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