JBA Opinion Paper on "Draft Plan for for Building an e-Government"

JBA drafted its opinion paper on the "Draft Plan for Building an e-Government" and submitted it to the party in charge of this matter at the Cabinet Office on July 7. This was done in response to the government's call for public comments concerning the Plan on June 25.

In the paper, JBA concurs with the Plan's stated philosophy, that is, "in order to enhance convenience for the nation and to realize simpler, more efficient, more reliable and transparent administrative operations by utilizing IT, (the government) will thoroughly review current work and operational systems."

The paper made requests on the following two matters specifically.

1. Complete shift to the direct crediting of payrolls for national public service personnel

JBA submitted the "Request to totally shift to the direct crediting of payrolls for national public service personnel" to the Chairman of the Managerial Committee for the Liaison Meeting of Ministry CIOs on February 17, 2003. Also, the government announced on March 31 its policy to completely shift the payment of payrolls for national public service personnel to the direct credit method. The "Draft Plan for Building an e-Government" of this time, too, states that the Personnel Authority, Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, and Posts and Telecommunications, and Ministry of Finance shall conduct necessary reviews of payrolls under the Liaison Meeting of Ministry CIOs.

The practice of delivering billions of yen in cash from financial institutions to government offices each payday, however, still continues today.

Therefore, the government is asked to promptly implement the use of direct credit for the payment of payrolls for national public service personnel. This will contribute to reducing administrative costs and risks involved in the handling of cash, and will also help financial institutions reduce their operational costs and burdens. We also ask the government to periodically disclose progress on this matter (percentage of payrolls handled by means of direct credits) ministry by ministry.

2. Promoting the direct credit method for various payments

We ask that the government use the direct credit method instead of the current remittance method for various payments including rewards, allowances, subsidies, and travel expenses.