National Campaign and “Cashless Payment Champions” Competition

The competition will be open to all cities and municipalities that have enabled the payment of fees and charges by payment cards at the counters, and those cities and municipalities that motivate their citizens to opt for using this method of cashless payment in the period between July 1 and December 31 this year and record the highest number of payments at POS terminals compared to the number of citizens, will receive valuable rewards.

The establishment of the Office for IT and eGovernment enabled the electronic payment of administrative fees for the first time on the eGovernment Portal and provided the necessary infrastructure for setting up POS terminals at all counters of municipal and city administrations, police administrations and cadastre counters throughout Serbia. To date, 250 POS terminals have been set up in 60 cities and municipalities in Serbia, at counters of various public administration institutions, through which more than 51 thousand transactions have been carried out. This means that the citizens were relieved of the obligation to visit to bank or post office counters in order to pay the administrative fees, as they could finalize the entire process by visiting only one counter. The introduction of POS terminals is free of charge for municipalities and cities and represents one of the important measures of the National Program for Countering the Shadow Economy 2019 – 2020. Therefore, once again we invite all local self-governments to join this action, so we can jointly build an efficient and transparent public administration in the service of citizens”, said Mihailo Jovanović (Associate Professor, PhD), Director of the Office for IT and eGovernment.

He added that the competition of municipalities and cities, in addition to providing citizens with the lowest commission fees for electronic payment, also gives them the opportunity to win a valuable prize for their city or municipality - a children's playground. Also, the Office for IT and eGovernment will reward the first 5 municipalities or cities that have the most transactions compared to the number of citizens in the period between July 1 and December 31, with the possibility to create their website in a manner similar to the website of the Government of the Republic of Serbia “In the Service of Citizens” with all the functionality of two-way communication and tools that provide easier access for the blind and visually impaired.

The Office for IT and eGovernment has so far set up POS terminals in 51 local self-government units, and other local self-governments interested in participating in the competition may conclude an Agreement with the Office for IT and eGovernment on setting up terminals by June 17. Naturally, other municipalities that are interested in enabling this type of simple payment of administrative fees may sign the Agreement after this deadline as well, but these municipalities will not be included in the competition.

In addition to free installation and training for the use of POS terminals, local self-governments will also enable, for themselves, their citizens and businesses, the lowest commission fees for payments at the counters - 45 RSD for amounts below 4,500 RSD or 1% for higher amounts, as well as free branding of the counter hall and participation in campaign and promotion.

Cashless transactions for citizens and businesses mean lower payment costs, greater efficiency and security. The state receives more transparent financial flows, an opportunity for better tax collection and faster economic development, as well as lower costs due to the fact that production and storage of cash is expensive. We hope to see POS terminals soon at other counters that citizens often visit, primarily for obtaining personal documents, and that the state will continue to work on reducing the allowed limit for cash payments - said the member of Executive Board of NALED and the Mayor of Požarevac, Bane Spasović.

First-ranked local self-government will be awarded with a children's playground worth 20,000 EUR, five first-place winners will receive a website “In the Service of Citizens” in accordance with the standards of the website of the Government of Serbia, and the first 10 cities and municipalities will receive the “Cashless Payment Champions” plaque, which will be awarded at the final conference in Belgrade.