BENGALURU: Having digitized about 22 lakh properties to eliminate fraud and also improve annual tax collection, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is now ready to bring 5 lakh more properties, which don’t have khatas, under the BBMP’s tax ambit by issuing khatas.
In an interaction with media here on Friday, BBMP Revenue Commissioner Munish Moudgil said the Palike will launch a portal soon, enabling property owners who don’t have any type of khata, to obtain new e-khata. “As per rough estimation, there are about 5 lakh properties in the city which do not have a khata. We want them to get e-khata and also pay taxes regularly.”
BBMP will have these property segments under its ambit. Property owners will get an opportunity to obtain khata. Those obtaining new khata will have to pay tax dues from the date of registration. For many years, property owners have remaining outside the tax bracket of the civic body, which is taking several measures to boost its revenue.
Moudgil further clarified that the portal will be exclusively for those who have no manual khata. People who already have khata should not apply for new khata on this portal as it may cause duplication. He added that the modalities are being worked out to avoid confusion and loss of time.
He also shared the Palike’s initiatives to bring transparency in the issue of khata by bringing faceless mechanisms like switching e-khata and ensuring that tax defaulters fall in line, and use the One Time Settlement scheme to pay tax dues.
Mobile application for e-khata
Moudgil also said that within a few days, BBMP will be launching a mobile application for citizens to apply for e-khata. The app will have features like uploading pictures of the property and geo-tagging the location.
Further, to ease the process of getting e-khata, the tool will be extended to local private enterprises, such as cyber centres. “We will extend service to LPEs for citizens to have easy access.
This service will be in line with Grama One. BBMP will authorise LPEs to provide this service for a fixed price. It will help citizens get e-khata while eliminating middlemen or agents,” the senior official said.