PETALING JAYA: The Electronic Government Concession Services (e-Services) project could not fully meet its objective as it was not managed effectively and efficiently, says the Auditor-General’s Report 2021 Series 1.
The audit covered two main areas, namely the performance and service management by the service provider provided to the Transport Ministry and Home Ministry.
"Overall, it can be concluded that the e-Services project has assisted the government to enhance its public service delivery.
"However, the objective of the project was not fully achieved due to the fact that the administration of the services has not been managed effectively and efficiently," the report said.
Several weaknesses were identified including a delay in finalising the agreement which resulted in the payment for services rendered, amounting to RM73.43mil, being made without a valid agreement but with special approval from the Finance Ministry.
The report also found that there were discrepancies in payment collection procedures which resulted in a total of RM4.27mil being retained in the service provider's bank between one and 412 days before being returned to the applicants under the Temporary Foreign Worker Permit (PLKS) programme.
"A total of 10,726 unsuccessful applications amounting to RM19.74mil were still retained in the service provider’s bank," it said.
Poor agreement management had also resulted in delays in the remittance of revenue into the government’s account amounting to RM38.94mil for the Road Transport Department (JPJ) and RM252.01mil for the Immigation Department, the report added.
As a result, it noted, the revenue could not be distributed into their respective accounts within the stipulated time frame.
A total of RM1.56mil in penalties has yet to be paid by the service provider to JPJ, the report added.
A penalty of RM13.04mil was imposed only in 2019 for the late remittance of revenues worth RM6,167.9mil to the Immigration Department within the period 2015 to 2020, the report added.
To prevent weaknesses from recurring, the National Audit Department recommended that JPJ and the Immigration Department should ensure that payment collection procedures and guidelines for remittance are clear and systematic for government revenue to be efficiently managed.
"Remittance must be made within a specified time frame for the revenue to be accounted for on a timely basis. Penalties need to be imposed on the service provider within the due period," it said.
