Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched electronic bill (e-Bill) processing system which aims at bringing transparency and speeding up the process of payments.The e-bill was announced in Union Budget 2022-23 which was presented in the Parliament on February 1.
The e-Bill was launched on the occasion of 46th Civil Accounts Day on Wednesday.
The move is a part of ‘Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) and Digital India eco-system. The Finance Minister said that the e-Bill processing system will enhance transparency, efficiency and faceless-paperless payment system. It will allow the suppliers and contractors to submit their claim online which will be trackable on a real time basis.
The e-Bill system is being seen as a major step forward in realising the vision of “Digital India”. The main goal of this system is to provide convenience to all vendors and suppliers of the government to submit their bills and claims at anytime from anywhere.
The new system would eliminate the need of submitting bills physically. Currently, the system requires the suppliers of various goods and services to the Government have to submit their bills physically to the respective ministries/departments/ offices of the Government of India.
The government employees also need to submit hard copies of their claims. The vendors, suppliers have to visit the offices to deliver bills and they are unable to track the status of their bills.
The newly launched system would allow vendors and suppliers to upload their bills online along with supporting documents from any corner of the country and at any point of time. The vendors/suppliers who are not having a digital signature can also use Aadhaar to use the facility of e-sign.
Finance Secretary TV Somanathan
“On the one hand, the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) is a critical aid to financial administrators of the country and on the other, it is the most important citizen centric initiative, especially the new e-Bill system. The new e-Bill system will reduce time lags further and will serve as a model for accounts towards digital India and Ease of Doing Business.”
Public Financial Management System (PFMS) Division in the office of the Controller General of Accounts in the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance has developed this e-Bill system. The system will be environment friendly and will eliminate the need to submit crores of paper bills annually and will thus save several trees from being cut every year.