Senior citizen B.M. Srinivasamurthy got a rude shock when he went to the local revenue office to pay the tax on his property at Manjunath Nagar in Ittamadu. The challan generated was for a whopping ₹1.59 crore as compared the ₹6,235 he had paid last year.
His case is not a one-off incident. Due to glitches in the software, developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), several thousand property owners across the city are complaining of inflated bills.
The portal is managed by the BBMP’s IT cell.
D.R. Prakash, property tax expert and president of the Osborne Road Area Residents’ Welfare Association, told The Hindu that NIC has to fix the technical glitch. “However, the problem is that the programmer is not allowed to meet the end user. The software is developed based on instructions given by civic officials.”
After the chaos last fiscal following changes in tax zones, the BBMP and NIC officials had nearly 18 months to rectify the glitches, failed to do so.
There are several proposals before the BBMP to fix these glitches, including one by the BBMP Restructuring Committee.
“We have proposed a holistic fix, a one-time exercise, that will result in a robust, spatially designated database. This will help streamline the whole process and aid the BBMP in getting more revenue,” said V. Ravichandar, member of the committee.
Manjunath Reddy, Commissioner, BBMP, told The Hindu , “If there are any cases of unusual inflation, they may be brought to our attention. These may be one-off cases.”
Problem getting rebate
The BBMP has urged citizens to make use of the extension of the rebate period. The 5% rebate has been extended till June 15. The BBMP has collected ₹1,220 crore thus far, as against the target of ₹2,900 crore.
However, some citizens could not avail the rebate. D.R. Prakash, property tax expert and president of the Osborne Road Area Residents’ Welfare Association, blamed it on the lack of coordination between the officials and elected representatives. “Though the mayor announced extension of the rebate period, officials claimed they did not get the communication from her office.”
BBMP officials later said that assistant revenue officers have been empowered to rectify mistakes in the property tax calculations.
