PARLIAMENT has passed the Fees and
Charges (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, 2022, which seeks to regularise the
fees being charged by some public service institutions.
The
bill is also expected to review existing fees, impose new ones and provide for
an annual adjustment of fees and charges levied by ministries, departments and
agencies (MDAs) in line with prevailing economic conditions.
Among
other things, it will also establish a single schedule of all fees and charges
for the delivery of good and services rendered by the MDAs to the public.
This forms part of the revenue
measures outlined in the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the government
for the 2022 financial year.
The
proposed adjustments of some of the fees and charges are expected to contribute
significantly to meeting the revenue targets outlined in the budget for the
2022 fiscal year.
Background
In 2018, Parliament passed the Fees
and Charges (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2018 (Act 983) which transferred
the authority to determine fees and charges under an enactment to the minister
responsible for finance.
Act
983 also mandates MDAs to conduct an annual review of the administrative
efficiency of collection, the accuracy of past estimates and the relevance of
fees and charges to current economic conditions.
Additionally,
the Public Financial Management Regulation, 2019(L.I 2378) directs a Principal
Spending Officer responsible for collecting various types of fees and charges
to conduct an annual review of the administrative efficiency of past estimates
and the relevance of rates, fees and charges and submit proposals through the
minister responsible for finance to Parliament for approval.
The
two enactments, therefore, mandate MDAs to adjust on a regular basis fees and
charges collected for the delivery of goods and services to the public to keep
pace with the current economic trends.
This
new bill is to ensure a regular review of the fees and charges levied by the
MDA, avoid a steep increase arising from long periods without review, bridge
the growing gap between the cost of service delivery and approved fees and
simplify the process for review of fees and charges to a single submission to
Parliament as part of the annual budget.
Observation
Per
a report submitted on the bill, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Kwaku
Kwarteng, said the committee noted during its deliberations that a number of
government agencies and institutions responsible for the collection of non-tax
revenues on behalf of the government failed to lodge revenues collected in
gross in contravention of Section 46 of the Public Financial Management Act,
2016 (Act 921).
The
report said many of the subvented agencies either retained part or paid the
entire revenues collected directly into their operational accounts from which
disbursements were made.
“Again,
some institutions also collect revenues on the table or over the counter after
which it is lodged into their operational accounts and disbursed directly in
contravention of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016. The committee noted
with concern that the practice does not give the Minister of Finance a complete
or comprehensive view of the total revenue (non-tax) generated by all state
agencies in each fiscal year,” he said.
Additionally, the practice could
expose public funds to abuse and embezzlement by collecting officers, the
committee observed.
“The
committee, therefore, recommends that the Ministry of Finance should take
immediate steps to ensure that all institutions captured in the Second Schedule
of the bill collect their revenues through a designated commercial bank or
through the Ghana.gov platform from which the funds collected are transferred
in gross into the respective holding accounts at Bank of Ghana,” the report
said.
Source:Graphic.com.gh