Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, May 16: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has discontinued its long-running SAP-based birth and death registration platform after an internal investigation uncovered large-scale irregularities in certificate enrolments and corrections.
Civic officials confirmed that the older SAP system, operational since 2006, was placed in “view only” mode from April 15. All new registrations, along with modifications and corrections to existing birth and death certificates, are now being processed through the central government’s Civil Registration System (CRS) portal.
The transition to the new system has, however, created delays for citizens seeking corrections in previously issued certificates, particularly as many civic health department officials are currently engaged in census-related duties.
A resident from Sion seeking corrections to her birth certificate told local authorities that she had been asked to revisit the office after July 15 because staff members were occupied with census work.
According to a senior civic official, the issuance of fresh birth and death certificates is continuing without disruption under the CRS platform. However, correction requests are taking longer because officials must first verify entries in the older SAP database before making changes in the new system.
The official admitted that the process is time-consuming, especially with administrative staff simultaneously handling deadline-driven census responsibilities.
Senior BMC authorities, however, maintained that there is no formal restriction on corrections and clarified that all applications are now being routed exclusively through the CRS portal.
The decision to migrate from SAP to CRS followed a recent internal inquiry that reportedly identified serious discrepancies between records maintained on both systems.
Officials found that between 2024 and 2026, more than 87,000 corrections had been processed through the SAP platform, while only 33,772 corresponding entries appeared on the CRS portal. The mismatch raised concerns over monitoring, transparency and data integrity.
Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide confirmed that the SAP system has been phased out and said investigations are continuing into older records and suspicious entries.
She added that the vigilance department is examining the scale of the irregularities and reviewing legacy data linked to the previous system.
Bhide also acknowledged that staff members are currently adapting to the CRS platform and said the civic administration is working to streamline procedures for pending cases.
“The idea is that everything now has to move to CRS,” she said, while assuring that efforts are underway to bring clarity and consistency to the revised registration process.