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Finance department announces new payment settlement procedure |27 March 2020

The finance department has announced new measures for collection of revenue and payments settlement to suppliers and public across all ministries, departments and budget dependent agencies (MDAs).

These measures have been introduced in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which requires several operational adjustments to minimise face-to-face contact. With immediate effect, all payments are to be settled via bank transfer.

 

  1. Paying for a government service

To pay for any government services provided by an MDA, the public is advised to pay by direct bank transfer by the following steps:

Step 1: When effecting payment via bank transfer for any public service, the client must clearly state what they are paying for in the descriptive fields, such as:

          i.      Full name of the MDA wherever possible

         ii.      Clear purpose of payment: for instance “Waste collection March 2020 iro BXY Boutique”

Step 2. Once the transfer is complete, the client must send a copy of the proof of payment to the MDA, preferably via email to an email address specified by the relevant contact person.

Step 3. Upon receipt of the proof of payment, the MDA will proceed to raise a receipt. To supply you with a copy of your receipt and to contact you in the event of any queries, please ensure you provide your email address to the respective MDA.

Should direct transfer not be possible under certain circumstances, the MDA may be able to accommodate the acceptance of debit or credit card payments through Point of Sale (POS) machines at their collection points upon request.

 

  1. Settlement of payment to government suppliers and contractors

Effective April 1, 2020, government through Treasury will be making all payments to suppliers via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), meaning the transfer should be credited to the clients’ accounts instantly once effected by Treasury.

This means that government will no longer be issuing cheques as a means of settling payments.

Any supplier offering their services to government or a member of the public being paid by government, who has not yet provided the government with their bank details are advised to email the Treasury Unit (info.treasury@finance.gov.sc) with their active bank account details and details of the payment they are awaiting. Alternatively, the bank account information can be provided to the relevant contact person you are dealing with at the MDA.

The public is advised that the purpose of this exercise is not to make any changes to existing accounts in the Treasury system, but only to update any of those without bank details on record.

Proof of the account must also be provided, such as a copy of bankcard (not debit/credit card), letter from your bank confirming details, copy of a blank cheque or any bank documents such as the top part of your bank statement showing only the bank account details (not the part of the statement showing transaction details).

Lastly, as government has no liquidity challenges suppliers are kindly requested to continue to accept Local Purchase Orders (LPO).

For any enquiries regarding the update of account details for suppliers and contractors, please call 422 5155.

 

     Communique from the department of finance

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