Zomba City Council has described the e-ticketing system of collecting revenue as a tool for increased revenue and reduced fraud at collection points in councils.

ZCC introduced e ticketing in its markets, car parks and depot in July, 2017, a decision which saw council revenue increase to an average 53% in the first years of implementation

Principal Investments Promotion Officer for the council Maurice Tsoka Banda said since the introduction of the system, the council’s revenue collection in markets, carparks and depot have improved, fraudulent activities among revenue collectors reduced, and accountability improved which has resulted in improved service provision.

 “This improvement in collection translates to an improved service delivery to the residents of Zomba. For example, on issues like waste management, we are able to service and fuel our vehicles and collect waste in all spots, be it in markets or residential areas,” he said.

Tsoka Banda also said the increased revenue, has enabled the council to pay employee salaries in good time and also improve project monitoring which was not the case previously.

The introduction of the e-ticketing according to Banda has been well welcomed by the vendors in markets and depot as they are assured that by using this system, their market fees will benefit the council as the machines record transactions on council systems in real time, therefore according no chance to revenue collectors to pocket the money.

According to Tsoka Banda “before the implementation of the system vendors in our markets and their leadership were briefed, and now they appreciate the accountability that e-ticketing brings, and so they pay voluntarily, refuse to pay when revenue collectors are using manual tickets and act as whistle blowers to the council where manual tickets are issued without a clear explanation.”

Currently Zomba City Council is planning to make the system even more effective by interfacing it with its Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and expand e-ticketing to other revenue bases, starting with automation of business license issuance.