Dhaka Launches Digital Permit System, Cuts Approvals to 12 Working Days

The Dhaka South City Corporation began enforcing the Local Government Digital Services Policy on 1 July 2026, requiring all new permit applications for construction, business registration and land use changes to be filed exclusively through the corporation’s central portal. The change applies to the 75 wards under the mayor’s direct administration and replaces paper-based submissions previously handled at individual ward offices.

National guidelines issued by the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives set a December 2026 deadline for every city corporation to digitise core services. Dhaka South met the initial reporting milestone three weeks ahead of schedule, submitting its first quarterly compliance data on 5 July. The policy standardises document formats and fee schedules across municipalities while leaving implementation timelines to each local authority.

Effects on daily applications and fees

A homeowner seeking approval for a two-storey extension in Ward 32 now uploads architectural drawings and pays the 8,500-taka processing fee at the time of submission rather than queuing at the ward office. Corporation records show the average applicant previously waited 21 days for an initial review; the new system routes files automatically to the engineering and revenue departments, with status updates sent by SMS. Small traders applying for renewal of a shop licence face the same single-window process, eliminating the need to visit multiple counters for tax clearance and fire-safety verification.

The 2025-26 Dhaka South budget allocates 450 million taka specifically for portal maintenance, staff training and server capacity. Of that amount, 180 million taka covers hardware upgrades at the corporation headquarters on Nagar Bhaban Road. Officials have scheduled 40 training sessions for ward commissioners and 120 designated help-desk staff through the end of September.

Position relative to other city corporations

Internal Ministry dashboards released on 3 July list projected average processing times once full digitisation is achieved: 12 days in Dhaka South, 20 days in Chittagong City Corporation and 18 days in Sylhet. The figures derive from pilot runs conducted between January and May 2026 in each jurisdiction. Dhaka South’s earlier start date accounts for the shorter timeline, while Chittagong continues to process a backlog of 4,200 paper files submitted before its portal launch in April.

Full rollout across all remaining wards is scheduled for 15 December 2026. The corporation will publish monthly statistics on approval volumes and rejection reasons beginning in August, as required under the national policy’s transparency clause.