Thomson Reuters keen to disrupt land records with technology for Digital India
“Digital India’s vision is to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. Thomson Reuters is striving to join hands with the government to build an accurate, integrated land administration and revenue management solution which is the foundational platform for improving the revenue generation capability of any government institution.”
“I dream of a Digital India where the world looks to India for the next innovation. I dream of a digital India where technology ensures that the citizen and government interface is incorruptible,” these were the words of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking on the launch of the Digital India campaign. To capitalize on the vision. Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting business offers Aumentum which simplifies the revenue management lifecycle for governments around the world. The solution can enable governments to optimize revenue generation, support sustainable growth and improve services to the public. From an Indian context, land records in most parts of the country are fragmented and disorganised and in most cases haven’t been updated for decades.
In this context, Prashant Pillai, Country Head – Tax and Accounting business and Market Development, South Asia, Thomson Reuters, in an interaction with EC’s Rashi Varshney discussed the progress and scope of land records automation and how Aumentum can help the central & state governments in India to achieve this objective.
Edited Excerpts
Please tell us about Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting business globally & in India? Please share its growth trajectory.
Thomson Reuters simplifies the lives of tax and accounting professionals around the world with the most powerful, fully integrated, and innovative solutions. Our Tax & Accounting business is a leading provider of technology and integrated information solutions serving accounting, tax and corporate finance professionals in accounting firms, corporations, financial institutions, law firms and governments by: providing tax, audit and accounting solutions; streamlining compliance requirements; improving productivity; and automating management of land information and property tax.
How do you see India as a potential market? What are your key strategies to capitalize the market?
India is the 9th largest economy and is expected to become the third largest economy by 2020.The current fiscal deficit is the lowest since the global shocks of 2007-08. Manifold growth is definitely the order of the day for the country, especially with the government launching the Digital India programs and the Smart Cities initiative. Globally, Thomson Reuters has been a valued partner to governments, focusing on providing local, state and federal governments with land administration solutions that improve the services provided to citizens, thereby making the process effective and efficient.
We serve more than a 1000 jurisdictions in the US. We have seen phenomenal impact with the implementation of our solutions in City of Cape Town and in countries like Nigeria, Uganda, etc. In our view, depending on which phase of growth the country is in, land administration and revenue management solutions can mean improved land rights, better citizen services, integrated governance and improved planning and revenue realization opportunities.
What is the potential of Aumentum & how can it disrupt central & state governments in India property and land information?
Managing land and natural resources is a severe need for many countries in the world today. Today land and property records are a mix of paper-based and digital records. Information is in many different formats and organized inconsistently.
At Thomson Reuters, we are helping governments modernize their processes and systems to administer land information so that they can better unlock the productive capacity of land for their people. Our unique combination of technology, enhanced by experience enables clients to optimize revenue generation, support sustainable growth and improve services to the public.
Aumentum improves information quality and flow by creating a sophisticated digital infrastructure. Our clients are able to integrate workflows across functional areas to manage their business more efficiently by providing tools for more robust information processing and sharing. Through the software, they gain a holistic view of land and property information maintained by agencies and departments throughout every level of their organization. This results in improved service delivery and more timely access to information through faster and easier to use web-based services for policy and decision-makers, businesses and private citizens. These processes enhance transparency and increase public trust in Government agencies.
How easy Aumentum is to sink with legacy IT systems used at government offices in India, what kind of costs and infrastructure is required to deployed this technology?
The costs and infrastructure really vary greatly from one government institution to the next—depending on the needs of the government. From our experience having worked with governments worldwide, we advise that costs and infrastructure needs are examined in relation to the expected impact these investments will have on the institutions ability to serve the public. Land offices generate revenue, either from recording fees, search inquiries, or else revenue share on property tax. In many cases, there is great community demand for these public services. Meeting this demand can often times equate to increased revenue for the governments who manage and administer these services. We advise governments to look at costs and infrastructure needs in relation to the business model that it is supporting, and to ensure that the investment can be recouped from increased revenue, but also – importantly, that the investment support long-term sustainability of the government function well into the future.
Converting legacy IT systems and the data and information from these systems can be a difficult task and needs to be carefully planned for so that the process is well designed.
How government systems can thereby improve revenue generation & enhance public trust and confidence?
Property tax is the engine for sustainable growth. It supports institutional strengthening up and down the governance line as this tax provides the base to annually fund and maintain institutions, and it is a revenue stream from which governments may borrow money for infrastructure development/up-grades. Property taxes enable and empower governments to fund and sustain local growth – the building of roads, improvement of public services, and financing of education.
Can you please share a success case of the technology used by the government?
We have deployed a fully integrated Aumentum software suite at City of Cape Town. The benefits from an integrated system are immense. Such as hundreds of staff hours saved from pushing physical files around and being able to do more with less. In terms of improving data accuracy- closing data gaps and correcting errors. This results in fair and equitably trust amongst customer services and pen access to information. It also led in better analytics, with government dashboards with a more complete picture of their communities
The deployement also served to generate more revenue by closing tax gaps; ability to conduct valuations faster, so more is collected based on market rates; ease of payments; and a more complete delinquency or foreclosure picture.
What are the potential government projects in India for Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting business?
India is a large country with a very big population and with great development aspirations. Assisting governments administer land information is an important function of any government, and a role we have much experience in and for which we have invested in research and development in the Aumentum technology platform. We see tremendous opportunity to support government jurisdictions across India – both at a municipal, state, and federal government level.
How do you think Digital India campaign will get a tremendous boost through digitization of land records?
Digital India’s vision is to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. Thomson Reuters is striving to join hands with the government to build an accurate, integrated land administration and revenue management solution which is the foundational platform for improving the revenue generation capability of any government institution. The land records data will be easily accessible for analysis and interpret information more quickly with ability to identify bottlenecks, make adjustments, measure progress, support planning, budgeting and to support policy decisions.
