Many citizens in Bengaluru recently received messages from the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) to link their RR numbers and PID in one of its portals, leaving them confused. It has to be noted that the linking is a part of the creation of a new united database of property IDs (PIDs), and power and water connection IDs to address the leakage in property tax collection. After a recent High Court order, the E-governance Department along with the Urban Development Department is creating this common database.
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The database, along with the regulation of property tax, is also expected to help automate many facilities for citizens. The Urban Development Department will engage with the agencies which will help municipalities implement this programme.
“It is a big task, and it will take some time. Many facilities provided to property owners can be automated with the same database,” said Rakesh Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department.
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He added, “In the urban administration, many things are missing from major radars, especially in Bengaluru. There are a large number of properties which have not been accounted for under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) or the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA). Every property should have some identification number from the civic body it falls under as it will provide them a totality of how much tax should be paid.”
Speaking about the integration of PID, and water and power connection IDs, Mr. Singh said that it would be difficult for people to escape from the radar of Escoms as it is not easy to forge electricity connections. “For proper identification of properties, we need common property IDs, which would also be essential to provide all services in a relatively seamless and uniform manner,” he added.
The BBMP also has its own roadmap to tackle the challenges that come with property tax collection, Chief Civic Commissioner of Bengaluru Tushar Giri Nath said. “We face many challenges. Sometimes at the time of collection, the PID will not match with the property as there will be more than one Bescom ID number. Due to this, our officers would have to do more groundwork,” Mr. Giri Nath said. While taking measures for integration with other civic bodies, the BBMP is also referring to the Urban Property Ownership Records (UPOR) drone survey which was conducted by the Revenue Department to identify properties in a better manner.