Krishna Byre Gowda Orders Deemed Approval for Bengaluru Works Bills When Officials Miss Deadlines
Bengaluru: Public works bills across Bengaluru’s five city corporations will move to the next approval stage automatically if officials fail to act within prescribed deadlines, but officers who leave inspections undone will remain accountable if defects are subsequently found in the work, under reforms directed by Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda.
The proposed system combines deemed approval with individual accountability, seeking to prevent contractors’ bills from remaining pending indefinitely while retaining responsibility for checking the quality of public works.
According to a press note dated September 26, the reforms will apply uniformly to projects financed through Karnataka government grants and the city corporations’ own funds. All five corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) will follow a common system for bill management, works monitoring, quality control and payment.
The release specifies a seven-day period for local engineers to inspect work and submit their reports. Defined timelines will also apply to other stages, including verification by Project Management Consultants (PMCs) and quality checks.
If an official does not act within the stipulated period, the bill will be treated as “deemed approved” at that stage and move forward. However, an officer who fails to carry out the required verification within time will be held directly responsible if deficiencies are later detected in the work, the release said.
The seven-day period concerns the local engineers’ inspection and report, rather than a guarantee that the entire bill will be paid within seven days. Bills will still pass through the remaining scrutiny and approval stages, with payment made according to seniority in the payment queue.
The reforms also require officials to record reasons in the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) whenever a bill is withheld or rejected. Contractors will consequently be able to see where their bills are pending and why they have been stopped.
The government intends to replace the earlier sequence of manual, handwritten checks with a digital process that assigns responsibility at each stage and reduces unnecessary approval steps. The stated objective is to address prolonged delays and uncertainty in the submission, scrutiny and payment of public works bills.
Under the revised workflow, a PMC will first examine each bill. Local engineers will then inspect the work and certify it, followed by pre-audit and approval by the Chief Engineer. The bill will subsequently enter the payment process according to seniority.
Payments will be transferred directly to contractors’ registered bank accounts through IFMS using OTP-based authentication. This will replace the existing manually processed RTGS arrangement, with the release describing the change as a move towards paperless payments without intermediary intervention.
Digital tracking will extend beyond the payment stage. The entire process, from tender award to final payment, is to be brought onto IFMS so that information on each stage of a public work is available digitally.
Engineers will also be required to record the actual progress of work at the site in the Real-Time Information Monitoring System (RIMS). Bill processing will be based on work physically completed, according to the release.
The PMC’s examination will precede the engineers’ verification, while engineers will be responsible for ensuring that the prescribed quality standards have been followed. The reforms therefore link bill scrutiny with recorded progress and technical supervision rather than treating payment as a separate administrative exercise.
Another change will allow the release of the final security deposit (FSD) to be completed at the level of the Executive Engineer of the division concerned.
Files for this purpose will no longer have to be sent to the Deputy Controller of Finance (DCF) or the Commissioner’s office. The delegation of responsibility is intended to reduce additional movement of files and associated administrative delays.
The reforms also include measures intended to give residents clearer information about public works in their neighbourhoods.
The names of the engineer and contractor responsible for a project will have to be displayed at every worksite. An online public dashboard is also planned, through which residents will be able to view the status of ongoing and completed works across the city.
These disclosure measures will accompany the internal digital tracking system, making information available not only to officials and contractors but also to the public.
Separate internal audit units are to be established in GBA and the city corporations to strengthen financial discipline. They will conduct regular internal checks in addition to the existing annual audit undertaken by the Chief Auditor, rather than replacing that audit.
The release said the combined changes are intended to strengthen contract management, quality control and financial discipline while making the contractor-payment process more predictable across all five city corporations.
Byre Gowda has directed officials to implement the reforms with the objectives of fixing responsibility, simplifying bill processing and preventing administrative delays. The framework brings work progress, bill scrutiny, quality checks, payments and audits into a common digital system.
The government’s stated aim is to reduce unnecessary visits and follow-up by contractors, allow them to focus on executing quality work and improve the timely completion of public infrastructure projects in Bengaluru.
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