Title: Digitising government payments in Bangladesh: a mobile banking approach

Authors: Md. Jahir Uddin Palas; Ramiz Uddin; Mahmudul Hassan

Addresses: Department of Banking and Insurance, Faculty of Business Studies, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh ' Access to Information (a2i) Program, Prime Minister's Office, Old Sangsad Bhaban, Tejgaon, Dhaka-1215, Bangladesh ' Access to Information (a2i) Program, Prime Minister's Office, Old Sangsad Bhaban, Tejgaon, Dhaka-1215, Bangladesh

Abstract: In the era of digitalisation, process simplification and automation are the calls of the day. The Government of Bangladesh has also been prioritising the digitalisation factor in each sector of public administration. Taxes and utility bills contribute to the public revenue, which has a great role in infrastructural and other development goals of government. However, citizens have to undergo many a difficulty in paying the municipal tax and water bill through the longstanding manual system of document distribution and payment process. In this case, the widely accepted and globally proven financial model of mobile banking can eliminate quite a number of hassles in the citizens' tax and bill payment in the contemporary system. This study examines the concurrent payment mechanism of municipality tax and water bill in Bangladesh. The study results confirm the citizens' manifold inconveniences in prevalent tax and bill payment process. The study respondents also supported the replacement of the manual system with the mobile banking process as it ensures more convenience in payment of taxes and utility bills.

Keywords: mobile banking; government payments; digitisation; access to information; a2i; Bangladesh.

DOI: 10.1504/EG.2019.098670

Electronic Government, an International Journal, 2019 Vol.15 No.2, pp.166 - 188

Received: 27 Jul 2017
Accepted: 24 Jul 2018
Published online: 29 Mar 2019 *

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