Raipur Municipal Corporation’s digital document management system has been taken offline by the National Informatics Centre after officials received a cyber threat report, potentially delaying certificates, tax payments, building permissions and complaint redressal in the city.
Municipal Commissioner Sambit Mishra confirmed that the system was shut down as a precaution after the threat was reported. NIC is monitoring and investigating the incident, but the corporation has not yet disclosed when the document management system will be restored.
The disruption affects services that depend on the corporation’s DMS, including the issuance of civic certificates, property tax-related transactions, building permissions and the processing of public complaints. The precise operational impact remains unclear, and officials have not indicated whether alternative manual arrangements have been put in place.
A hacking-related message was reportedly displayed on the corporation’s public-facing website. However, officials have not confirmed whether an attacker gained access to the underlying systems, stole information or altered official records. The method of the suspected attack and the vulnerabilities involved are also being examined.
The corporation’s data is understood to be stored in the cloud at NIC’s data centre in Bhubaneswar. Investigators are expected to examine server records, access logs and other digital evidence to determine whether the incident was limited to the website or extended to connected systems supporting municipal services.
The incident has also raised questions about the security maintenance of the corporation’s website. The site reportedly runs on Drupal, a content management system, while the corporation’s audit history, software update status and action taken on any previously identified vulnerabilities have not been disclosed. The last security audit date remains unclear from the information available.
The episode comes amid a separate cyber incident involving the website of Raigarh Municipal Corporation, where a hacking-related message and a flag-like symbol were reportedly displayed earlier in the week. No link between the Raipur and Raigarh incidents has been established.
For residents, the immediate concern is whether routine municipal transactions will be delayed while the DMS remains offline. The affected services cover both regulatory functions, such as building permissions, and everyday civic transactions, such as certificates, tax payments and complaint submissions.
NIC’s investigation is continuing. The Raipur Municipal Corporation has not disclosed the full extent of the incident, confirmed any data compromise or provided a timeline for restoring the document management system.
