Purpose and legal basis
- The circular provides guidelines and procedures on the issuance of eORs as acceptable evidence of payment for collection of income and other government receipts.
- The circular recognizes that electronic transactions and online collection systems are increasingly adopted, including systems like electronic credit card payments, e-payments, and government collection systems.
- The circular grounds the legal recognition of electronic documents on Section 7 of Republic Act No. 8792 (Electronic Commerce Act of 2000), which grants electronic documents legal effect, validity, or enforceability as written documents under stated integrity, reliability, and authentication conditions.
- For evidentiary purposes, the circular treats an electronic document as the functional equivalent of a written document under existing laws, subject to the electronic document recognition framework in Republic Act No. 8792.
Definitions of key terms
- An Authorized Government Depository Bank (AGDB) is a bank where Government Entities are allowed by law to deposit funds and maintain depository accounts, or a bank authorized by the Department of Finance and the Monetary Board to be a government depository bank by way of exception.
- Digital Signature is an electronic signature using an asymmetric or public cryptosystem such that the signer’s public key allows accurate determination of: (i) whether the transformation was created using the private key corresponding to the signer’s public key; and (ii) whether the initial electronic document had been altered after the transformation.
- An Electronic Data Message is information generated, sent, received, or stored by electronic, optical, or similar means.
- An Electronic Document is information or representation of information, data, figures, symbols, or other modes of written expression, received/recorded/transmitted/stored/processed/retrieved/produced electronically, by which a right is established or an obligation extinguished, or by which a fact may be proved and affirmed.
- An eOR is a proof of payment generated/issued through an Electronic Payment and Collection System (EPCS) with unique or sequential reference numbers validated using the same system; it is the evidence of payment for collection received by the agency from clients generated through the agency’s electronic collection system.
- EPCS is a system that accepts and processes electronic payments, authenticates payor and payee, validates availability of funds, executes debit/credit instructions, generates and forwards electronic proof of payment (eOR) to the payor or allows secure access thereto, and creates, retains, and safeguards detailed electronic transaction records accessible by authorized personnel.
- Electronic Signature is any distinctive mark/characteristic/sound in electronic form representing identity of a person and attached to or logically associated with an electronic data message/document, or methodology/procedures employed or adopted with intention to authenticate or approve.
- A Payor or Originator is the person or entity by whom, or on whose behalf, the electronic data message/document has been created, generated, and/or sent, excluding a person acting as an intermediary regarding that electronic data message/document.
Coverage and baseline rule for receipts
- All collections shall be acknowledged by the government agency concerned through the issuance of official receipts to establish that collections have been received.
- Receipt of collections/revenue through electronic means shall be acknowledged by an eOR.
- The eOR system is required to generate eORs as the evidence of receipt of electronically processed government collections.
Minimum eOR data content
- Each eOR shall contain at least the following data content:
- Name of the agency issuing the receipt (Department/Agency/Regional Office/Operating or Field Unit).
- Location and Location Code (place where the collection is made and its assigned code).
- Name of payor (person/entity making the payment).
- Date and time of receipt (date and time of the collection and issuance of eOR).
- Nature of collection (e.g., income tax, business tax, fees, charges, assessments, licenses, etc.).
- Amount received, detailed as to nature of collection coded as to their subsidiary ledger revenue classification.
- eOR Number (a unique and sequential number generated by the system for every eOR issued).
- Transaction Number (a number generated for every transaction accepted by the system, including cancellation inquiry, and similar activities, and not necessarily limited to the generated eOR).
- Mode of payment (e.g., credit card/electronic fund transfer/ATM/G-Cash, etc.).
- Order of Payment Slip Number or Assessment Number.
Deposit and accounting requirements
- Collections of national government agencies shall be deposited to the account of the Treasurer of the Philippines.
- Collections of local government units and Government Owned and Controlled Corporations shall be deposited to their respective accounts in designated AGDB.
- Collections made through the electronic system shall be accounted for in the books of the government agency concerned under existing rules and regulations for receipts and collections.
System compliance and auditor access
- Government agencies processing online collections shall comply with the provisions of Joint Department Administrative Order No. 02 s. 2006 issued by the Department of Finance and the Department of Trade and Industry on the “Guidelines Implementing RA. No. 8792 on EPCS in Government”, including any subsequent amendments.
- The government agency shall provide read/view and print access rights to the COA Auditor in the computerized system where online collections are processed.
Saving clause, repeal, and enforcement
- Cases not covered by the circular shall be referred to the Information Technology Office (ITO), Administration Sector, this Commission, for resolution.
- All circulars and memoranda inconsistent herewith are revoked, amended, or modified accordingly.