Bengaluru Urban Tops Karnataka in PRC Applications for Electoral Roll Revision

Bengaluru Urban district recorded the highest number of Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) applications in Karnataka, receiving 17,150 applications from the announcement date through August 10, according to data from the state Revenue Department. The surge in applications comes amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls conducted by the Election Commission of India.

Across the state, the government received a total of 54,987 PRC applications during the same period. Kalaburagi recorded the second-highest tally with 10,525 applications, followed by Bidar with 8,991. In comparison, Bengaluru South received 315 applications and Bengaluru Rural recorded 285 applications.

Despite the high volume of submissions in Bengaluru Urban, revenue officials have not processed any of the 17,150 applications received from the district so far. Similarly, zero applications have been processed for Bengaluru Rural and Bengaluru South. Statewide, 1,212 applications have been approved, 1,072 have been rejected, and 2,284 are listed as disposed.

Bidar recorded the maximum number of rejections in the state with 559 applications turned down, followed by Kalaburagi with 303 rejections. A revenue department official explained that rejections typically occur when submitted documents are improper or when concerned officials are not satisfied with the provided details, adding that affected applicants are eligible to apply again.

The official noted that PRC applications are largely limited to the electoral revision exercise. Because the requirement serves a specific purpose, demand has been higher in urban areas like Bengaluru, though the overall application volume across the state remains low as expected. A complete trend analysis of the applications is yet to be conducted by the department.

The Election Commission of India launched the SIR exercise on June 30 to update electoral rolls, with the final list scheduled for publication on October 19, 2026. A PRC issued by a competent state authority serves as one of 12 valid documents that citizens can present to establish their identity and residence for the revision process and access state government benefits.

Alongside PRCs, application numbers for caste and income certificates across Karnataka reached 409,001 during the same period. The revenue department attributed the high demand for caste and income certificates to the state government's announcement of door-to-door delivery, as well as their utility for multiple purposes beyond address verification.