The Hindu 06.12.2017
BBMP finds Rs. 213 cr. in its old accounts
A financial spring cleaning exercise by the Bruhat Bengaluru
Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) threw up a pleasant surprise for the
cash-strapped civic body. At a time when it claims that its coffers are
running low, it stumbled upon unspent money of over Rs. 200 crore in
around 50 ‘dormant bank accounts’ recently.
The BBMP has over 630
accounts in various banks across the city. To bring in financial
prudence into the system, the civic body decided to consolidate its
accounts and close the unnecessary ones. In the process, the Chief
Accounts Officer (CAO) and his staff found these dormant accounts with
five-digit account numbers.
“When we began verifying the list of
630 accounts, we found some five-digit account numbers. Clearly, these
were before core banking was adopted by the banks. We approached the
respective banks and found that these accounts had unspent amount of Rs.
213 crore,” the source said.
This “unspent amount” was used by
the BBMP to clear a part of the garbage bills and Bescom bills for
street lights, and repay a part of the HUDCO loan.
It is likely
that the BBMP will unearth more forgotten funds as it sifts through
hundreds of accounts. Sources in the office of the CAO told
The Hindu
that another 35 dormant accounts were found on Saturday. However, they are yet to ascertain the amount deposited in them.
Total no. of ‘dormant accounts’ found: 85
Total no. of accounts held by BBMP: Over 630
No. of active accounts: 419