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Changes to the Law on Cadastre make it easier for citizens

Citizens and businesses stop being "couriers of documents between institutions

Oct 22, 2024 14:33 250

Changes to the Law on Cadastre make it easier for citizens  - 1

With changes to the Law on Cadastre and Land Registry (ZKIR), the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works reduces administrative a burden for citizens, businesses and the various institutions using cadastral services. They aim to reduce time, costs and the number of interactions with the administration by using electronic services from cadastral specialized data and services from the Geocart Fund. The free provision of services to administrative and judicial bodies, persons with public functions and organizations providing public services is also regulated. For this purpose, the department prepared a bill, which has been published for public discussion in the Portal for public consultations and the website of the ministry.

With the changes, a legal basis is created for the optimization and development of the information system of the cadastre, through the implementation of functionalities to improve the work processes in keeping the cadastral map and cadastral registers (KKKR) in an up-to-date state and in providing services from the Agency for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre. In this way, citizens and organizations will stop being “couriers” of documents between administrative bodies, saving them time and money both for issuing the document and for transport costs, in cases where they have to travel to the regional center where the counters of the geodesy, cartography and cadastre (SGKK) to request and receive the necessary document. There will be no financial burden for end users to pay state fees for the documents issued by the AGCC, as they will be provided to the authorities that need them, ex officio, free of charge. Thus, the model of providing administrative services is completely changed, with the electronic document becoming the leader. The various administrations, judicial authorities, persons holding public functions and organizations providing public services will no longer require citizens and businesses for property sketches and other paper documents. They will now be provided by AGKK electronically.

Another part of the changes in the law envisages a centralized distribution of services, through tools of the information system, which will ensure an even workload for AGKK employees throughout the country. Keeping the KKKR up-to-date will be carried out by an employee of the SGKK, regardless of the location of the property subject to amendment. For example, an employee in Smolyan will be able to process a request from a user from Vidin. Thus, it is expected to increase the satisfaction of the users of cadastral services, unify the practice of all SCCCs when conducting the procedures for amending the cadastral map and cadastral registers, as well as creating conditions for reducing the delayed implementation of the necessary amendments.

Other more substantial changes are also proposed, such as closing the outsourced jobs of the cadastre for administrative services in various district and judicial administrations. Through the digitization of services, there will no longer be a need for a physical person, and thus the insufficient composition of services will be optimized and budget funds will be saved. The required two-year internship for acquiring cadastral legal capacity is also regulated, which will start counting after the date of the candidate's graduation. It is also proposed to drop the requirement for membership in the Chamber of Geodesy Engineers at a permanent address.

With the introduction of the new functionalities in the information system, the identifier that is given when a new property is created will be provided centrally by the information system of the cadastre, and not by the relevant office.
The statutory requirement that the cadastral map and cadastral registers be drawn on polyester non-deformable material is removed, and they will be created, maintained and stored only in digital form. Regulates the obligation of the municipalities to provide operating companies with free access to the specialized maps and registers for urban planning, when the data from them are necessary in connection with the implementation of their powers in the field of investment planning. The time for carrying out the procedures for the removal of obvious factual errors, which very often affect important infrastructure objects and for which the delay leads to negative consequences, is also shortened. An opportunity to remove discrepancies in the boundaries of landed properties in non-urbanized territory is introduced, at the request of an interested person. An amendment has also been proposed, with which all constructions and restricted areas must be recorded in the specialized maps and registers before they are put into operation.

With the proposed bill, additions are also made to the Law on Forests, the Law on the Protection of Agricultural Lands, the Law on the Administrative Regulation of the Production of Optical Discs and Matrixes, the Law on Underground Resources and the Law on Seed and Planting Material.

The changes in the draft law fulfill the national priorities for the introduction of electronic governance, by creating cadastral data in digital form and developing the internal administrative processes related to the provision of the electronic administrative services of the AGCC. In this way, the agency will provide better quality, efficient and easily accessible electronic services.

It is proposed that the draft law enter into force within 3 months after its promulgation in the “State Gazette”.

You can see detailed statistics on average property prices in Bulgaria by cities and neighborhoods HERE