Bengaluru authority orders digital, deadline-based contractor payment system

The Greater Bengaluru Authority will introduce a digital and time-bound system for processing contractor bills across the city’s five corporations. Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda directed the authority to overhaul the existing process for works financed through government grants and corporations’ own resources. The stated aim is to speed up payments, improve transparency and assign responsibility at each stage.

Under the revised system, bills will move through the Integrated Financial Management System. A project management consultant will scrutinise them, field engineers will verify and certify the work, and the chief engineer will conduct pre-audit and approve payment. Each stage will have a prescribed deadline.

If an officer does not act within that period, the bill will be treated as approved and forwarded to the next level. Any rejection must be accompanied by reasons recorded in the system. Payments will be made directly to contractors’ registered bank accounts through the financial system, using OTP-based authentication instead of manual RTGS transactions.

Contract management will also be integrated into the platform. The authority said progress recorded by engineers in the Real-time Information Monitoring System would be linked to bill processing. It will launch a public dashboard showing the status of ongoing and completed works, and display the responsible engineer and contractor at each worksite.

The GBA also plans an Internal Audit Wing to supplement annual audits by the Chief Auditor. It said the reforms would reduce delays, strengthen financial oversight and improve quality control.