L:\subhash\A2I e-goverment draft6.doc

16 May 2002 – 4,374 words

Administrative Corruption: How Does E-Government Help?[1]

Professor Subhash Bhatnagar

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India.

Introduction

Amongst the many tools being developed to fight against corruption, lately there has been much focus on e-government –using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to open up government processes and enable greater public access to information.

Usage of the term e-government is of recent origin and there is no commonly accepted definition. E-Government is understood as the use of emerging ICTs like Internet, World Wide Web and mobile phones to deliver information and services to citizens and businesses[1]. It can include publication of information about government services on a web site, for example so that citizens can download application forms for a variety of services. It can also involve the actual delivery of services, such as filing a tax return, renewing a license, etc. More sophisticated applications include processing on-line payments.

In developed countries, these services are offered in a self-service mode through Internet Portals that are a single point of interaction for the citizen to receive services from a large number of departments. In developing countries, on-line services counters may operate in a department offering services related only to that department. In some countries, citizen service centers have been created at convenient locations where citizens can access on-line services of several departments. These counters are operated by department/private operators, and the citizens do not directly interact with computer screens. Collection of payments is often then handled through conventional means. In addition to such service centers, citizens may also be able to access service delivery portals.

The benefits to citizens and businesses from on-line delivery of services include convenience (location and time) and shorter waiting periods. In addition, E-Government systems may lead to greater transparency, resulting in reduced administrative corruption.

E-government and Access to Information

Several case studies of E-Government applications from developing countries report some impact on reducing corruption[2]. Many governments have chosen to go on-line in departments which have a large interface with citizens or businesses and are perceived to be relatively corrupt. For example, surveys indicate that tax collection agencies are particularly prone to corruption[3] , and it is no surprise that a large proportion of documented e-government applications are built for departments dealing with tax collection[4]. The very process of building an on-line delivery system requires that rules and procedures are standardized across regions and made explicit (amenable for computer coding). This reduces the discretion and opportunity for arbitrary action that would be available to civil servants if they were dealing with every applicant on a case by case basis. Moreover, as the possibility of exposure of wrong-doing gets enhanced, the fear of consequent embarrassment can be a deterrent to corrupt practices.

However, the reduction of corruption opportunities is often an incidental benefit, and not an explicit objective of e-government. To extract maximal benefit from such applications, some features that can lead to greater transparency and accountability need to be consciously built into the design.

In order to reduce corruption, e-government applications must be built on a sequence of objectives. They must first increase access to information, then ensure that rules are transparent and that they are applied in specific decisions, and finally build the ability to trace decisions/actions to individual civil servants.

When all these objectives are pursued at the same time, corruption can be reduced significantly. Ignoring some of them can defeat the whole purpose. Numerous web sites created by Government departments are ineffective because they tend to focus on the single objective of providing electronic access to information. Often these web sites are electronic copies of printed brochures. Not enough effort is made to ensure that transparency and accountability are increased[5].

Table 1 presents the type of information where greater transparency can be enabled through E-Government applications, which in turn can create disincentives for corrupt officials and businesses by increasing the chances of exposure. The lower part of the table draws a comparison with broader e-governance initiatives. Four of the examples highlighted in the table are presented as case studies below.

E-GOVERNMENT / Type of information being made transparent /

Resulting benefits

/ Examples of
e-government applications
Rules and procedures governing services; names of public officials responsible for different tasks; text of citizen’s charter. / Standardized procedures for delivery of services. Citizens can resist attempts to delay processing. Reduces arbitrariness, e.g. demand for additional documents. / Web sites of government departments in many countries.
Budget disclosure in Argentina and Karnataka, India
Outcomes of government decisions, e.g. award of contracts and licenses, allocation of resources. / Exposure of corruption and improved accountability / E-procurement in Chile, Philippines.
Data about individual entities in Government records such as land and buildings, , status of tax payments / Exposure of manipulation for bribery and corruption.
Empowerment of citizens to challenge arbitrary actions / Bhoomi, on-line land records in Karnataka, India
Actions/decisions of government functionaries such as comments on applications for licences, bills of entry for goods / Tracking attempts to extort bribes so as to fix individual responsibility / OPEN in Seoul, Korea, On-line processing in Customs
Performance indicators for Government departments: indices of corruption; performance of investigating agencies / Civic engagement in governance
Greater accountability / School performance in UK
E-GOVERNANCE / Names of citizens with large outstanding loans, taxes; civil servants under investigation or convicted / A kind of punishment for the corrupt through public exposure / Central Vigilance Commissioner Web site, India
Disclosure of assets and income of election candidates, elected representatives, ministers or civil servants / Creates disincentive for corruption by creating fear of exposure / Opensecrets in US;
Public Affairs Council, India

Impact of E-Government on Reducing Corruption: Case Studies

The case studies presented here demonstrate the potential impact of e-government applications on transparency and corruption. The four case studies represent a handful of e-government initiatives in which reducing corruption was an explicit objective.

These cases highlight some of the factors which contribute to successful implementation of e-government applications.

Seoul Municipality, South Korea

The OPEN system of Seoul Municipality exemplifies the impact on corruption of making transparent the decision making processes and actions of individual civil servants. The system enables on-line tracking of individual applications for a variety of municipal licenses.

Extensive municipal regulations, spurred by the expansion of the municipal bureaucracy, had created new opportunities for corruption. In 1998, the Mayor of the city declared an all-out war on corruption through preventive and punitive measures, increased transparency in administration, and enhanced public-private partnership. The introduction of e-government was one element of a broad range of initiatives. Many of the measures were introduced prior to computerization. These included cutting and simplifying regulations, and actively involving citizens in various anti-corruption activities.

The e-government side of the war on corruption involved setting up a portal called OPEN –Online Procedures ENhancement for Civil Applications. The portal explains to users the elements of the anticorruption drive, displays an anticorruption index (compares five services that are most susceptible to corruption), educates citizens on rules and procedures, and enables real-time monitoring of progress of an application for a permit or license. It makes completely open and transparent those administrative practices that were vulnerable to corruption.

In the first 13 months of the OPEN system, civil applications published by each city department totaled 28,000, and the number of visits to the OPEN site reached 2 million by the end of year 2000[6]. The OPEN system has been evaluated in different ways. Results from a survey of 1,245 citizens showed that 84.3% believed that OPEN led to greater transparency. Other surveys conducted by the local chapter of Transparency International in 2000 and 2001 indicate a growing interest but a marginal decline in user satisfaction over time[7]. There was little change in the perceived benefits of reduced time or easy access . However the percentage of respondents identifying greater transparency (25.1% in 2000) and prevention of corruption (9.3% in 2000) as benefits did go down over this time-period by 3.3 and 1.4 % respectively.

The focus of the anticorruption program was not on IT but on simplification of regulations and procedures, re-engineering of work practices, transparency in procedures, and effective communication with the citizens. The learning emerges that in order for anti-corruption efforts to be effective, reformers must look beyond individual instances of corrupt behavior and focus on the structural factors that allow corruption to develop. The anti-corruption drive in Seoul showed the success of a multi pronged attack. Two factors contributed to the success in implementation. First, there was strong leadership provided by the Mayor. Second, there was widespread citizens’ participation.

Computerization of land records, Karnataka ,India

The Bhoomi ( meaning land) project of on-line delivery of land records in Karnataka ( one of the 26 states of India) demonstrates the benefits of making government records more open so that citizens are empowered to challenge arbitrary action. It also illustrates how automation can be used to take discretion away from civil servants at operating levels[8].

The Department of Revenue in Karnataka has computerized 20 million records of land ownership of 6.7 million farmers in the state. In the past, under the manual system, land records were maintained by 9,000 Village Accountants, each serving a cluster of 3-4 villages. Farmers had to seek out the Village Accountant to get a copy of the Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops (RTC) -- a document needed for many tasks such as obtaining bank loans. Village Accountants were not easily accessible, as their duties entailed travelling. The time taken by Village Accountants to provide RTCs ranged from 3 to 30 days depending upon the importance of the record for the farmer and the size of the bribe. A typical bribe for a certificate could range from Rs.100 ( $1= Rs 50) to Rs.2000. If some details were to be deliberately written in an ambiguous fashion, the bribe could go up to Rs.10,000. Land records in the custody of Village Accountants were not open for public scrutiny.

Mutation requests to alter land records (upon sale or inheritance of a land parcel) had to be filed with the Village Accountant. The Village Accountant is required to issue notices to the interested parties and also paste the notice at the village office. Often neither of these actions was carried out, and no record of the notices was maintained. If no objections were received within a required 30-day period, an update to the land records was to be carried out by a Revenue Inspector, In practice, however, it could take 1-2 years for the records to be updated.

Bhoomi has reduced the discretion of public officials by introducing provisions for recording a mutation request online. Farmers can now access the database and are empowered to follow up.

In the Bhoomi project, a printed copy of the RTC can be obtained online by providing the name of the owner or plot number at computerized land record kiosks in 180 taluk offices, for a fee of Rs.15. A second computer screen faces the clients to enable them to see the transaction being performed. A farmer can check the status of a mutation application on a Touch Screen provided on a pilot basis in three of the computerized kiosks. Operators of the computerized system are made accountable for their decisions and actions by using a bio-login system that authenticates every log-in through a thumb print[9]. A log is maintained of all transactions in a session. In the next phase of the project, all the taluk databases will be uploaded to a web-enabled central database. RTCs will then be available online at Internet kiosks, which are likely to be set up in rural areas[10].

However, since there is no change in the role of Revenue Inspector in passing the mutation order, corruption in the mutation process may not necessarily fall. Reports on overdue mutations reveal this and supervisors must then investigate and take appropriate action. Clearly there is no substitute for good management.

Implementation of land record computerization has been difficult in India. Bhoomi succeeded because there was a champion in the departmental head who worked a 15-hour day for over 12 months, devoting 80% of his time to the project. Minimizing resistance from staff by harnessing political support was an important contributory factor. Extensive training coupled with a participatory style also helped to diminish resistance.

Electronic procurement in Chile

An electronic procurement system increases transparency and probity by keeping a traceable electronic record of government transactions on-line. A comprehensive e-procurement system includes three components: information and registration; e-purchasing, and e-tendering. The Chilean system has focused on the first component of adequate public notification and oversight. Unlike many other countries, the Chilean system is operated by a private company.

Following the introduction of the system in 1999, companies that wish to do business with the public sector do not need to search through newspapers or the Web for information about bidding opportunities. Instead, they need only register a single time, indicating the areas in which they do business (e.g., office furniture, construction services, IT consulting, etc.). Whenever a public agency needs to purchase goods or contract a service, it fills out a request in the electronic system, specifying the kind of operation and including all the documentation and information associated with the request. The system automatically sends an e-mail to all the private companies registered in that selected area, minimizing response time and providing an equal opportunity to all firms to submit a bid[11].

The system also provides, on-line, all the information related to procurement operations, including the public organization's full contact details and the position of the public officer in charge of the operation. At the conclusion of the bidding process, the e-system provides the results: who participated, the proposals, the economic and technical scores, and, lastly, who won the bid or obtained the contract. Historical information about the public organization's purchases and contracts is also made available.