Web-Enabled Online Treasury Information System OTIS

 Web-Enabled Online Treasury Information System OTIS

-Dr. Lalit Kumar

The Electronic Payment System (EPS) is implemented in Government with the support of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and Treasuries and Accounts Department. The web-enabled various modules are incorporated one by one to computerize the operations of the treasury of a state. The Government of Haryana implemented various modules for e-Governance including Online Budgeting, e-Billing, e-Salary, e-GRAS, e-Pension, e-Stocking, Web-enabled OTIS, NPS, RD, CCD, PLA, etc.

A. Online Budget:

Financial Management starts from the estimation of receipts and expenses in the upcoming financial year. For smooth functioning of Budget Estimation, firstly it is required to prepare and submit the Budget Estimates online with the help of module of Online Budgeting. In Haryana, the Online Budget Allocation, Monitoring, and Analysis System is used to prepare and allocate the Budget.

B. e-Salary, e-Billing, and e-Pension:

The salaries are the most important component of the payments of the treasuries and with the e-Salary module, the function is streamlined effectively. After the retirement of an employee, the pension is processed with the help of the e-Pension module. The e-Billing module in Haryana is nowadays used for processing payments through Electronic Payment System (EPS) mode to employees and persons other than employees. All types of Bills/Cheques/Refund Çlaims etc. are processed in the modules for transparency and e-Governance in the State Governments.

The EPS pay orders are processed by the Treasuries, with the help of Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs), in case any EPS pay order is unpaid, it is canceled from the treasury and the fresh bill is required to be submitted in the e-Billing system.

Closing of Bank Accounts and Using only UCP for Payments

In order to stop parking of funds, the Government decided to close bank accounts that are opened in the name/designation of the Officers in the banks for Government transactions. A meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in Haryana, on 3^rd December 2013 made serious observations regarding parking of funds outside the Government accounts. Such accounts were decided to close immediately or permission is taken from the Finance Department. In case, accounts are closed, the amount lying in the bank accounts be deposited in state treasuries without any delay.

The directions of the Government state that once a bill/cheque/refund order is presented in the e-Billing system, it makes the payment directly in the account of the payee and the earlier irregular practices of transfer of government funds in current or saving account of banks by the DDOs/HoDs needs to be strictly curbed except exceptional circumstances, where the procedure of operating bank account cannot be done away with.

C. e-Post Sanctioning System

In May 2014 in Haryana, to streamline the process of sanctioning various new posts, a module was added in the Integrated Financial and Human Resource Management System (IFHRMS), known as the e-Post Sanctioning System. The departments were directed first to enter the details of sanctioned posts and working strength of each and every post of their existing offices. The data was submitted and sent to the Finance Department and no change is possible without the permission of the Finance Department.

Creation of posts or Shifting of Posts

For the creation of new posts or shifting of posts within the department, the request can be processed from Establishment Controlling Officer (ECO) to Establishment Controlling Authority (ECA). Thereafter the approval may be sought from the Administrative Department. After getting the approval, the Head of Department/BCA can send the demand of creating new posts or shifting of posts, to the Finance Department.

In order to verify whether the new posts are created or not, whether the posts are shifted from one office to another or not? The DDOs can use the system to view the existing sanctioned posts and their working strength in various offices. The system entry is a must to create or abolish or shifting/transfer a post.

In case of any problem in the e-Post system, the Officers may communicate at softprobl@gmail.com or contact on the telephone numbers mentioned on the website of Online Budgeting.

D. e-TDS Module in the e-Billing portal

To avoid the late fee/penalty i.e. Rs. 200 per day to be paid by the Drawing and Disbursing Officer, under section 234E of Income Tax Act; the e-Billing module of Treasuries Department supports DDOs to file the quarterly TDS return online.

*Copyright © 2021 Dr. Lalit Kumar. All rights reserved. 

This article is written by Dr. Lalit Kumar Setia; a renowned author and trainer. He completed his Doctorate in Commerce from Kurukshetra University Kurukshetra and MBA in Information Technology from GJU, Hisar. He also wrote two books, 15 research papers, and organized more than 200 Training Courses during his working period since 2006 in Haryana Institute of Public Administration, Gurugram. The article was published on 25th September 2021 and last updated on 25th September 2021. The writer can be contacted on lalitkumarsetia@gmail.com 

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Effective Administration of Accounts - A solution to get rid of Economic Crimes

Effective Administration of Accounts - A solution to get rid of Economic Crimes

By Dr. Lalit Kumar Setia |  @drlalitsetia  |  drlalitsetia@gmail.com  |  March 4, 2018 1:26 a.m. PST

The administration of accounts is a great job in itself. The Accounts Administrators bear the responsibilities of supervising the accounting functions at their work-space including keeping accounts through proper book-keeping method, deduction of taxes, invoicing, and management of inventory. In public sector organizations, the role of Accounts Administrators becomes more tedious with the intervention of bureaucrats and dealing public in addition to supervising the accounting operations. They trust upon the accounting staff and assign duties to the staff members. Around the world, there is huge demand of Accounts Administrators and the category includes the Accounts officers and Auditors. Even in India, most of the students are opting engineering and science streams after matriculation, and the area of finance, accounts is becoming more lucrative now-a-days. Due to globalization and growing Indian economy, it is must to have an exposure to the various applications relating to accounts administration.

The Faculty of Financial Administration, Gurugram (Delhi-NCR), India (Asia) designed a module to sharpen the accounting and financial skills of executives working in the public sector organizations of Haryana state in order to reduce the number of scams, embezzlement, and financial irregularities by spreading awareness on tips to effective accounts administration and investigation of economic crimes at the work-space. The duties and responsibilities with regard to effective accounts administration covers:

(i) Monitoring bills, receipts, and expenditures: 

The Accounts Administrators are responsible for receiving and verifying billing (e-billing) and requisitions (invoices) for goods and services. They ensure that accounts receivable and payable are taken care of in a timely manner and they contact clients (citizens) and vendors (sellers) to achieve and accomplish the desired operations.

(ii) Analyzing data and extracting information

It is required to ensure the compliance of financial rules, policies, and procedures in financial transactions. In order to ensure compliance, it is required to analyze the transactions keeping in view the required information. The Accounts Administrators use the analyzed information as basis of financial decisions.

(iii) Keeping Organized Financial Records

It is duty of the Accounts Administrator to keep the financial records as per accounting standards. In public sector organizations, the standards are formulated by Government Accounting Standards Advisory Board (GASAB), working under Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

(iv) Invoicing and Tracking of Vouchers

The Government of India is transforming the manual vouchers into digital vouchers and the e-sign implementation is also under progress. Proper invoicing, coding and processing of vouchers is must for ensuring the accuracy of accounting entries. Tracking invoices, digitalizing vouchers and detecting financial irregularities is major duty of an Accounts Administrator.

(v) Supporting Accounting Staff and inculcating team-spirit

The Accounts Administrator requires leadership skills to inculcate team-spirit among the accounting staff working under his/her control. The accounting staff requires support to work independently for ensuring fair accounting principles to be followed in recording financial transactions.

Skills to be imparted in Accounts Administrators: The Accounts Administrators should be equipped with following skills to perform their duties effectively:

(i) Payroll Administration(ii) Monitoring of Expenses as per allocated funds or cash budget(iii) Consistent watch over maintenance of Cash Book(iv) Proficiency in Accounting Software(v) Managerial Skills including Supervision, Negotiation, and Leadership(vi) Auditing(vii) Public Speaking(viii) Information Technology (IT) Skills(ix) Spreadsheet Modeling(x) Quality and Financial Control

Challenges in front of Accounts Administrators:  

The Accounts Administrators require playing various roles for the success of organization. From purchase procedures to enforcement of financial control mechanisms, they require to stay firm in controlling cost of operations. The first challenges is to ensure fair purchases at the workspace, the pooling and malpractices by the contractors and vendors with involving senior officers or staff or ministers or other influential people make their job hard. Secondly, they require keeping accuracy in the vouchers as well as in entries of vouchers in financial books, the unusual expenses if required to be adjusted by management, their role to keep the vouchers and entry safe, becomes tedious. A single mistake can lead to bursting of whole scam in light like in case of Punjab National Bank scam, 'Rotomac' Scam, Coal Scam and Scam in Common Wealth Games. In today’s age of governance through Citizen Charter, C.M. Window, Right to Information Act etc; further made their role tough and difficult.

The course on “Accounts Administration and Investigation of Economic Crimes” covers a lot and includes 20 sessions to be covered by the trainees at Haryana Institute of Public Administration. At the end of the course, there are difficult and practical group interactions to further enrich the knowledge and skills of Accounts Administrators through discussions on practical problems at workspace. The Canberra Institute of Technology provides a certificate course entitled, “Certificate III in Accounts Administration FNS30315 [i]” used to provide knowledge and skills to work effectively as Accounts Administrator. The Cost of the certificate of Canberra Institute of Technology takes from the participation is $880 for one semester (20-hours) face-to-face classes per week plus up to 15 hours per week of online study and independent learning. While, this course designed by Faculty of Financial Management of Haryana Institute of Public Administration (HIPA) only charges training fees of Rs. 3000 (Three Thousands only) equivalent to $60 for 20-hours face-to-face classes per week. However, the course is meant for only Government officers/officials of Haryana Government Offices.

*Copyright © 2018 Dr. Lalit Kumar. All rights reserved. Dr. Lalit Kumar is a free-lance writer with publication of research papers in various esteemed and reputed journals. Presently he is working as Course Director (Faculty of Financial Management), HIPA, Gurugram (Delhi-NCR), India (Asia). 

You might also be interested in reading the following:

1. Duties of a Clerk in Government Departments or Public Sector Entities  2. Social Responsibilities of Business  3. Effective Administration of Accounts - A solution to get rid of Economic Crimes  4. Untold story of IL&FS  5. Purchase Procedures including Government e-Marketplace and Combating Corruption 6. Government Accounting and Audit Mechanisms