New Delhi, Sept. 29 -- A tepid response in the first five months of the Central government's scheme to regularise properties and grant ownership rights to residents of 1,511 unauthorised colonies in Delhi has prompted authorities to cut regularisation charges by 75% and revert to an affidavit-based, third-party-verified mechanism, senior civic officials said on Monday.

The relief, the people cited above said, will be available for a limited period to encourage more property owners to join the scheme.

A senior Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) official said that while the scheme aims to grant ownership rights to residents of the 1,511 colonies with an estimated 1 million houses, the Delhi government has received only 107 applications ...