The Council of Ministers issued a decision to establish a technical committee to study the fees for services performed by government agencies and to define its terms of reference.
Issue No. 4 of the Official Gazette for the year 2023, issued yesterday, Thursday, March 16, included details of Cabinet Resolution No. (1) for the year 2023 to establish a technical committee to study service fees performed by government agencies and define their terms of reference.
Resolution materials:
Article (1) A joint committee called the Ministry of Finance shall be established "The Technical Committee to study the fees for services performed by government agencies"Headed by a representative of the Ministry of Finance, a representative of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry as Vice-Chairman, and the membership of a representative of each of the following entities: 1 – Ministry of Interior. 2- Ministry of Municipality. 3- The Ministry of Justice. 4- Ministry of Public Health. 5- The Ministry of Labor. 6- The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers. 7- The Planning and Statistics Authority. 8- The Civil Service and Governmental Development Bureau. Each entity shall nominate its representative for membership in the committee, provided that his rank is not lower than a director of a department. A decision of the Minister of Finance shall be issued naming the chairman, vice-chairman and members of the committee.
The secretariat of the committee shall be undertaken by one or more employees of the Ministry of Finance, who shall be delegated and their powers and remuneration determined by a decision of the Minister.
Article (2) The term of membership of the Committee shall be three years, renewable for one or more similar periods.
Article (3) The committee is concerned with the following: 1- Studying proposals submitted by government agencies regarding determining or amending fees for services they provide in light of the legal basis for each of them.
2- Conducting the necessary assessment of the fee and its suitability with the service provided, and whether or not it deserves to be paid a fee.
3- Studying the impact of the required amendments on the fees compared to the material conditions of the groups addressed, and the extent to which this is affected by inflation conditions that may occur on economic activity in general.
4- Make the necessary comparisons between the fees specified in existing legislative tools, and the proposed fees, and determine the amount of the proposed increase in each of them, and the justifications for that increase. 5- Conducting comparisons between the fees applied in the country and those applied in the countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, on the occasion of proposing to impose or amend the fees already applied.
6- Carrying out a comprehensive study on the fees applied in the country in general, verifying the legal basis for each of them, and indicating whether it is appropriate to intervene by taking measures to amend those fees by increasing or decreasing them, whether there are fees that require cancellation, and whether there is duplication of fees. Collecting fees for services performed by government agencies, with an indication of the reasons for each case separately.
7- Propose appropriate legislation to address the fees required to be created, increased, reduced, exempted or canceled, in coordination with the concerned government agency.
Article (4) The committee meets at the invitation of its chairman, at least once a month, and whenever the need arises, and its meetings are outside the official working hours, and some of them may be held during the official working hours if necessary, and its meetings are not valid unless attended by the majority of its members, according to That the chairperson or his deputy be among them, and its recommendations shall be issued by the majority of the votes of the members present, and in the event of equal votes, the side of which the chairman is from shall prevail.
The committee shall establish a system for its work, which shall include its meeting place and the rules necessary for the exercise of its powers.
Article (5) The committee invites the representative of the concerned government agency to attend its meetings to discuss the fees for services performed by that authority, without having the right to vote.
Article (6) The committee may form from among its members or other technicians and specialists, sub-committees or working groups, to study the topics presented to it, or to assign one of its members to study any of the topics within its terms of reference.
Article (7) The committee’s deliberations, recommendations, reports, data and information it obtains in the course of its work are of a confidential nature, and it is prohibited for its members, employees and persons whose work nature requires access to the committee’s data to disclose such data and information.
Article (8) All ministries, other government agencies, and public agencies and institutions must provide the Minister of Finance, through the concerned minister, with any proposals to determine or amend the fees for the services they perform, so that he may refer them to the committee to study those proposals, in accordance with its terms of reference stipulated in this decision.
The committee shall submit a report on the results of its study, including its recommendations, to the Minister of Finance, so that he may submit it to the Council of Ministers, along with his views and proposals.
Article (9) The ministries and other government agencies, public bodies and institutions shall provide the committee with the information and data it requests necessary to perform its work, and cooperate with it in the field of its competence.
Article (10) The committee shall submit to the Minister of Finance, every year and whenever requested to do so, a report on the results of its work, together with its recommendations and suggestions. The Minister of Finance shall submit the committee’s report, together with his recommendations and suggestions, to the Council of Ministers to take what it deems appropriate.
Article (11) The provisions of Cabinet Resolution No. (9) of 1993 referred to above shall apply to the remuneration of the chairman, vice-chairman and members of the committee.
Article (12) All competent authorities, each within its jurisdiction, must implement this decision. It shall come into effect from the date of its issuance, and shall be published in the Official Gazette.
