Even though BBMP has provided the ability to pay property tax online, it still requires the taxpayer to was at BBMP office, get a challan and pay the money in person when paying for the first time.
As expected, I could not find any clear instructions on how to pay the property tax. So I thought I would post my experience here. Please note that this process was done from August to September 2016 and it may change based on BBMP whims
First there was a problem in identifying which BBMP office holds the jurisdiction over the area where my residence is. I call the BBMP office but they could not provide any details .The builder was not of much help either. And my neighbours had not paid property taxes until now so I was kind of a guinea pig for this process.
I took a copy of my registered sales deed to the nearest BBMP office that I could see from the Google maps. I decided to reach there by 3 PM so that even if the BBMP officers took a late lunch, they would hopefully be functional by that time. Unfortunately, there was no one there and after waiting for 15 minutes, another taxpayer turned up and assured me that there is one person who would be coming in the next 15 minutes because he had talked to him earlier in the morning. It turned out that there was only one person working in that office. I finally got to meet him at around 3:45 PM . He asked me about the name of the apartment and approximate location and then told me to go to another BBMP office. He was kind enough to give the directions.
Dutifully i went to that BBMP office. They again asked me the name of the apartment and directed me to another neighbouring BBMP office. Once I was there, the process was repeated and I was directed to a 3rd BBMP office. Luckily, all of these were at walking distance of each other so I could cover them within 30 minutes.
At the third office, the person took a copy of the sales deed, helped me fill up a form in Kannada and told me that I would get an allotment number in SMS and only after that, I would be able to pay my property taxes. He never gave me any kind of acknowledgement for having filled the application so I was kind of apprehensive but I did get an allotment number within one week.
After a few days, I went to get the challan and reached there at 3 PM as usual. The person told me that the challan is only available between 10 and 2 PM because apparently BBMP computers work only during that time. So then after a few days I again went at 11 AM. He generated a challan but it was valid for only one day. Of course he never told me about this and even though it was printed on the challan, the ink was fuzzy so I could not figure it out. It was only when I read an SMS delivered to me about an hour later that I realised that I need to find a bank to pay the property tax.
Given my chronic pain condition, I can best manage to do one errand every few days. I was already exhausted by the trip to BBMP. But then I have to comply with the powers that be so I strapped on my tens unit along with the abdominal band and went to the nearest ICICI bank that was listed as one of the places that will accept payment. At that branch, I was asked to go to a bigger branch of ICICI. I asked them to confirm by calling the bigger branch. "No problem sir - I already spoken you can go there in the process will be completed in 10 minutes" - said the person who was helping me. And of course there was a problem when I went to the bigger branch because they flatly refused and said that BBMP did not give them access.
By this time, I was barely able to stand and they must have saw this and thankfully one of them suggested that I go to a nearby HDFC bank to see if they would accept the payment. So I was back walking on the road with the tens unit set to the highest setting and somehow squeezing my abdomen to reduce the pain.
At HDFC, they said they would accept the payment but they would not accept only cash payment even though the challan listed that payment can be made by cheque or demand draft. So once again I went out got cash from the ATM and finally completed the transaction.
In summary, following points need to be paid attention to
1. Identify the BBMP office that will have jurisdiction over the place of your property.
2. Carry a copy of the sales deed to that office
2. Provide a mobile number to which they will send an SMS
4. Once the SMS is received, go to the BBMP office between 10 and 2 PM and make sure you carry the mobile which received the SMS because they somehow need to see the SMS and will not believe you if you just give the number
5. Carry the required amount for the property tax in cash to HDFC bank
As expected, I could not find any clear instructions on how to pay the property tax. So I thought I would post my experience here. Please note that this process was done from August to September 2016 and it may change based on BBMP whims
First there was a problem in identifying which BBMP office holds the jurisdiction over the area where my residence is. I call the BBMP office but they could not provide any details .The builder was not of much help either. And my neighbours had not paid property taxes until now so I was kind of a guinea pig for this process.
I took a copy of my registered sales deed to the nearest BBMP office that I could see from the Google maps. I decided to reach there by 3 PM so that even if the BBMP officers took a late lunch, they would hopefully be functional by that time. Unfortunately, there was no one there and after waiting for 15 minutes, another taxpayer turned up and assured me that there is one person who would be coming in the next 15 minutes because he had talked to him earlier in the morning. It turned out that there was only one person working in that office. I finally got to meet him at around 3:45 PM . He asked me about the name of the apartment and approximate location and then told me to go to another BBMP office. He was kind enough to give the directions.
Dutifully i went to that BBMP office. They again asked me the name of the apartment and directed me to another neighbouring BBMP office. Once I was there, the process was repeated and I was directed to a 3rd BBMP office. Luckily, all of these were at walking distance of each other so I could cover them within 30 minutes.
At the third office, the person took a copy of the sales deed, helped me fill up a form in Kannada and told me that I would get an allotment number in SMS and only after that, I would be able to pay my property taxes. He never gave me any kind of acknowledgement for having filled the application so I was kind of apprehensive but I did get an allotment number within one week.
After a few days, I went to get the challan and reached there at 3 PM as usual. The person told me that the challan is only available between 10 and 2 PM because apparently BBMP computers work only during that time. So then after a few days I again went at 11 AM. He generated a challan but it was valid for only one day. Of course he never told me about this and even though it was printed on the challan, the ink was fuzzy so I could not figure it out. It was only when I read an SMS delivered to me about an hour later that I realised that I need to find a bank to pay the property tax.
Given my chronic pain condition, I can best manage to do one errand every few days. I was already exhausted by the trip to BBMP. But then I have to comply with the powers that be so I strapped on my tens unit along with the abdominal band and went to the nearest ICICI bank that was listed as one of the places that will accept payment. At that branch, I was asked to go to a bigger branch of ICICI. I asked them to confirm by calling the bigger branch. "No problem sir - I already spoken you can go there in the process will be completed in 10 minutes" - said the person who was helping me. And of course there was a problem when I went to the bigger branch because they flatly refused and said that BBMP did not give them access.
By this time, I was barely able to stand and they must have saw this and thankfully one of them suggested that I go to a nearby HDFC bank to see if they would accept the payment. So I was back walking on the road with the tens unit set to the highest setting and somehow squeezing my abdomen to reduce the pain.
At HDFC, they said they would accept the payment but they would not accept only cash payment even though the challan listed that payment can be made by cheque or demand draft. So once again I went out got cash from the ATM and finally completed the transaction.
In summary, following points need to be paid attention to
1. Identify the BBMP office that will have jurisdiction over the place of your property.
2. Carry a copy of the sales deed to that office
2. Provide a mobile number to which they will send an SMS
4. Once the SMS is received, go to the BBMP office between 10 and 2 PM and make sure you carry the mobile which received the SMS because they somehow need to see the SMS and will not believe you if you just give the number
5. Carry the required amount for the property tax in cash to HDFC bank
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