Bhopal Municipal Corporation Server To Remain Shut For Two Days, Online Tax Payments Suspended

The Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) server will be offline on Saturday and Sunday, halting property tax payments and other online services such as financial transactions, tendering, and e-filing. This shutdown is part of a migration project to move around 5.5 lakh property tax records to the Madhya Pradesh government's e-Nagar Palika 2.0 platform.

The decision to transition to the state's platform emerged after Free Press highlighted scams and vulnerabilities associated with the SAP-based system, including a Rs 14 lakh tax embezzlement case in Ward 33.

Software migration is scheduled to commence on Friday evening, with the initial phase concentrating on integrating property accounts. The city's urban administration officials were briefed by BMC employees on Thursday to facilitate a seamless transition. To minimize disruptions during the corporation's offices' reopening on Monday, the IT team's leave has been cancelled for the two-day exercise.

BMC has relied on its proprietary software for managing property tax accounts, payments, employee salaries, and civil works files for years. However, discrepancies in property tax records and inadequate oversight of online processes have raised concerns. The city is home to approximately 5.5 lakh residential and commercial property tax accounts, along with over 2.5 lakh water tax accounts.

Duplicate property accounts have been a persistent issue. Officials intend to identify and eliminate these duplicates during the migration process, potentially necessitating departmental approval for corrections.