In a significant move to digitise civic services, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has now made the entire process of booking its parks and community halls completely online. This initiative is designed to enhance transparency, remove bureaucratic hurdles, and eliminate the interference of middlemen, officials confirmed.
End-to-End Digital Process for Citizen Convenience
Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh stated that this step is a crucial part of MCD's ongoing mission to simplify public services and ensure ease for residents. He highlighted a series of recent reforms, including the removal of police approval for health trade licences, the abolition of factory licences, and linking general trade licences with property tax. The online booking system for event venues is the latest in this digital transformation drive.
Previously, citizens could only check the availability of venues on the MCD portal. The actual booking, however, required multiple visits to zonal offices, leading to inconvenience and potential corruption. The new system changes this entirely. Now, every step—from checking availability to making payments and receiving confirmations—can be completed from home via the official MCD website.
Seamless Payments and Automatic Refunds
A key feature of the new online system is the integrated payment gateway. Users can now pay all charges, including the security deposit, online using UPI, debit cards, or credit cards. Officials emphasised that the security deposit will be automatically refunded to the user's original bank account after the event concludes, doing away with the need for another trip to the MCD office to claim the refund.
The corporation has a substantial inventory of venues available for social and private events like birthdays, weddings, and receptions. MCD currently offers 90 parks and 323 community halls for booking. The demand for these spaces is evident from the booking numbers. This year, a total of 6,913 bookings were made for community halls, with 2,043 already secured for the next year. For parks, 396 bookings have been recorded so far, and 213 advance bookings are in place for community halls in the coming year.
Boosting Transparency and Public Trust
This digital overhaul is expected to bring much-needed accountability and efficiency to the booking process. By moving the system entirely online, the MCD aims to create a clear, auditable trail, reducing the scope for manual manipulation and ensuring fair access for all Delhiites. The move is seen as a positive step towards building greater public trust in civic administration by leveraging technology for direct citizen engagement.
