E-Bill System

In News 

• The e-Bill processing system was launched during an event to mark the 46th Civil Accounts Day. 
  • The Finance Minister had announced this major e-governance initiative in the Union Budget 2022-23 presented in Parliament on February 1.

About 

• It will be implemented across eight ministries on pilot basis and then in all central ministries and departments.
• It is a step to enhance transparency, efficiency, and a faceless- paperless payment system.
• Suppliers and contractors will now be able to submit their claim online which will be trackable on a real-time basis
• Benefits: 
  • It will stop any possible ‘rent seeking’ in the clearance of dues to contractors or suppliers of government departments
  • It 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. 
  • It  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.
    • Currently, the claimants are required to submit physical copies of bills to the departments for scrutiny.
  • It will have a shorter bill payment cycle, a more effective audit trail.
  •  It will be an effective tool to facilitate uninterrupted government disbursements in pandemic like situations

Source:IE