India: PFMS, the Non-Tax Receipt Portal and the Treasury Single Account

What PFMS is and who runs it

The CGA describes PFMS as a web-based online software application developed and implemented by the Controller General of Accounts, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance ¹. It started in 2009 to track funds released under all Plan schemes ¹.

Its listed outputs are payment and exchequer control, accounting of receipts (tax and non-tax), compilation of accounts and fiscal reports, and integration with state financial management systems ¹. The CGA says PFMS interfaces with the treasury systems of all 28 states and the 2 union territories with legislatures, and with the core banking systems of over 300 banks ¹.

How a payer uses Bharatkosh

The CGA says the Non-Tax Receipt Portal, or Bharatkosh, is an initiative of its office. It is a one-stop service for depositing government fees, fines and other payments, open 24x7 over the internet ².

The portal calls itself a single window for all receipts of the Government of India and says it is powered by PFMS ³. It accepts credit and debit cards, UPI, more than 150 net banking options, NEFT and RTGS for domestic payers. International payers can use credit and debit cards only ³. No convenience fee was listed on the official pages opened for this article ^2,3.

• Open the Non-Tax Receipt Portal at bharatkosh.gov.in ³
• Deposit the fee, fine or other payment online at any hour ²
• Pay by card, UPI, net banking, NEFT or RTGS ³

How the Treasury Single Account works

An IMF working paper from May 2010 says India keeps a single bank account at the Reserve Bank of India, supplemented by subsidiary ledger accounts for individual ministries. Commercial banks handle transaction banking, and their accounts run on a zero-balance basis and are set off at the end of the business day ⁶.

The CGA's TSA manual for autonomous bodies says the Expenditure Management Commission recommended bringing autonomous bodies under the TSA in its September 2015 report ⁴. The pilot began at ICMR in February 2019, with ICMR and IIT Delhi chosen for the pilot run. A separate TSA module was built on PFMS ⁴. The RBI opens an assignment account for each body. PFMS issues assignment advices to the RBI, and unused balances lapse on 31 March ⁴. The stated aims are to cut government borrowing costs and release funds just in time ⁴.

The manual cites a Department of Expenditure office memorandum dated 27 July 2017 for opening RBI accounts ⁴. The official pages opened for this article cite office memoranda rather than a statute as the basis for the TSA.

Year-end rules under the TSA

A CGA office memorandum dated 30 March 2025 set the closing rules for 2024-25 ⁵. It said limits in hybrid TSA flagged accounts should be fully utilised by 31 March 2025. It said unspent balances in scheduled commercial bank accounts may be remitted to the Consolidated Fund of India through Bharatkosh ⁵. Funds in RBI accounts lapsed automatically at 2400 hours on 31 March 2025 ⁵.

What the CAG found

The Comptroller and Auditor General's Report No. 2 of 2019 on Union Government Accounts 2017-18 found that the Secondary and Higher Education Cess, ₹94,036 crore collected so far, was being retained in the Consolidated Fund of India contrary to procedure ⁷. It found 77 cases of adverse balances under loans, debt, deposits and remittances heads totalling ₹14,812 crore ⁷. It found 34 dormant funds and deposits of ₹692 crore that should be closed and returned to the Consolidated Fund ⁷.

The report found a ₹138 crore difference in dividend figures between two statements of the Finance Accounts. The CGA replied in August 2018 that the difference related to the Ministry of Railways. Audit did not accept the reply, saying the CGA prepares the Finance Accounts ⁷.