The State government’s decision to postpone the implementation of electronic Treasury Receipts-5 (e-TR5) from January 1 to the start of next financial year has come as a big relief to government departments which have been using physical TR5 till now and are confused over the migration to the electronic form.
The government issued an order in this regard on Wednesday based on a proposal submitted by the Director of Treasuries to postpone the implementation of the new system till the start of next financial year citing the need for ‘sufficient time to introduce the same in a foolproof manner.’
The order also directed the Director of Treasuries to ensure preparedness for the new system in consultation with the National Informatics Centre, Director of Printing and Stationery Controller, and furnish an action taken report to the government by the first week of March.
TR5 receipts are issued by all government departments against cash or documents collected from the public and based on which the treasury department verify the amount collected.
“Under the e-TR5 system every office is required to create separate login IDs and passwords, which many offices have not done till now. Also clarifications are needed about the modalities of the system,” district treasury sources said.
The Director of Treasuries had on November 2 last year recommended the introduction of e-TR5 for receipts at cash counters of government departments in place of physical receipts for ensuring real-time assessment of collections and timely remittance of such collections to the treasury.
Sets condition
Following this, the government on November 19 ordered that use of manual TR5 receipts without unique serial numbers should be done away with albeit subject to some conditions from January 1 this year.
The order said that physical TR5 receipts with unique numbering would be limited to collections by departments such as Police, Motor Vehicles, Excise and that the Director of Printing should ensure distribution of available TR5 receipts stamped with unique serial number for use with effect from the New Year.
These departments were in a state of limbo as the TR5 receipts stamped with unique number were not made available on time even as they were not supposed to use receipts devoid of unique numbers. While the Motor Vehicle Department in the district, sensing a potential extension, had been using the old TR5 receipts without unique number, the Excise Department had not been collecting fine since the start of the year owing to the non-availability of unique numbered receipts. The department resumed it only on Wednesday following the government order extending the schedule for the introduction of e-TR5 receipts.
