Fees and commissions on government collections

Float or fee

The IMF note says some countries pay banks through an interest-free float, which it calls not transparent. It names a fee per transaction as good practice ¹. In many developing countries, it says, banks are still paid with interest-free days before deposit at the central bank. It puts this at about 2 to 4 days in most Latin American countries ¹.

The 2010 IMF paper says banks that get a float invest the free money, which distorts the treasury single account ⁴. It describes the fee model as "a fee-for-service, based on the number of transactions that have been processed" ⁴. It reported that revenue banks in Colombia could keep collections for 15 days before remitting them ⁴.

The 2011 note says banks in some Asian countries competed for government business by offering negative fees ¹.

India's published agency commission

The 2025 rates are in RBI circular RBI/2025-26/57 of 16 June 2025 ². The 2014 master circular says stamp duty collection earns commission only if the bank charges the public nothing and gets no payment from the state for it ³. Wrong claims carry penal interest at the Bank Rate plus 2 percent ³.

Costs for the payer

A 2020 GSMA industry report says Cambodia's transport ministry shows the fee for each service, including the payment fee, on its platform ⁵. It says the cost of a passport payment in Pakistan fell from about US$2 to US$2.50 before digitisation to about US$1 after ⁵.

The same report lists sector-specific taxes on mobile services among the barriers that raise consumer costs ⁵.

Fees in aggregator contracts

Where a payment aggregator sits between the payer and the payee, India's 2025 Directions say the agreement with the merchant must be fair and must state settlement timelines transparently ⁶. Funds must sit in an escrow account, and interest is not paid on it except on a defined core portion ⁶.