"NON-CASH PAYMENT CHAMPIONS" COMPETITION IS UNDERWAY

19. July 2019.

Under the slogan "Pay by Card and Win", the competition of cities and municipalities "Non-Cash Payment Champions " began on July 1. The local self-governments that turn out to be most successful in motivating citizens and businesses to pay taxes and fees by cards will receive valuable prizes, including a children's playground and a developed Internet presentation, the government's Office for Media Cooperation said.

Participants in the competition include 60 cities and municipalities from the territory of the Republic of Serbia that have shown willingness to modernize their banking halls and introduce a non-cash payment service for citizens and businesses.

The winners will be selected according to the number of realized card payments at the local self-government’s counter in relation to the number of inhabitants, from July 1 to December 31.

Mihailo Jovanovic, Director of the IT and e-Government Office, says that the competition is one of the activities envisaged by the new National Program for the Fight against Grey Economy aimed at reducing the use of cash, since the cash is a generator of illegal trade and tax evasion.

“With such actions, we want to develop a culture of non-cash payments, build an efficient and transparent public administration and enable citizens to complete all the work on obtaining documents and paying taxes and fees at the institution's counter, without going to the post office or the bank, "Mr. Jovanovic says.

Although sales outlets in Serbia have almost 90,000 POS terminals, that figure is still two and a half times smaller than the European average, while in many places it is not possible to pay by a card. That is why, for all 60 local self-governments involved in the competition, free installation of POS terminals and branding of the counters are provided.

The first five "champions" will receive Internet presentation "Serving Citizens", which is modeled after the Government of the Republic of Serbia’s website, while the prize for the winning local community is a children's playground worth 20,000 euros.

For the duration of the competition, for all those who decide to pay city or municipal services by a card at the counter, the lowest commissions of 45 dinars are provided for payments up to 4,500 dinars, or one percent for larger payments, the government's Office for Cooperation with the Media said.

Citizens and businesses can check whether their local self-government has introduced the option of paying by card and find out more information about the competition on the national portal www.uzmiracun.rs.

The competition of cities and municipalities "Non-Cash Payment Champions" is organized by the IT and e-Government Office, in cooperation with NALED and with the support of the "MasterCard" and "Visa" companies.

Source: Radio and Television of Serbia, “Evening News” daily and Coordination Body