Munish Moudgil.
Bengaluru: In response to public complaints about delays and harassment in clearing e-khata applications, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has introduced a new system that randomly assigns applications to revenue officers in a round-robin manner.
The move is expected to eliminate middlemen interference while putting pressure on revenue officers and assistant revenue officers to clear the files faster.
It also strips officers of exclusive control over files from their respective jurisdictions, a change likely to face resistance from BBMP staff.
Under the system, already in effect, applications from one zone may be assigned to officers in other zones based on backlog. This aims to evenly distribute the workload, especially since zones in the city’s outskirts are handling more e-khata requests than those in central areas.
Citizens are encouraged to apply for khata-related services online. Offline submissions at the BBMP offices risk being excluded from the BBMP system and escaping scrutiny.
Each revenue officer will initially receive 50 e-khata and tax-related applications.
“As and when applications are disposed of, an equal number will be re-allotted. Each officer gets three days per case. In case of delays, the application will be removed from his or her log in and re-allotted to others randomly,” said Munish Moudgil, BBMP Special Commissioner.
Reassigned applications will retain their original seniority, following a first-in-first-out basis. If unresolved within the second login deadline, the file will escalate to a zonal-level special team under senior revenue officers.
The BBMP circular also warns against arbitrary rejections, stating such cases will be auto-escalated to the appellate authority. Only the deputy commissioner (revenue) or higher is authorised to reject applications.