Secretary Penias: E-Receipting vital

Secretary Penias: E-Receipting vital

Secretary Samuel Penias has joined the Department’s management and staff in congratulating an invaluable contribution of the Department’s project team, the Project Steering Committee and BSP’s subsidiary Platform Pacific Limited to the launch of the Non-Tax Revenue E-Receipting pilot project.
In his congratulatory message he also stressed to all other department and receipting agency heads that they were integral and would play a crucial role in making it work.
“When the complete solution is delivered later this year or early next year, all national government
departments and agencies will be on-boarded,” Mr Penias said.
“In today’s proto-type launch, the Department of Police has been chosen as the pilot agency.”
“In essence, I would like to highlight all the benefits this product will deliver to our citizens, the business community, and our workplace environment. The digitisation of government non-tax revenue receipting will;

  • Deliver instantaneous real time fund transfers from customer accounts to the government main account, the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), seamlessly
  • Eliminate theft and fraud in the payment process
  • Eliminate paying ques at cash offices
  • Eliminate cash office collector of public monies punctuality, non-attendance and absenteeism issues
  • Eliminate customer travel cost, travel time and other inconvenient opportunity costs
  • Improve restrictive cash office opening hours (8.00 am to 4.00 pm weekdays only) compared to a 24/7 including weekends from anywhere within PNG and abroad
  • Improve reporting and bank reconciliation back office functions
  • Broadened the cash office collection front, currently limited to a specific geographical location and time on weekdays only
  • Improve settlement time of client disputes including payment of refunds
  • Greatly reduce operational costs across implementing national government agencies in cost areas like ink, papers, telephones, power, salaries, wages and overtime; and
  • Greatly improve customer convenience and public service outlook in service delivery by the national
    government implementing agencies.

Mr Penias called on other departmental heads and agencies that these benefits might be exciting, but all developments had challenges.
“That is why I appeal to you all to support me and our development partners, BSP and PPL. After this launch, the project team will do much more work, including consultations with your respective Departments,” he said.
Secretary Penias thanked the Minister for Finance, Hon. Rainbo Paita, for his continued support in the reforms that Department of Finance is undertaking.
And also extends acknowledgement and gratitude to Mr. Mark Robinson, CEO of BSP Banking Group Limited and the subsidiary of BSP Platform Pacific Limited (PPL), Police Commissioner, David Manning and his team for their support and effort in successfully bringing the project to fruition.