Latest news with #K-Smart
Time of India
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Kochi corporation faces heat over missing building data in K-Smart portal
Kochi: Of the 2.5 lakh building permits assessed within Kochi city limits, data related to nearly 50,000 buildings is missing from the Kochi Corporation's database—a serious issue that has disrupted tax payments and licence renewals for many property owners. So far, over 1,450 building owners have lodged formal complaints with the civic body. Corporation officials said efforts are underway to physically verify missing records and minimize inconvenience to the public. The issue primarily stems from the time when TCS was managing the e-governance programme. After the contract was scrapped due to delays and payment disputes, the private firm withheld data, including critical building permit details. Opposition councillors blame the situation on the administration's failure to spot discrepancies during the software transition. "Thousands of building numbers were omitted from the e-portal. The owners only realize this when they try to pay tax. We suspect the actual number could be higher than 50,000," said Antony Kureethra, leader of the opposition. MG Aristotle, secretary of the UDF parliamentary party and member of the finance committee, pointed out that according to Section 240 of municipal rules, building numbers can only be omitted after clearing tax dues and restoration requires permission from the regional joint director. "When the transition from Sanchaya software to K-Smart took place, tens of thousands of buildings were left out. People only discover the issue when they attempt to make payments," said Aristotle, adding that the corporation still lacks clarity on the total number of missing records. Officials have considered assigning sub-numbers to the omitted buildings, but this creates legal complications, especially when the original numbers are mentioned in title deeds and official documents. A senior official maintained that data pertaining to most buildings are now available with K-Smart. However, he failed to give the exact numbers but took credit for reinforcing the stalled e-governance project in corporation limits. "When we assumed power in 2020, the e-governance project was delayed by a decade. At a time when even the Kuttampuzha panchayat, which is located in the remote area of the district, issued e-birth certificates and marriage certificates, people had to stand in queue in front of the Kochi corporation office to register birth, death, marriage, etc and get certificates," he said. "Tiding over all the crises during the tenure of the previous two councils, we gathered data, roped in IKM, and implemented the e-governance project by 2022. Now, all our services are available through K-Smart," the official added.
The Hindu
12-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Missing building numbers in K-Smart continue to trouble taxpayers
Building numbers remain missing from K-Smart within Kochi Corporation limits, as evident from continued complaints by taxpayers who are unable to pay property tax due to the issue. Corporation officials have attributed the problem to possible omissions during the data migration process to the new software. The Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) alleged that thousands of building numbers were missing from K-Smart and blamed the distress of taxpayers—who often need tax receipts for various purposes—on the inefficiency and apathy of the Corporation. The data migration from the earlier Sanchaya software began a couple of years ago. 'Thousands of building numbers went missing from K-Smart due to the absence of the digital signature of the parties concerned. Only cases involving owners who pay tax yearly have come to light. Many more may remain undetected, as a large number of people pay the tax only once in three or four years, especially when they require tax receipts,' said M.G. Aristotle, member of the Corporation's finance standing committee and UDF parliamentary party secretary. However, revenue officials of the Corporation insisted that only a negligible building numbers remain missing in K-Smart, attributing it to possible omissions during data entry. 'Whenever taxpayers raise such issues, we verify the numbers concerned against the assessment register. Our inspectors then conduct field inspections, and based on their reports, we report the matter to the Information Kerala Mission, which promptly carries out the necessary back-end corrections,' said revenue sources. Since large parts of the assessment register were illegible due to its archaic nature, the Corporation, with council approval, introduced a system allowing taxpayers—whose numbers were not found in the register despite having paid tax—to self-assess using Form 2. Revenue inspectors then verified these before inclusion in K-Smart. The demolition of buildings without notifying the Corporation has also added to the problem. 'According to Section 240 of the Municipal Act, a building can be demolished only after clearing tax dues. It has emerged that over 1,000 buildings have been demolished, making verification difficult. Data entry omissions are inexcusable, especially since the Corporation spent ₹30 lakh on data entry alone as a precursor to K-Smart's rollout. Issuing sub-numbers as a temporary fix for missing building numbers will only complicate matters for owners who have recorded the original building numbers in important documents,' said Mr. Aristotle.
The Hindu
30-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
CM inaugurates new office building of Vadakara municipality
Government services are among the rights of the public, and government officials are duty-bound to deliver these services, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said while inaugurating the new office building of the Vadakara municipality here on Monday (June 30). 'Services like K-Smart were introduced so that the public does not have to keep visiting the offices. The officials should understand the intentions completely and work accordingly,' he said. The Chief Minister appreciated the municipality for setting up an office suited to current times and for its efforts to improve the overall living standards of people in the town. 'The State is being urbanised at a fast pace. We need to take into consideration its possibilities as well as its challenges. We need to focus on environment-friendly development,' he said, calling for better and more efficient methods of waste disposal and for moving towards a 'Carbon Neutral' Kerala. Minister for Public Works P.A. Mohamed Riyas presided over the event. Minister for Forests A.K. Saseendran, Vadakara MLA K.K. Rema, Vadakara MP Shafi Parambil, and Kuttiady MLA K.P. Kunhahammadkutty were the guests of honour on the occasion. Chairperson of the municipality K.P. Bindu, Vice Chairman P.K. Satheeshan, chairpersons of various standing committees, and councillors were also present. The new office-cum-shopping complex of the Vadakara Municipality is a four-storeyed structure built at a cost of ₹15 crore. It includes a council hall, lifts, fire control systems, parking facilities, and separate rooms for each wing. The council hall has been designed in the style of the Kerala Legislative Assembly hall. Vadakara is the first municipality in the State to adopt the net-zero campaign, aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to near zero and offset the remaining emissions through carbon removal. Accordingly, the new office will be maintained in adherence to green protocol and net carbon guidelines.
Time of India
23-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Crisis emerges in obtaining building numbers through K-Smart portal
Kochi: A crisis has emerged in obtaining building numbers through K-Smart, online portal of Kochi corporation. Owners of buildings who submitted applications for building permits through IBPMS, a software used for this purpose earlier, are now facing issues in getting building numbers. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Until a couple of years ago, applications were processed through IBPMS. When corporation introduced K-Smart portal, processing of applications switched over to IKEM, a software developed by Information Kerala Mission (IKM), govt's IT arm. "Building number cannot be obtained because completion details are not available through IBPMS software. Govt had earlier entrusted TCS to implement e-governance project of corporation. Later, govt scrapped TCS and entrusted the duty to IKM. As corporation didn't pay the amount claimed by TCS, the firm didn't provide the data they entered during their tenure," said UDF councillor Henry Austin. Engineering department does not have access to any data on a building that has received occupancy in IBPMS. "Due to govt's failure to pay, residents of Kochi are suffering. When this issue was brought to the attention of IKEM officials, they feigned ignorance. The response was that they have not yet received any database related to IBPMS software. Corporation officials too wash their hands of it. Public has to spend a large amount again to submit as a new file through K-Smart, in addition to the loss of time. Due to govt's negligence, corruption and loss of important documents, this situation has occurred. If someone moves court, we don't know which documents corporation will submit related to building construction," Austin said.
Time of India
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Illegal flags and boards: Audit plaints received through K-Smart app, Kerala HC tells LSGI secretary
Kochi: High court has directed the local self-govt institutions (LSGI) secretary to conduct an audit of complaints received through the 'K-Smart' application regarding the placing of unauthorised boards, flags and similar materials across the state. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Justice Devan Ramachandran issued the directive while considering a 2018 petition seeking judicial intervention against the illegal erection of boards, banners, flags and festoons in public spaces. The bench had earlier disposed of the petition on March 13, directing secretaries of local self-govt institutions to strictly enforce the court's orders and relevant state govt circulars to curb the menace. A compliance report was also ordered. However, the amicus curiae informed HC that complaints lodged through the 'K-Smart' application were not being properly accounted for or acted upon. Taking serious note of this, the court directed the LSGI secretary to audit the complaints received on 'K-Smart' since the date of the judgment and submit a report by June 6 detailing the number of complaints received, action taken, fines collected, FIRs registered and officers responsible. The amicus curiae also highlighted that, although the Thiruvananthapuram corporation had recently removed a large number of unauthorised boards, many still remained. The corporation's standing counsel confirmed that over 4,500 boards had been removed about a week ago and that further removal was in progress. The court remarked that the issue can be effectively tackled only through the imposition of fines and the initiation of criminal proceedings. It also sought a detailed report from the corporation secretary on the matter.
