With the Asset Declaration filing opening to the public beginning yesterday, Anti-Corruption Commission launched the Enhanced Asset Declaration System. According to the Commission, the new system aims to ease the burden on users and reduce unintentional human errors with automated and effective verification. The new system is expected to benefit more than 26,000 public servants from more than 200 agencies.
The primary objective of the Asset Declaration is to detect, prevent and prosecute corrupt incomes. Since its institution in 2006, ACC’s asset declaration system evolved from hard copy to going online in 2010.
However, ACC says the old system lacked effective strategies to verify Asset Declaration information which impeded the functionality.
“So the main reasons for enhancement were because there were lots of challenges in our old system. Some of the challenges were that there were constant technical glitches in our old system. The system was a standalone system where there was no integration with an external database,’’ said Kinley Yangzom, Project Manager of the Asset Declaration Enhancement Project.
The enhanced system built at more than Nu 1 M has online penalty payment, document attachment, declaration of online assets and is developed in bilingual.
“Some of the prominent features that the users can see are first thing is integration with agencies. The next thing is SMS Gateway. If the declarant has forgotten their password or if they want to receive any form of queries and feedback responses, they can get it through the system itself,” said the Project Manager.
“We have a Whistleblowing Mechanism where the declarant or general public and use its feature or platform if they want to report or blow the whistle on any cases of illicit enrichment or if they wanted to report any cases of other corruption-related cases,” added the Project Manager.
The declaration period for this year is from May 3 till June 30. If the declarant files in July, he/she will be a late declarant and the penalty will be a daily minimum wage. Similarly, if the declarant chooses to file in August, then he/she will be a non-declarant and the penalty amount will be Nu 45,625.
According to ACC, the declaration compliance today has reached almost 100 per cent.
Karma Wangdi
Edited by Sangay Chezom
