Karnataka revises penalties for officials, false grievances under new Act

The Karnataka government has introduced new provisions in the Karnataka Sakala Services (Amendment) Act, 2026, to revise penalties for officials who fail to deliver services or dismiss appeals within the prescribed time frame. Under the amended rules, such officials will face financial penalties, which will be directly deducted from their salaries and awarded as compensation to the aggrieved party.

For delays ranging from one to five days, a penalty of ₹20 per day applies, up to a maximum of ₹100. For delays between 21 and 25 days, the penalty escalates to ₹100 per day, with a cumulative maximum of ₹1,500. Moreover, officials who wrongfully reject applications without valid grounds will face a penalty of up to ₹1,500. To discourage the misuse of the grievance mechanism, the amendment empowers authorities to penalize citizens who file false or malicious complaints, with fines of ₹1,500 per application for each instance.

Repeat offenders will face an additional fine of ₹1,500 per instance, which can be recovered as arrears of land revenue.