BBMP’s online services floundering; plaints fall on deaf ears, say citizens

BENGALURU: Bengalureans are struggling to access eservices offered by the

local civic body

, notwithstanding the city’s status as the IT capital of India.


Generating khata online and paying

property tax

on the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (

BBMP

) portal have become arduous, prompting citizens to physically approach officials at the local ward office or go to the nearest BangaloreOne centres, completely defeating the very objective of online services.



Harish BL, an accountant living in

BTM Layout

, said he could generate an online khata only after trying for a month, but is yet to have his khata transferred. Repeated complaints at the ward office, Sakala helpline and the head office were of no use.

“After trying the whole of April, I was finally able to generate a khata online in June. Now I’m trying to get it transferred. While I could fill up the forms, the process would get stuck at the submission stage. When I contacted the helpline listed on the website, they directed me to dial another number for help. I was then told that they are aware of the glitches and are working on fixing them. Meanwhile, they asked me to visit a Bangalore-One centre to get the khata transferred,” said Harish. However, both the Bangalore-One centres Harish visited, one at Rajarajeshwari Nagar and another at Jayanagar, reported server problems for several weeks.

“The server was down in both places. I visited the Jayanagar centre many times, as it’s closer to my home, but they kept sending me back. Many senior citizens too were sent back. All IT services seemed to have come to a standstill. They make big news by announcing that multiple services can be accessed online, but it’s all an eyewash. Can the Silicon City not fix such a small problem,” wonder Harish.