The Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) recently inquired into the Revenue Administration Management Information System (RAMIS) installed by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) in 2014 by investing approximately Rs. 10 billion.
At its meeting on Tuesday, the COPA revealed that it has received information alleging that the RAMIS, the computer system which was installed in an attempt to increase the efficiency of IRD’s tax revenue collection, is not functioning properly.
The COPA chairman MP Kabir Hashim, stating that more funds were likely to have already been spent on strengthening RAMIS, stressed that it is necessary to uncover whether the money spent on this software was put to good use.
The Auditor General mentioned that the IRD is not providing him with information about the service agreement and relevant payment details related to the RAMIS. Taking issue with the department’s refusal to provide particular information to him in compliance with the agreement, the Auditor General stressed that it is against the constitution.
In response, the IRD officials stated that there this software system, which was started in 2014, needs to be updated with the new Inland Revenue Act brought in 2017.
They further pointed out that there is a problem in giving out the contractual information, according to the agreement with the Singaporean company which created the above software system.
Further, as this is an agreement reached between two governments, the intervention of the government will be appropriate for its future activities, the IRD officials noted.
Accordingly, the COPA brought forth several proposals to make the work of the IRD more efficient by properly implementing the RAMIS.
Taking into consideration the issues in many aspects of the RAMIS, including procurement, the COPA proposed to form two sub-committees to investigate the possibility of bringing this system to the operational level in a manner suitable for the country.
The committee to be established jointly by the Attorney General’s Department under the leadership of the Finance Secretary will examine the legal conditions related to the RAMIS Agreement.
Meanwhile, the committee to be established jointly with The University of Moratuwa, the Sri Lanka Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), the Inland Revenue Department, and the Ministry of Finance will look into the possibility of updating the software system.
It was also agreed to submit the reports containing the conclusions on the relevant matters to the COPA within 06 weeks.
