The finance ministry saw a decrease in the number of beneficiaries claiming the vehicle quotas in the 2020-2021 fiscal year. This is a result of the suspension of monetization of vehicle quotas due to the pandemic. Just over 600 eligible individuals claimed their vehicle quotas compared to over 1800 who claimed quotas in the 2019-2020 fiscal year.
In the 2019-2020 fiscal year, from over 1800 vehicle quotas claimed, 63 per cent opted for the monetization amounting to Nu 250,000 while 37 per cent took the vehicle quota.
With the Pay Revision Act 2019, civil servants and public servants were provided with an option to claim the monetized amount instead of the quota. Since then, many have opted to take the money. However, due to the pandemic last year, the monetization of the vehicle quota was suspended.
“In Financial Year 2019-2020, over 1100 people claimed for the monetized amount. The government spent Nu 300 M for that. In 2020-2021, due to the pandemic, the economy was affected which is why we suspended the monetized amount for time being. Most opt to take the monetized amount and we couldn’t provide them with the money,” said Nim Dorji, the Finance Secretary.
The ministry clarified that deferring the monetization of quota will not delay a beneficiary’s next claim. This means the deferred period will be included while calculating a seven-year gap after the last allotment.
The National Budget for financial year 2021-2022 reported that the ministry will defer the option to monetize vehicle quota during this financial year.
Samten Dolkar
