Getting birth certificates, payment of utility bills and property tax will now be easier in cities having a population of five lakh and above, with the Centre deciding to extend its e-governance programme to such towns.

The Urban Development Ministry's National Mission Mode Project (NMMP) on e-governance in municipalities aims at improving operational efficiencies and promoting transparency and accountability in delivery of eight different type of municipal services.

So far, the project was limited to cities having a population of 10 lakh and above.

Sources said the government has now decided to extend the facility in all cities having a population of five lakh and above with an aim to provide prompt service to the citizens.

The proposal is to extend the project to 28 more cities having a population of 5 lakh and above apart from the present 65 cities with a population of 10 lakh and above.

"Ultimately, the aim is to cover all 423 towns with population of over 1 lakh as per 2001 census. This will take some time as the state governments too have to take the same initiative," said an official.