Glitches bring down BBMP’s 'upgraded' property tax site

Despite promising convenience, the BBMP’s upgraded website to pay property tax has technical glitches. 

The site may have payment facilities like UPI (Unified Payment Interface) and internet banking but citizens find it harder to download fee payment receipts and other documents. 

“I tried many times and couldn’t download the payment receipt. I got only an error box,” said Nisha P, from Doddanekkundi. “When I paid with my debit card, the site led me to the payment channel, but the money returned to my account as soon as I paid.” 

She said she repeated the process five times and found the money back in her account the next day. She succeeded only in the sixth attempt. “I also experienced payment gateway delays,” she added. 

Prakash H L, from Aramane Nagar, clicked on the box to change his ward without success. 

“I wanted to change the ward number from 35 to 20. I checked with the grievance cell, which directed me to the assistant revenue officer. It proved cumbersome. The BBMP should allow us to change it online,” he said,
adding that he could not download the tax applications for the 2019-2020 financial year. 

“While the government recommends digital payments, we are charged Rs 350 for credit card payment, excluding GST. This is quite expensive,” he said. 

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) said the glitches prevalent last year had been largely resolved. “The updated site allows citizens to pay the property tax easily,” BBMP Joint Commissioner (Revenue) Venkatachalapathy M maintained. 

“The process has been simplified without any alteration to the structure, usage or tenancy of their properties. Citizens get 5% discount if they pay the taxes before April 30,” Venkatachalapathy added.