Kerala's new bill introduces electronic delivery for public services, ₹15,000 penalty for erring staff

The draft Kerala Right to Public Service Bill, 2024, which was cleared by the state cabinet on Wednesday has introduced electronic service delivery and higher penalty for failure to provide public service. The bill which will be introduced in the Legislative Assembly is meant to replace the Kerala State Right to Service Act, 2012.

This law was enacted to enable delivery of services to the applicants by the department officials concerned in a time-bound and effective manner, and also to make government servants liable in cases of default. The copy of the draft bill notes that, even after a decade since the act came into effect, it has completely failed to achieve its objectives and purposes. 

A detailed study on this subject reveals that several departments have not even complied with the requirement of notifying all services that each of they will render. Further, even in cases where notifications were made, several relevant services were not included in the list of notified services. There is no transparency or accountability in the implementation of the above Act. A study conducted by the Institute of Management in Government has disclosed that the implementation of the provisions of the Act is very tardy, the document notes.

The government also reported several inadequacies in relevant provisions in the present Act. No officer was slapped with penalty for failure in delivery of public service in a decade. It was observed that the appellate authority provided under the Act is a higher officer of the same public authority, and the tendency to justify the inaction or denial of service by the designated officer could not be ruled out.

"There is no provision for a second appeal under the present Act. There is also no provision for electronic service delivery. The penal provisions contained in the present Act are also found to be inadequate," the draft bill shows.

The new bill contains detailed provisions regarding electronic service delivery. A Second Appellate Authority is also constituted, who is the District Collector, and an independent Ex-Officio Revisional Authority with the Law Secretary as Chairman. The proposed Bill also contains elaborate provisions regarding the notification of public services, electronic service delivery system, imposition and recovery of penalty, recommendation of disciplinary actions against defaulting officers, monitoring, updation and revision of public services, etc.

The draft bill has hiked the penalty for failure in the delivery of service. If a designated officer is found to have failed to provide the public service to the eligible person within the stipulated time limit or has caused undue delay in providing service, the first appellate authority can impose a fine upto ₹10,000 on the officer. If the first appellate authority fails to decide an appeal within the time limit, the second appellate authority can impose a fine of up to ₹15,000. The bill also lays down provisions for a penalty for failure to notify or display public services. In addition to the penalty, disciplinary action will also be taken against erring officials. 

Electronic service delivery, which is a key aspect of the new bill will be notified by the public authorities within six months from the date f commencement of the act. A list of public services, which will be delivered by electronic mode, will be published, reviewed and updated every year.