Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation password laxity a risk for property owners

Hyderabad: Citizens’ ownership of property is under threat because of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) officials’ failure to change their usernames and passwords on the e-Office system. They are continuing to use the default password, which is even known to DTP operators at the corporation’s headquarters, zonal offices and circle offices. The e-Office system has been installed at the GHMC offices by the department of municipal administration and urban development in coordination with the National Informatics Centre (NIC), Hyderabad, and the IT department. 

The NIC has set “ghmc@123” as the default password for all accounts.  Officials are expected to log in for the first time using the default password and then change their usernames and passwords to keep the system secure. However, according to highly placed sources in the GHMC, the negligent officials have not bothered to change their passwords and have shared the default password with DTP operators.  This has resulted in several irregularities. Sources say that several computer operators have been caught mutating data.

However, the GHMC officials do not seem to have learnt their lesson. Despite irregularities having been brought to light, the officials are yet to change their usernames and passwords. Sources say that some officials even leave their digital keys with the computer operators. A senior GHMC official, on condition of anonymity, admitted that it had been brought to their notice that most officers were continuing to use the default usernames and password on the e-Office system.

“Computer operators can only check the status of a file by logging in with officials’ credentials; they cannot process e-Office files,” the official said. When asked about the practice of leaving digital keys with the operators, the official said it if that was the case, it was a matter of concern. He said that officials should be careful about whom they share their digital keys with.

Civic body threatens to seize assets of tax defaulters 

For those expecting penalty waivers related to property tax this year, there is some bad news. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is all set to crack the whip on property tax defaulters, making it clear that there would be no penalty waivers. The civic body has decided to crackdown on the 4.5 lakh erring property owners beginning Monday, in order to collect property tax dues amounting to Rs 168 crore. The civic body, earlier this month had served ‘red’ notices to defaulters in all 30 circles, asking them to clear their property tax dues within the stipulated time, beginning from the date of issuance of the notices.

Failure to clear the existing dues even after receiving ‘red’ notices, would force the GHMC to execute a distress warrant, to seize their movable properties under Section 269 (2) of the GHMC Act.  The corporation has already issued as many as 340 notices till date and they were ready to act on chronic defaulters. As on February 18, GHMC has collected over Rs 931 crores as property tax. Last year, it was Rs 751 crores during the same period. A senior official of GHMC said that they were on the right track regarding the collection of property dues, and that the target of Rs 1,400 crores would be achieved. The corporation has set a target of Rs 470 crores in 42 days. 

The official said that GHMC circle offices that had the most commercial outlets, such as Abids, Khairatabad, Serilingampally and Kukatpally, had formed teams to identify defaulting malls and stores. “Those failing to pay their tax after repeated notices and warnings would have their names on the flexes and seizures would follow. It is a departmental issue, unlike private holders,” the official added. Meanwhile, tax collectors have been directed to meet defaulters personally or to reach out to them either through phone or SMS for clearing their pending taxes. “Every bill collector in each of the 30 circles has a target of Rs 10 crores by this month end,” said the official.

On the flip side, several property tax owners complained that even though they had been clearing their property tax dues regularly, every financial year, they had still been receiving continuous SMSs pertaining to clearing their property tax dues, failing which they would be issued notices. P. Sridhar, a resident of Nacharam, said that even though he had cleared the tax dues for both the current and the previous years, he had still been receiving continuous text messages from the civic body to clear his property tax dues or else he would receive a notice that his property would be seized. 

Over 13K approvals issued this year

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has issued as many as 13,595 online building permissions which is 50 per cent more than the previous financial year. By this time last financial year, the corporation has accorded 8,704 building permissions. The corporation has generated a revenue of Rs 4,092.46 crore for the current financial year. 

After giving huge relief to online building applicants, the Telangana government directed GHMC to grant permissions within 21 days. If any civic body fails to give permission in the stipulated time, permission is deemed to be granted.  The state government has also decided to impose a penalty of Rs 1,000 per day on the official or staff concerned for the delay and will be deducted from his salary.