ADB is helping Bangladesh improve the delivery and transparency of tax and land management services. The project will introduce online filing of tax returns, digitize land records management in selected districts, and establish specialized tax and land information and service centers for easy access to information.
| Project Name | Strengthening Governance Management Project | ||||||||
| Project Number | 39452-013 | ||||||||
| Country | Bangladesh |
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| Project Status | Closed | ||||||||
| Project Type / Modality of Assistance | Loan Technical Assistance |
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| Source of Funding / Amount |
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| Strategic Agendas | Inclusive economic growth |
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| Drivers of Change | Gender Equity and Mainstreaming Governance and capacity development Private sector development |
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| Sector / Subsector | Public sector management / Public administration |
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| Gender Equity and Mainstreaming | Some gender elements | ||||||||
| Description | The project seeks to improve transparency and accountability of public service delivery in tax and land record administration in Bangladesh with the help of information and communication technology (ICT). Three outputs of the project are (i) online filing of tax returns, (ii) digitized land records management system in selected districts, and (iii) improved access to tax and land information in specialized information and service centers. | ||||||||
| Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy | The project is consistent with the country partnership strategy and is in conformity with the recommendations made in the 2009 country assistance program evaluation in Bangladesh, which found that lack of good governance in many areas is one of the country's binding constraints on growth, and recommended support for further governance reforms. The ADB's country operations business plan for 2010-2012 for Bangladesh states that ADB will continue to provide assistance in improving governance in Bangladesh by enhancing governance management capacity. Recognizing the need for the application of ICT tools for improved governance, the Supporting Governance Management Project identifies three key areas where the application of ICT tools has the potential to enhance efficiency, transparency, and accountability in public service delivery: (i) Tax administration is one of the most promising areas where good governance can lead to significant gains in terms of increasing tax revenues and in enhancing transparency in tax filing. (ii) Proper land records management is another area where the application of ICT tools can greatly enhance the quality of public service delivery. (iii) The success of any good governance initiative based on the principle of a participatory approach critically depends on equal access to information, and bidirectional information flows. |
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| Impact | Greater public trust in central government for service delivery | ||||||||
| Project Outcome | |
|---|---|
| Description of Outcome | Improved transparency and accountability in tax and land record administrations |
| Progress Toward Outcome | Both the components of the project under two EA- NBR and DLRS have been completed and closed. DLRS component was physically closed on 30 June 2017 and NBR component was physically closed on 30 June 2018. Under DLRS component, Digital Land Management System (DLMS) has been established and operationalized in 45 sub-districts and 7 districts HQs as targeted. Under DLRS, 20 Land Information and Service Centers (LISC) have been established to provide land services to the citizens. Under NBR component, Bangladesh Integrated Tax Administration (BITAX) System has been established and operationalized. NBR has declared all 650 tax circles as tax service centers. All physical outputs and activities of DLRS and NBR components have been completed. Financial close of the project will be completed after settling the last claim of the contractor (FPT) pending with ADB. |
| Implementation Progress | |
| Description of Project Outputs | Online filing of tax returns Digitized land records management system in selected districts Improved access to tax and land information in specialized information and service centers |
| Status of Implementation Progress (Outputs, Activities, and Issues) | On-line filing tax returns system (BITAX) are available since 2016 and tax payers are using the BITAX. Digital Land Management System (DLMS) have been established by developing a database of land records including record of rights (ROR), mutation khatians, and mouza maps of 7 (seven) districts HQs and 45 upazilas [sub-districts] and have been made available on-line for citizens since 2017. 6.5 million land records of rights (ROR) / khatians, mutation khatians, and 18,854 mouza maps have been scanned and digitized as targeted under the project. Tax and land related information are available from the two systems under the project. 20 Land Information and Service Centers (LISC) under DLRS have been operationalized in 2016. NBR has declared all tax circles as service centers. The online filing of tax returns or Bangladesh Integrated Tax Administration System - BITAX has been fully operationalized, and 650 tax circles have been connected. In 2017; 44,000 tax payers submitted online tax returns. NBR also digitized 1.2 million manually submitted tax returns of 2016-17 and digitized 600,000 manual tax returns of 2017-18 so far. |
| Geographical Location | Nation-wide |
| Safeguard Categories | |
|---|---|
| Environment | C |
| Involuntary Resettlement | C |
| Indigenous Peoples | C |
| Summary of Environmental and Social Aspects | |
|---|---|
| Environmental Aspects | |
| Involuntary Resettlement | |
| Indigenous Peoples | |
| Stakeholder Communication, Participation, and Consultation | |
| During Project Design | Necessary consultations with government officials and members of civil societies were carried out. |
| During Project Implementation | Necessary consultations with government officials and members of civil societies were carried out, and awareness workshops were organized in Dhaka and relevant districts. |
| Business Opportunities | |
|---|---|
| Consulting Services | Consulting services were procured using the ADB's Guidelines on the Use of Consultants 2015 (as amended from time to time). |
| Procurement | Procurement of two (2) complete ICT systems (including hardware , software, networking, data centers, service centers, etc.) were completed under two turn-key contracts under two executing agencies of the project - NBR and DLRS. The procurement were carried out in accordance with ADB's Procurement Guidelines 2015 (as amended from time to time). |
| Responsible ADB Officer | Gobinda Bar |
| Responsible ADB Department | South Asia Department |
| Responsible ADB Division | Bangladesh Resident Mission |
| Executing Agencies |
National Board of Revenue Syed Aminul Karim [email protected] National Board of Revenue, Segunbagicha, Dhaka Prime Minister's Office Dr. M. Aslam Alam [email protected] 26 Shahid Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Tejgaon, Dhaka |
| Timetable | |
|---|---|
| Concept Clearance | 11 May 2010 |
| Fact Finding | 13 May 2010 to 26 May 2010 |
| MRM | - |
| Approval | 21 Sep 2010 |
| Last Review Mission | - |
| PDS Creation Date | 08 Nov 2010 |
| Last PDS Update | 17 Sep 2018 |
Loan 2666-BAN
| Milestones | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approval | Signing Date | Effectivity Date | Closing | ||
| Original | Revised | Actual | |||
| 21 Sep 2010 | 11 Sep 2011 | 20 Oct 2011 | 30 Jun 2014 | 30 Jun 2018 | 29 Nov 2018 |
| Financing Plan | Loan Utilization | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total (Amount in US$ million) | Date | ADB | Others | Net Percentage | |
| Project Cost | 25.00 | Cumulative Contract Awards | |||
| ADB | 25.00 | 21 Sep 2010 | 17.45 | 0.00 | 100% |
| Counterpart | 0.00 | Cumulative Disbursements | |||
| Cofinancing | 0.00 | 21 Sep 2010 | 17.45 | 0.00 | 100% |
| Status of Covenants | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Sector | Safeguards | Social | Financial | Economic | Others |
| Rating | Satisfactory | Satisfactory | - | - | - | - |
TA 7604-BAN
| Milestones | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approval | Signing Date | Effectivity Date | Closing | ||
| Original | Revised | Actual | |||
| 21 Sep 2010 | 28 Oct 2010 | 28 Oct 2010 | 31 Dec 2013 | 30 Jun 2017 | - |
| Financing Plan/TA Utilization | Cumulative Disbursements | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADB | Cofinancing | Counterpart | Total | Date | Amount | |||
| Gov | Beneficiaries | Project Sponsor | Others | |||||
| 800,000.00 | 0.00 | 180,000.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 980,000.00 | 21 Sep 2010 | 697,391.82 |
| Status of Covenants | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Sector | Safeguards | Social | Financial | Economic | Others |
| Rating | Satisfactory | Satisfactory | - | - | - | - |
Project Data Sheets (PDS) contain summary information on the project or program. Because the PDS is a work in progress, some information may not be included in its initial version but will be added as it becomes available. Information about proposed projects is tentative and indicative.
The Access to Information Policy (AIP) recognizes that transparency and accountability are essential to development effectiveness. It establishes the disclosure requirements for documents and information ADB produces or requires to be produced.
The Accountability Mechanism provides a forum where people adversely affected by ADB-assisted projects can voice and seek solutions to their problems and report alleged noncompliance of ADB's operational policies and procedures.
In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of, or reference to, a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area.
Safeguard Documents See also: Safeguards
Safeguard documents provided at the time of project/facility approval may also be found in the list of linked documents provided with the Report and Recommendation of the President.
None currently available.
Evaluation Documents See also: Independent Evaluation
None currently available.
Related Publications
None currently available.
The Access to Information Policy (AIP) establishes the disclosure requirements for documents and information ADB produces or requires to be produced in its operations to facilitate stakeholder participation in ADB's decision-making. For more information, refer to the Safeguard Policy Statement, Operations Manual F1, and Operations Manual L3.
Requests for information may also be directed to the InfoUnit.
Tenders
No tenders for this project were found.
Contracts Awarded
| Contract Title | Approval Number | Contract Date | Contractor | Contractor Address | Executing Agency | Contract Description | Total Contract Amount (US$) | Contract Amount Financed by ADB (US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recruitment of Customer Care Associate Firm (DLMS-NCB-03) | Loan 2666 | 30 May 2017 | Business Automation Ltd. | Kawran Bazar Dhaka Bangladesh | National Board of Revenue | Consultancy | 141,333.69 | — |
| Recruitment of Customer Care Associate Firm (DLMS-NCB-03) | Loan 3169 | 30 May 2017 | Business Automation Ltd | Kawran Bazar, Dhaka, Bangladesh | National Board of Revenue | Consulting Services | 141,334.00 | 141,321.00 |
Procurement Plan
| Title | Document Type | Document Date |
|---|---|---|
| Strengthening Governance Management Project | Procurement Plans | Apr 2014 |