The new electronic bill (e-Bill) processing system will stop any possible ‘rent seeking’ in the clearance of dues to contractors or suppliers of government departments, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. The e-Bill processing system, announced in the Budget, was launched on Wednesday during an event to mark the 46th Civil Accounts Day. It will be implemented across eight ministries on pilot basis and then in all central ministries and departments, and suppliers and contractors will now be able to submit their claims online, which can be tracked on a real-time basis. Sitharaman said this will ensure end-to-end digitisation and make the payment process transparent by using technology not just within the government departments, but extending the second leg to the citizen’s use. The e-Bill, she said, will shut even “any small window which is available” for “misuse in terms of rent-seeking”, as a contractor or supplier to the government will be able to file their claims digitally. “Put your claim with digital signatures, and you do not have to come to government offices. Your payment reaches (to you) as soon as your claim reaches with a digital signature,” the Finance Minister said.
