Bengaluru: A new line item on property-tax bills has put Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) in the middle of a fresh controversy, with BJP leaders dubbing it a “software tax” and questioning the legal basis and transparency of the levy.The charge, listed as “Software Charges” on property-tax receipts, is Rs 200 a year for residential properties and Rs 1,000 for commercial properties.State BJP president BY Vijayendra has questioned why property owners should separately pay for software and digital systems used by the civic administration. In a post on X, Vijayendra asked: “What exactly are citizens paying for? Why should people separately fund the govt software system? Is this not looting in broad daylight?”According to sources, the charge began appearing on the property-tax portal midway through the financial year. Property owners who had paid their tax earlier in the year reportedly did not initially see the additional component.GBA’s revenue department, however, has defended the move, saying the charge is based on the “user pays” principle and is intended to meet the cost of building, maintaining and upgrading the city’s digital infrastructure. GBA special commissioner (revenue and IT) Munish Moudgil said digital systems had transformed the delivery of civic services and that maintaining such infrastructure involved substantial expenditure.“In building a world-class city, we need world-class software and IT infrastructure. It costs money to create and maintain high-quality digital solutions. The charge is only Rs 200 a year for a residential property, which is a very small amount compared to the convenience and time savings citizens receive through online services,” Moudgil said.However, property taxpayers are not enthused. Shantharam Satnur responded to @TOIBengaluru on X: “After decades of computerisation and Bengaluru being the Silicon City of India, this is ridiculous!” Anil BR, another resident, was curious. He asked: “Are they writing software code for each property in tax payment?” While Akash Patel said it was another way of extorting money from public to fund freebies, another netizen Babu stated: “You cannot loot from the already overburdened tax base without delivering any meaningful services.”But GBA maintained that Bengaluru’s digital reforms have reduced dependence on manual processes while speeding up service delivery, and everything comes at a cost. Moudgil said nearly 12 lakh e-khatas had been issued in less than two years — a scale that, he maintained, would not have been possible through conventional systems. “On average, a citizen receives an e-Khata within about a week. Our disposal rate is around 98%, with applications taking seven to eight days on average. These outcomes have been achieved because of technology-enabled platforms,” he said.A retired govt official, who did not want to be named, slammed the civic authorities for fleecing taxpayers with these charges. “How can they keep charging citizens for everything, and also did they have a public consultation about the money that they are about to collect from us for the same? Which law allowed them to charge without asking the public?” a concerned citizen said.What is the new software charge?Rs 200 a year for residential propertiesRs 1,000 a year for commercial propertiesAppears as “Software Charges” on property-tax receiptsGBA says the money is meant to support digital and IT infrastructure
