The Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways has rolled out the electronic payment scheme for the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
The scheme was launched in Bangalore last year. A senior officer in the department said they intended to expand the e-payment system to all the Regional Pay and Accounts offices during the current financial year.
From July 1, 2009, all payments are likely to be made only through the e-payment system.
Under the new system, after processing the bills, the Regional Pay and Accounts officers inform the accredited banker of the department to transmit the funds to the account of the contractor/agency. The transfer of the funds to the payee is done within 24 hours. Once the payment is made, the agency gets a confirmation through an SMS.
