For many, Bangalore One is Bangalore none

For many, Bangalore One is Bangalore none
Deccan Herald

Due to “internal differences” many of the promised services at the B1 centres were not available and many went back disappointed.

Birth pangs seem to be troubling the Bangalore One project. There has been more attendance and less services at the IT-enabled Bangalore One centres in its first two days of operations.

What most Bangaloreans wanted were facilities for payment of property tax, issue of khata certificate, renewal of Learner’s Licence and new passport application forms — and this they did not get. As it turned out, only three of the promised eight services are presently being provided by B1 - that of BWSSB, BSNL and BESCOM. According to sources, due to some “internal differences”, the facilities of BMP, RTO, Stamps and Registration, Passport Office and Police Department have not been made available yet. “However, they will be introduced within ten days,” said a B1 employee.

Peak time
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“This is peak time for property-related payments. Since I have been reading about BMP services being provided by B1 in the newspapers, I came here to pay my tax. But the staffer told me that the facility is not available, so now I have to pay in the BMP’s citizen service centre,” said Ashok Agarwal who had visited the Malleswaram B1 centre.

Meanwhile, Mr Rajeev Chawla, Secretary, e-Governance department that is responsible for the setting up of B1 centres, claimed to be unaware of the limited facilities at the B1 centres. When contacted by Deccan Herald, he said, “as I was out of town, I did not know about this. I will talk to the BMP and other departments on Tuesday and settle the issues as soon as possible,” he said.

Only 2 staff members

A visit to the Bangalore One centre at Divyashree Chambers in Shanthinagar on Monday evening found two staff members and no customers. The situation was the same at the Malleswaram Bangalore One centre at the BWSSB office on 18th cross. An employee at B1 centre in Shanthinagar revealed that over thirty visitors had to return disappointed from his centre as BMP-related services were not available. The B1s had received an average of five transactions on Sunday, which increased to ten on Monday.