- Andhra Pradesh , India
CASE STUDY
Accelerating Revenue Mobilisation through Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)
A Case from Andhra Pradesh, India where a Property tax DPI led to significant revenue growth
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Introduction
Revenue mobilization through taxation is essential for thriving countries and cities, particularly in low-income countries with limited resources, for investing in human capital and infrastructure. These investments foster resilient and inclusive growth by funding essential public services like healthcare, education, infrastructure, safety, and social welfare. Property taxes are a key revenue source for development initiatives, but governments often struggle with administrative capacity, outdated technology, and a shortage of skilled personnel, hindering effective tax collection and revenue management. The Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) approach solves for scalability, ease of use, and data integrity by providing a standardized platform upon which new services and applications can be built unlike traditional methods requiring bespoke solutions. DPI streamlines government operations, reduces redevelopment needs and ensures strategic control over software and data through existing infrastructure, open standards, and APIs.
Background
Andhra Pradesh, a state in India with approximately 84 million residents as of 2011, underwent significant urbanization, driven by rapid industrialization and rural-to-urban migration. Facing challenges and opportunities in managing its growing urban landscape, the government of Andhra Pradesh initiated various programs in 2016 to enhance public service delivery and digitization. The efforts reflected a need for digital transformation in governance essential for revenue mobilization and responsive public service delivery.
The Challenges
- Legacy systems Andhra Pradesh’s tax collection systems, spread across 110 cities, faced challenges including reliance on paper-based methods in 30 cities, outdated technology in 77 cities, and scalability issues in 3 cities due to multiple vendors. Integration difficulties, the absence of citizen portals, and discrepancies in managing Land Register and property tax registers further added to operational inefficiencies.
- Data silos: Stand-alone systems impeded information sharing while manually prepared data posed a severe challenge in accessing quality data for performance tracking and decision-making.
- Delayed demand generation: Varied bill distribution schedules and manual processes, compounded by delays in updating property registers due to city expansions, hampered revenue collection, and operational efficiency in property tax systems.
- Poor compliance: Inadequate adherence to operational requirements and municipal regulations led to the deployment of inappropriate software applications, with varied interpretations of municipal acts resulting in poor compliance.
- Accessibility barrier for citizens: The systems were built with governmental operations in mind. Most citizens had to visit the city offices to get anything done.
The DPI Approach: Platform-Product design
In a traditional application-based approach duplicated data across multiple systems leads to poor data quality and a lack of integrated data for decision making. This results in a fragmented experience for employees, citizens, and administrators and, in turn, in low rates of adoption. The DPI approach reimagined the property tax service delivery space as a set of shared registries, services, and building blocks, accessible through well-defined open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) thus creating opportunities to eliminate inefficiencies and giving strategic control to urban ministries. Further, its modular nature allows countries to selectively deploy individual building blocks as needed.
Application Vs Platform
Traditional Approach
- Data is fragmented in multiple systems leading to poor data quality and does not give an integrated view of data for decision-making.
- Point-to-point integration between systems leads to spaghetti code, making the system difficult to change.
- Poor experience for employees, citizens, and administrators leads to poor adoption.
A DPI Approach
- Shared Data Registry ensures a “Single Source of Truth” and controls data quality. The Property Tax Registry, with unique property identifications, integrated seamlessly with other departments, replacing manual registers.
- Well-defined open APIs ensure seamless information sharing and interoperability. Payment channels were expanded and integrated, allowing flexibility based on city or state preferences.
- A unified interface, and integrated dashboards for employees, citizens, and administrators ease of use and adoption.
Implementation Strategy
Engagement Model: The Andhra Pradesh state and eGov collaborated to co-create a solution based on the DPI approach. A Steering Committee, led by the head of municipal administration and eGov members, supervised the process. Key players included a System Integrator for rollout and training, a Cloud Service Provider for hosting, a Property Tax Expert Team for driving changes, and a Nodal Officers Team for on-site monitoring. Data collection exercises were methodically carried out, addressing field challenges and proposing solutions in stages.
DPI implementation: eGovernments Foundation’s DIGIT DPI was used to build a robust Property Tax management system for the entire State. It used a strong registry, citizen-friendly design, and Open APIs for easy integration. The system combined various service and complaint access points, such as call centers, web portals, mobile apps, and third-party centers, allowing citizens to use their preferred channels. Administrators managed all requests through a unified back-end interface. The reliable registry ensured transparent tax management and made connecting services like water and power easier, improving oversight and efficiency.
Change management and capacity-building: Initiatives were undertaken, from grassroots workers to senior-level bureaucrats, through user manuals, workshops, interactive training sessions, and on-the-job support to empower public servants in driving the state’s vision. This resulted in saving time and resources and minimizing potential disputes.
GIS Integration: In 2017, a comprehensive GIS-based survey was conducted to ensure the inclusion of all properties in the property tax registry. The property tax system built on DIGIT integrated with Survey Applications, GeoServers, Finance systems, and dashboards to enhance property tax coverage statewide, offering stakeholders visibility across defined processes.
Outcomes
Growth in Property Tax Collections from
2016-17 to 2022-23
No Data Found
Growth in Property Tax Registry from
2016-17 to 2022-23
No Data Found
- Increased channel of collection: Multiple payment channels and citizen centers improved accessibility and collection, and revenue collection processes were streamlined.
- Employee Performance Monitoring: Employee performance could be tracked with real-time dashboards and targeted campaigns, boosting morale and improving revenue collection within the Municipal Department.
- Increased visibility with real-time data: The data empowered state leaders to make informed decisions and manage resources accessible to anyone on the CDMA website, facilitating transparent governance. effectively. Real-time information is now
Innovation in Bill Generation - Integrated Billing System
In 2017, Andhra Pradesh implemented the Integrated Demand Billing System, amalgamating Property Tax, Water, and Sewerage charges into a unified bill issued at the onset of the fiscal year. This streamlined approach notably enhanced revenue collection. Offering early rebates on property taxes incentivized citizens to settle all dues at once, leading to expedited collection rates, with 35-38% of dues collected within the first quarter.
Testimonials
Innovation in Bill Generation - Integrated Billing System
In 2017, Andhra Pradesh implemented the Integrated Demand Billing System, amalgamating Property Tax, Water, and Sewerage charges into a unified bill issued at the onset of the fiscal year. This streamlined approach notably enhanced revenue collection. Offering early rebates on property taxes incentivized citizens to settle all dues at once, leading to expedited collection rates, with 35-38% of dues collected within the first quarter.
