Mumbai: The BMC has shut down its internal SAP-based birth and death registration system after an internal probe found massive “irregularities” in birth certificate enrolment. It has now shifted to the central government’s Civil Registration System (CRS) portal for new birth and death registrations and corrections in existing certificates.The SAP-based system, which was in use since 2006, is on ‘view only’ mode since April 15, confirmed senior civic officials.The transition, however, isn’t without some teething problems — especially since it has coincided with the civic public health department’s involvement with the ongoing census work. Most senior officials are busy with census duty, and even routine pre-monsoon drives and checks are likely to get affected.A Sion resident, seeking corrections to her birth certificate, told TOI that she has been asked to “check back” on July 15 as the staff is busy with census duty.A civic official, under the condition of anonymity, said that issuance of fresh birth certificates and death certificates would not be affected due to the changeover to CRS, but conceded that those seeking corrections in their documents may have to wait for another two months. “For corrections, we will have to first check in the SAP system and then carry out the changes. This will be time consuming, and we don’t have time to spare as census work is deadline-driven,” the official added.Senior civic officials, however, maintained that there is no restriction on corrections except that work has to be routed through the CRS portal.The shift from SAP to CRS took place a fortnight back after a recent civic inquiry found discrepancies between the two systems. Between 2024 and 2026, over 87,000 corrections were carried out through the SAP system, while only 33,772 entries were recorded on the CRS portal, raising concerns about oversight and data integrity.Municipal commissioner Ashwini Bhide confirmed that the SAP system has been discontinued, and the CRS portal is being used for new records and amendments. She added that an inquiry is underway into legacy data and suspicious entries, and the vigilance department is examining the extent of irregularities.She added that the staff is also adapting to the new system. “The idea is that everything now has to move to CRS,” Bhide said, adding that the civic administration is working to restore clarity in procedures for pending cases.(Ends)
