Greater Bengaluru Authority faces backlash over ‘software charge’ on property owners

The Greater Bengaluru Authority’s (GBA) decision to levy a ₹200 ‘software charge’ from property owners has triggered criticism from citizens, who have questioned the need for yet another levy when they are already paying property tax and garbage cess.

The five city corporations under the GBA have started collecting the ₹200 charge from property owners along with the annual property tax. For commercial properties, officials said the charge would be ₹1,000. There has been no official announcement from the GBA explaining the levy. Officials, however, said the annual charge was being collected towards the “maintenance” of digital services and software.

Property owners have questioned why citizens should be made to pay separately for software and digital services, particularly when several basic civic services remain inadequate. They have questioned why they are being asked to pay a separate annual charge for software and digital services that civic bodies were already using.