Civic body to go online with data on licences

“We plan to display licences for the common public to see. The aim is to make the information, which can be otherwise sought under RTI, accessible to all,” said Additional Municipal Commissioner Aseem Gupta.

“The information on all the licensed shops, establishments will be displayed within a week, whereas the information on hospitals, hotels and maternity homes will take about 15 days,” Gupta said. “As the BMC is making all the information public, if a shop is illegal, it will be easier for a citizen to inform the authorities concerned,” said a senior official.

The city has about 4.8 lakh shops and establishments registered with the BMC. These include, shops, commercial establishments, residential hotels, restaurants and eateries and theaters. The website will continuously provide updates on the renewed licences and the new ones given by the civic body.

The civic body had started the facility of providing death and birth certificates online two years back. Introduced under BMCs e-governance, the plan failed to take off. After being functional for a year, the facility was put on hold. According to an official with the IT department, about 1,000 requests were received for obtaining certificates during the year. “The facility received poor response as the certificates were delivered through courier service which created confusion,” said G T Ambe, Chief Health Officer. 

“Now we have got in-principle approval for using digitised signature system by the Centre and will be able to implement this technology soon,” said Ambe adding, “We have put in the request to our IT department for the same.”

Meanwhile, the BMC is also planning to offer registration and renewal of licenses for shops and establishments within the next three months. “We are planning to introduce renewal of licences for buildings and factories in the second phase which might take about six months,” said Y S Mhangadhe, deputy director, IT Department.