under both IMFL and FL categories handled by the Excise Department will be completed within 42 days. Registration of weighing and measuring instruments under Legal Metrology will be completed within 45 days. Road cutting permissions and associated works under the Public Works Department will be granted within 45 days.
Approvals for operating amusement parks and registration of water sports and adventure sports operators under municipal services will be issued within 60 days. NOCs from local bodies required for state licences for food businesses will also come within 60 days. Hotel registration or operational permissions and slaughterhouse licences will be granted within 60 days. Applications related to electricity meters and connection agreements under the Energy Department will be processed within 60 days. The Forest and Wildlife Department will decide applications for tree felling permission under the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act within 60 days.
The Chief Minister said the time-bound delivery mechanism is intended to do two things simultaneously: strengthen citizens’ rights by making the government’s obligations explicit and enforceable, and make the government machinery more accountable by attaching consequences to delay.
It is worth noting that since the announcement of the existing approximately 500 services under the Right of Citizens to Time-Bound Delivery scheme over the years, no formal public complaint has been recorded against the mechanism so far, a fact that the government has not highlighted prominently, but which broadly suggests the framework has operated without generating significant friction at the citizen interface.
