Agents of Rwanda Online Platform (Irembo) with businesses providingg services related to Mutuelle de Santepremiums payment are set to soon benefit from an increase in commission fees as an incentive to avoid inconsistencies in service delivery, the Ministry of ICT and Innovation has announced. The comment comes after Members of Parliament revealed that little commission fees paid to the agents has led some of them to shun delivery of related services while others have embezzled Mutuelle de Santefunds. RSSB works with Irembo platform and Mobikash to ensure Mutuelle de Sante services are well delivered. Paula Ingabire, the Minister for ICT and Innovation, said they (Rwanda Online and Mobikash) charge 3 per cent of each individually paid premiums as commission fees meaning they charge Rwf90 per each of family member in the lowest Ubudehe category that pays Rwf3,000. “Of commission fees which is currently 3 per cent charged per each transaction, Irembo Platform remains with Rwf9.4 after deducting technology cost and of that amount, Rwf5 are paid to their agents which they say is very little,” the minister explained She explained that there are different services offered by Irembo Platform that charge commission fees between the range of Rwf80 and Rwf200 per service. However, she said the agents prioritise those with high commission fees and shun to offer services related to community based health insurance known as Mutuelle de Sante because they have little commission fees as observed by MPs during field visits. Minister Ingabire said that there are measures that are being devised so as to avoid any incidences in service delivery through Irembo platform “There are discussions among those involved in the chain so that there can be an additional increase of Rwf50 to the current Rwf90 commission fees per each transaction. This means that if an agent has been getting Rwf5 per each Mutuelletransaction, they will get more than that amount to continuously motivate them to do the business,” she said. She said there are about 100 services delivered by Irembo services such as birth certificates at known charges but the agents often charge slighter higher for extra services such as scanning documents, photocopying, printing and others. “We are going to introduce a charter regulating charged fees on services and additional services. We want to review agreements with agents so that we handle inconsistencies in terms of the services they offer. We are looking at creating uniformity in offering services by standardizing tariffs and when citizens experience inappropriate services, the agents can even lose licenses,” she said. Over 5.9 million services have been delivered to Rwandans who access Irembo Platform so far. Among the services include the application for birth certificate, registration for provisional driving licence, electronic birth certificate, criminal record, Mutuelle de Sante, Land title transfers, museum visitor permit, tourism permit, NGO/FBO Registrations and traffic fines. Rwanda Online platform signed with the government a 25 years partnership agreement on developing and implementing government services through the online platform. Besides improving quicker and convenient service delivery through good governance it has also become a source of revenue generation for Rwandans. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
