time also provides a comprehensive view of the flow
of funds across different
wings of the government.
Over time, the PFMS has
built online interfaces with
most of the banks in India.
PFMS (as illustrated in Figure 1) is a very efficient and
effective tool for monitoring of government funds.
7
As part of the Digital
India program, the govern-
ment has leveraged on this
unique position of PFMS
and introduced the Direct
Benefit Transfer (DBT)
1 of
payments directly to the
bank accounts of benefi-
using Web-based systems
and from there moved on
to cloud-based systems.
Although cloud-based
systems provide a lot of
advantages, good stable
connectivity becomes a
prerequisite for the success
of any centralized system.
The benefits that centralized systems provide are
worth the investment done
in provision of a stable
and robust connectivity.
With the proliferation of
broadband and mobile
telephony, this connectivity
has significantly improved
and many of the challenges
overcome.
The centralized systems can help to create
national-level data registries/databases, which
offer great advantages to
a huge country like India.
The importance placed
on data today can only be
leveraged if these kinds of
registries are developed
and maintained centrally
instead of as isolated silos.
Such centralized systems
optimize operations as
they reduce maintenance
costs and downtime. Furthermore, compliance to
government regulations is
easier and the integrated
national registries help provide data from across the
country while providing a
single source for analytics.
Centralized systems also
address the many concerns
over interoperability of
various systems working at
different levels and thus enhance delivery of services.
Today, India has various
national registries, such as
the ones for driver’s licenses, national vehicles, public
distribution beneficiaries,
and health registries.
The benefits of a nation-
al registry are seen in the
e Transport project, which
has successfully automated
the Regional Transport
Office across the country
and set up a consolidated
nationwide transport data-
base with real-time updates
and availability. A consoli-
dated database of over 250
million vehicle records and
over 150 million driver’s
license records already ex-
ists. With these registries,
the transport department
has evolved the eChallan
application, wherein any
police officer can issue an
electronic citation or pen-
alty on the spot, anywhere.
These registries can also
provide a close integration
between vehicle insurance,
pollution control systems,
and accident reporting systems. A 360-degree profile
of an individual or vehicle
can be obtained. In the future, insurance premiums
could be driven by such
profiles.
Systems like these
have helped bring about a
digital transformation in
India. These systems have
had a huge impact on the
work of government and
the delivery of services. A
description of changes in
the public payment system
and in the judiciary sector
discussed here will serve as
examples of their impact.
Digital Transformations
in the Financial Sector
The Public Finance Management System (PFMS)
6
has established itself as a
safe, secure, efficient, and
robust payment platform
for the government of
India. The system enables
the successful delivery of
payment from government
treasuries and program
agencies directly into beneficiaries’ accounts.
PFMS was conceived
as an online transaction
system that not only helps
the government manage its
funds but at any point of
93 K Crore +
Amount transacted during FY
19-20
26. 64 lakh crore +
Number of transactions
during FY 19-20
546
Govt. Schemes
(enabled for DBT)
234+
Bank Interface
Effective Decision
Support System Tracking of Funds
Interface with
State Treasuries
Fund Management
and E-Payment
Ke
y
Feat
u
r
es
PFMS - Bringing efficiency, transparency & accountability
Figure 1. PFMS.
The centralized systems
can help to create national-level
data registries/databases,
which offer great advantages
to a huge country like India.
The importance placed on data
today can only be leveraged if these
kinds of registries are developed
and maintained centrally instead
of as isolated silos.
