Income categories (EWS, LIG, MIG, HIG)

Income categories the authority uses to price and reserve flats; the first two carry an income ceiling. MHADA writes them out in full on its own lottery portal - Economically Weaker Section, Lower Income Group, Middle Income Group, Higher Income Group - and sets the earnest money by category: across its three Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar lotteries it asks ₹5,000 from an EWS applicant, ₹10,000 for LIG, ₹15,000 for MIG and ₹20,000 for HIG. The ceiling itself is set scheme by scheme and not nationally. DDA's Janta Awaas Yojana Phase II caps annual family income at ₹10 lakh and wants an income or EWS certificate from the SDM or Tehsildar; GDA's first come first served scheme has no income limit at all, and its brochure's income code section says so in terms.

The category changes what you pay before you pay anything: on one MHADA lottery the same application costs ₹5,000 in EWS and ₹20,000 in HIG.

Where a ceiling does apply the certificate has to be dated on or before the last date of registration, so it is worth getting before the window opens rather than during it.