Introduction to Public Financial Management System
Public Financial Management System (PFMS) is a web-based online software application developed and implemented by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. PFMS was launched in 2009 with the objective of tracking the funds released under all the Plan Schemes of the Government of India and real-time reporting of expenditure at all levels of program implementation. Subsequently, the scope was expanded to cover direct payment to beneficiaries under all schemes. Gradually, it is envisaged that the digitization of accounts will be achieved through PFMS and starting with Pay & Accounts Office payments, O/o CGA will add more value by bringing more financial activities of the Government of India under the ambit of PFMS. Outputs / deliverables for various modes / functions of PFMS include (but are not limited to):
Payment & Treasury Control
Receipts Accounting (Tax & Non-Tax)
Compilation of accounts and preparation of financial statements
Integration with financial management systems of states
The primary function of PFMS today is to facilitate a sound public financial management system for the Government of India by establishing an efficient fund flow system as well as a payment cum accounting network. As part of the Government of India’s Digital India initiative, PFMS provides a real-time, reliable and meaningful management information system and effective decision support system to various stakeholders.
PFMS has interfaced with treasury systems of all 28 states and 2 union territories. It facilitates exchange of data related to budget, allocation and expenditure against central transfer of funds to centrally sponsored schemes of Government of India.
As the backbone of the Government of India’s payment system, PFMS is integrated with the country’s core banking system and, therefore, has the unique ability to verify an account before providing online payments to almost every beneficiary/vendor. Currently, PFMS interfaces with the Core Banking System (CBS) of over 300 banks, including all public sector banks, all regional rural banks, major private sector banks, Reserve Bank of India, India Post and cooperative banks. Over time, the integration should be universal, i.e. establishing an interface with all banks operating in India. An interface with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has also been developed to facilitate authentication for Aadhaar-linked payments.
PFMS is the channel for payment, accounting and reporting under Direct Benefit Transfer. Also, every Department/Ministry of Government of India transfers funds electronically to beneficiaries (individual or organization) through PFMS. Further, state governments and implementing agencies transfer cash components to beneficiaries through PFMS. To facilitate the above, PFMS has interfaced with over fifty beneficiary management applications/systems of various ministries and departments like PM-KISAN, NSAP, MNREGASoft, MCTS, AwasSoft and Kanyashree.
PFMS was developed using an envisioned architecture in 2009 and more functionality has been added over the past few years, along with the ever-increasing depth and breadth of its operations, PFMS faces challenges of scalability and performance.
In this context, O/o CGA intends to transform the current PFMS system into PFMS 2.0, with a special focus on process and user experience improvements, adding more functionality in core functional areas and providing an end to end digital experience on the platform. Stakeholders scale to tomorrow’s needs and perform better for peak and non-peak loads. It is envisaged to address the following major technical areas:
Hyper-Stability and Scalability and Hybrid Cloud
A sharding-based database architecture
Comprehensive datawarehouse and data cleansing
AI, ML, Deep Learning and Predictability Framework
Fraud analytics
High latency, low bandwidth area operations with offline filing tools and app virtualization
Mobility Platform, Bots and Blockchain
Single Sign On (SSO) between applications.
An open API framework for integration
A comprehensive PKI infrastructure & digital signature solution. Hardware Security Module (HSM) integration for cryptographic key management and data privacy and protection
Comprehensive content management framework to enable paperless office (for storing PDF, XML, JPG type content) with ability to digitize content store in “digitized content”
Components of a comprehensive DR and BCP strategy and process
A comprehensive data classification and privacy framework
Comprehensive Cyber Security Framework
Comprehensive testing framework (unit, black box, white box, load and performance)
PFMS is considered to be an efficient, attractive, productive and efficient platform developed through 2.0 technology