BMC просит продлить контракт с устаревшим ПО для больниц Мумбаи еще на пять месяцев

Advertisement BMC keeps ageing hospital software alive Swapnil R Mishra | Jul 16, 2026, 04:00 IST BMC keeps ageing hospital software alive Civic body is still pressing ‘extend’ on its hospital software instead of switching to new system Nearly five years after the original contract for Mumbai’s Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) expired, BMC is once again seeking approval to extend the ageing digital platform instead of completing the rollout of its replacement. A proposal before the Standing Committee seeks approval to increase the value of the existing HMIS contract by around Rs 2.10 crore, taking the revised contract value to Rs 8.85 crore, including taxes, for a further five-month extension. The civic administration says the extension is necessary to prevent disruption of hospital services while the new system is still under implementation. The issue was flagged by corporator Ashraf Azmi, who questioned why the BMC continues to rely on repeated stop-gap arrangements despite having had several years to replace the software. The HMIS is the digital backbone of Mumbai’s municipal healthcare network. It manages patient registration, admissions, discharge records, laboratory investigations, pharmacy operations, billing and electronic medical records across the BMC’s hospitals and healthcare facilities. Any disruption to the system could significantly affect day-to-day hospital operations. According to the proposal, the HMIS contract was awarded in July 2016 to M/s e-Zest Enterprise India Pvt Ltd for Rs 41.78 crore, including taxes. The project covered 399 healthcare facilities, including three major hospitals and medical colleges, one dental hospital and college, 18 peripheral hospitals, five speciality hospitals, 28 maternity homes, 161 dispensaries and 183 health posts. The original contract expired on January 27, 2021, after running for four-and-a-half years. Instead of transitioning to a new platform, however, the BMC has continued extending the arrangement. The contract was first extended until January 2023, then until November 2023, and later until March 2025 after the civic body failed to operationalise the replacement system. The latest proposal seeks another five-month extension, allowing the existing software to continue nearly five years beyond the expiry of its original contract. The BMC has attributed the delay to the previous vendor’s exit from the healthcare business and the prolonged process of appointing a new Original Equipment Manufacturer and implementing the upgraded HMIS platform. Although a new implementation agency has already been appointed, migration across the municipal healthcare network remains incomplete. The repeated delays have raised questions over project planning, procurement timelines and administrative accountability. Corporator Ashraf Azmi, who raised the matter before the Standing Committee, said the administration must explain why the project remains incomplete despite repeated extensions. “The HMIS is one of the most critical digital systems in Mumbai’s public healthcare network. The administration has had enough time to implement a new platform, yet it continues to seek extensions. The Standing Committee must examine why the project has been delayed for years, who is responsible for the delay and whether these repeated extensions could have been avoided,” Azmi told Mumbai Mirror. A proposal before the Standing Committee seeks approval to increase the value of the existing HMIS contract by around Rs 2.10 crore, taking the revised contract value to Rs 8.85 crore, including taxes, for a further five-month extension. The civic administration says the extension is necessary to prevent disruption of hospital services while the new system is still under implementation. Advertisement The issue was flagged by corporator Ashraf Azmi, who questioned why the BMC continues to rely on repeated stop-gap arrangements despite having had several years to replace the software. The HMIS is the digital backbone of Mumbai’s municipal healthcare network. It manages patient registration, admissions, discharge records, laboratory investigations, pharmacy operations, billing and electronic medical records across the BMC’s hospitals and healthcare facilities. Any disruption to the system could significantly affect day-to-day hospital operations. According to the proposal, the HMIS contract was awarded in July 2016 to M/s e-Zest Enterprise India Pvt Ltd for Rs 41.78 crore, including taxes. The project covered 399 healthcare facilities, including three major hospitals and medical colleges, one dental hospital and college, 18 peripheral hospitals, five speciality hospitals, 28 maternity homes, 161 dispensaries and 183 health posts. The original contract expired on January 27, 2021, after running for four-and-a-half years. Instead of transitioning to a new platform, however, the BMC has continued extending the arrangement. The contract was first extended until January 2023, then until November 2023, and later until March 2025 after the civic body failed to operationalise the replacement system. The latest proposal seeks another five-month extension, allowing the existing software to continue nearly five years beyond the expiry of its original contract. The BMC has attributed the delay to the previous vendor’s exit from the healthcare business and the prolonged process of appointing a new Original Equipment Manufacturer and implementing the upgraded HMIS platform. Although a new implementation agency has already been appointed, migration across the municipal healthcare network remains incomplete. The repeated delays have raised questions over project planning, procurement timelines and administrative accountability. Corporator Ashraf Azmi, who raised the matter before the Standing Committee, said the administration must explain why the project remains incomplete despite repeated extensions. “The HMIS is one of the most critical digital systems in Mumbai’s public healthcare network. The administration has had enough time to implement a new platform, yet it continues to seek extensions. The Standing Committee must examine why the project has been delayed for years, who is responsible for the delay and whether these repeated extensions could have been avoided,” Azmi told Mumbai Mirror.