Facilitating payment of charges to government
Monday, 11 February 2008
Government receives huge money from regular payment from its customers for the mainly government-provided utility services to them. The same include payment of bills for telephone services, gas supply and power supply. Then, there are many taxes that citizens have to pay such as holding tax, income tax, land tax, etc. The payment of all these, presently, is a completely decentralized process. This has been a source of great inconvenience and waste of time and money for the payers in all respects. It is also doubtful whether government earns as much as the full potential from keeping the system decentralized. If such payments could be centralized, then the mode of payments becoming easier would very probably lead to timely and full payment of the users of government services. Thus, both the payers and the government would benefit.
Presently, the hassles encountered by the payers of utility bills for different services, are considered as excessive. Many of the bill payers are engaged in doing jobs or businesses that leave them with little time to spend on paying bills. Payments are not possible on the two days when banks remain closed for weekly holidays. Paying all the bills within the remaining five days by taking time-off from their regular work places and then commuting to different places and standing in queues, proves to be an agonizing experience for many people. The other not apparent detriments but with a price such as time lost as they remain away from their occupations and money spent on going to different places for making such payments, are also not small.
Considering all of these factors, government should have devised a system of paying all utility bills under one roof including the opening of many counters in many places to receive such payments. But unfortunately, a system of this sort was discussed many times and its introduction seemed imminent, but for reasons unknown the moves to that end never materialized. Thus, it should receive active consideration of the incumbent government as it is doing useful work in other areas of public life.
A report in this paper on Sunday drew attention to the latest policy decision on the part of the government to receive payment of all kinds of revenues and utility charges through an electronic automated payment system. Implementation of the system is expected to start from next month and would be financially and technically supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The fully automated system, understandably, will be an option to only a section of bill or tax payers who maintain funds in banks that provide electronic services to the homes of their customers. Besides, the bill or tax payers will also need to have computers and land telephones in their houses to be able to use this system. But many of the bill payers or tax payers do not have such gadgets in their homes. Thus, they would be excluded from paying through the automated system. Its full potential will be reserved for the future. Meanwhile, a great service can be rendered if it is made possible to pay the different utility bills and taxes under one roof by all categories of people using the prevailing manual system. But the number of booths to receive such payment, centrally, should be many to reduce queues in them and such payment centres must be run efficiently with the emphasis put on saving time.
Presently, the hassles encountered by the payers of utility bills for different services, are considered as excessive. Many of the bill payers are engaged in doing jobs or businesses that leave them with little time to spend on paying bills. Payments are not possible on the two days when banks remain closed for weekly holidays. Paying all the bills within the remaining five days by taking time-off from their regular work places and then commuting to different places and standing in queues, proves to be an agonizing experience for many people. The other not apparent detriments but with a price such as time lost as they remain away from their occupations and money spent on going to different places for making such payments, are also not small.
Considering all of these factors, government should have devised a system of paying all utility bills under one roof including the opening of many counters in many places to receive such payments. But unfortunately, a system of this sort was discussed many times and its introduction seemed imminent, but for reasons unknown the moves to that end never materialized. Thus, it should receive active consideration of the incumbent government as it is doing useful work in other areas of public life.
A report in this paper on Sunday drew attention to the latest policy decision on the part of the government to receive payment of all kinds of revenues and utility charges through an electronic automated payment system. Implementation of the system is expected to start from next month and would be financially and technically supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The fully automated system, understandably, will be an option to only a section of bill or tax payers who maintain funds in banks that provide electronic services to the homes of their customers. Besides, the bill or tax payers will also need to have computers and land telephones in their houses to be able to use this system. But many of the bill payers or tax payers do not have such gadgets in their homes. Thus, they would be excluded from paying through the automated system. Its full potential will be reserved for the future. Meanwhile, a great service can be rendered if it is made possible to pay the different utility bills and taxes under one roof by all categories of people using the prevailing manual system. But the number of booths to receive such payment, centrally, should be many to reduce queues in them and such payment centres must be run efficiently with the emphasis put on saving time.