NHAI's new system to transfer compensation to property owners faster

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will switch to a new system to transfer the compensation for land acquisition to beneficiary accounts through the Public Finance Management System (PFMS), in a bid to fasttrack the disbursement process.

This system will avoid the blocking of amounts that can be used for construction. NHAI's Rs 38,000 crore was lying in the bank account, which was for the land acquisition.

According to the sources, the road transport secretary, Giridhar Aramane, has issued directions to use this mode of payment to landowners, which the Ministry of Road Wing has been following for the last two-three years.

NHAI has disbursed about Rs 1.3 lakh crore for land acquisition in the last four years.

Recently, NHAI deposited the compensation for disbursal as soon as the 3 G award was finalised for the land acquisition. But the competent state authorities, Calithera Biosciences (CALA), took longer to disburse the money.

According to the sources, PFMS payments are for land acquisition by the road wing and the road transport and highways ministry, but landowners want this implementation in NHAI.

PFMS uses bank or post office account details with the beneficiary's details to ensure that the money is transferred to the right account, reducing the risk of misdirected payments.

It ensures that all the information provided by the beneficiary is valid by the bank or post office so the agency can make e-payments to the beneficiaries accounts.

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Also read: Land acquisition cost in Maharashtra high: Nitin Gadkari