Delhi govt officials will now pay penalty for delay in service

Come September 15, Delhi government officials will have to pay financial penalty to applicants if they fail to deliver services within a time-frame, a move that comes in the backdrop of Anna Hazare's demand for a citizens' charter.

The reforms in delivery of services like issuance of driving license, ration card and registration of births and deaths in a time-bound manner has been initiated by city government as per provision of a legislation passed by Delhi assembly in March.

The decision to implement the 'Delhi Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services Act' comes close on the heels of Hazare's agitation demanding a Citizens' Charter for all government departments, providing details about services offered by them, the time limit and punishment for failing to provide the service.

The legislation fixes financial penalty in the range of Rs10 to Rs 200 per day for failing to deliver services while making it a right of every citizen to obtain timebound delivery of services from certain government agencies.

"The legislation will come into force from September 15. It will improve accountability and rid our system of irregularities," said a senior official.

The departments which have been included under the legislation are Revenue, Food and Civil Supplies, Transport and Trade and Taxes as well as civic agencies MCD and NDMC.

According to the legislation, a maximum penalty of Rs 5,000 can be imposed on officials for failing to deliver services. For deciding financial penalty, the legislation also provides for setting up "competent authority".

The legislation says for issuance of ration cards, it should not take more than 45 days while MCD and NDMC should not take more than seven working days for issuance of registration of birth and death certificates.

The Transport Department should not take more than one day to renew permanent driving license while learner's driving license should be issued on the same day of filing of the application.

The Act requires the selected departments to commit to service-level agreements (SLAs) declaring time-frame required to deliver services to the citizens.

The legislation basically aims at sensitising government servants towards the citizens and to enhance and imbibe a culture to deliver services within a stipulated period.

Officials said the government had written to Delhi police to implement the legislation.