BHOPALMunicipal Corporation (BMC) will migrate more than 3.5 lakh residential and commercial property tax accounts from its existing SAP software to the Madhya Pradesh Government’s e-Nagarpalika 2.0 platform. Commissioner Sanskriti Jain took the decision following complaints of irregularities, fraud and manipulation in property tax records. Under the new system, requests to increase or reduce property tax assessments will have to be sent to the Urban Administration and Development Department (UADD) for approval instead of being processed directly at ward level. Rs 14 lakh irregularity under scanner:The move follows concerns over the handling of property tax records under the existing system. In one case involving Ward 33, around Rs 14 lakh was allegedly collected through receipts issued by two employees but was not reflected in the online tax records. The case highlighted gaps in monitoring payments and updating accounts.

 

Duplicate accounts to be removed:During migration, the civic body plans to identify and remove duplicate property tax accounts. Such records have caused problems for taxpayers who continue to appear as defaulters even after paying tax against one account. The corporation has around 3.5 lakh property tax accounts and more than 2.5 lakh water tax accounts. Water tax records also to shift: Water tax accounts will also be migrated to e-Nagarpalika 2.0. At present, SAP is used for property and water tax records, employee salaries and files related to civil works. Corrections may take longer: Under the current system, errors such as incorrect property area could be corrected at ward level after a complaint. Under eNagar Palika 2.0, such changes will also require a file to be sent to UADD, potentially lengthening the correction process.