MOE taking steps to improve payment process to Maxi Taxi Concessionaires

Minister of Education Anthony Garcia says the Ministry of Education is working feverishly to improve the existing process to effect faster payments to Maxi Taxi Concessionaires. The current payment process according to Minister Garcia is a very convoluted and time-consuming one, consisting of several steps, which must be followed:

• Submission of completed claim forms to principals for signature from the Maxi Taxi Concessionaires.
• The signed forms are then submitted to PTSC by the drivers for verification. The PTSC then forwards the verified documents to the Director of School Supervision (DSS) in the Ministry of Education;
• The DSS is then responsible for ensuring that the submitted claims are error free and contain the school’s stamp and principal’s signature. They are then forwarded to the Director of Finance and Accounts for further processing.  Once errors are detected, these forms are returned to PTSC for queries related to billing errors;
• PTSC will then address the errors and return claim forms to DSS. DSS once more checks information and forwards the files to the Permanent Secretary via the Chief Education Officer.
• Files are then sent to the Director of Finance and Accounts (DFA) for processing for payments. Once completed, request for releases are then made to the Ministry of Finance by the DFA.
• Once releases are made, cheques are prepared and sent to PTSC which is then responsible for the distribution of payments to the contracted concessionaires.   

Due to the challenges posed by the existing process, Minister Garcia says the Ministry of Education is in the process of developing a School Transport App, which would be used to calculate payments and allow for a faster payment cycle for drivers. The App will cover the entire monitoring of students and drivers’ route. This process would involve the issuing of an ID card to students, which would be scanned upon entry and exit during their journey to and from school in the Maxi Taxi.  This process will now allow drivers to submit their claim forms via the App, electronically, for payments and would eliminate all errors and significantly cut the waiting time for processing of payments.  This new system will be managed from the Ministry Education.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education has effected payments to the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) for services received from Maxi Taxi Concessionaires in excess of four point seven million dollars. ($4.7M) while the processing of claims continue for the period 14^th October to 25^th October, 2019. These invoices were received on Monday 18^th November, 2019.  

Minister Garcia says the Ministry of Education values the services provided by PTSC and Maxi Taxi Concessionaires and will continue to work with both stakeholders to improve the delivery of this service.