Who will pay us?

THE most recent tenders
published by government
departments clearly stipulate
that all commission on government
travel must be paid back. Without
any clear travel policy and still no
resolution ensuring departments
meet payment deadlines, agents are
left servicing government accounts
without clarity on remuneration.
Fearing reprisal, the agents who
spoke to TNW preferred to remain
anonymous.
“Over the last few months the
biggest difference in published
tenders is that commissions,
overrides and rebates on
government business aren’t allowed;
and, if awarded, TMCs are required
to pay these to the department
the travel was booked for,” says
agent X.
But agents say this expectation
comes with serious consequences
as most government departments
are still not paying within 30 days,
as stipulated in the Public Finance
Management Act.
Agent Y says, in discussions
with Treasury on transparency and
cost containment in travel spend,
Treasury agreed that in order
for commissions to be paid to
departments, they would all adopt
lodge cards and adhere to payment
deadlines.
Without this commitment from
departments, TMCs face serious
cash flow problems. “In the past,
we’d book the R500 000 conference
and not stress about only receiving
payment three months after it
ended – and we’d covered the bill –
because we earned commission on
the bookings,” says agent X.
The lack of any clear direction
on travel policy is causing even
more chaos, with agents saying
departments are taking advantage
of the situation. “A client, who’s on
a month-to-month contract, called
me in after I increased my service
fees and said if I don’t lower my
fees – like other agencies – they
would consider dealing with those
agencies instead,” says agent Z.
Last month, Finance Minister
Pravin Gordhan announced that
the National Travel Policy would
take effect on April 1 (see TNW
March 8). Agents have yet to hear
whether this deadline will be met.
At the same time, Treasury had also
started implementing a strategy to
handle overdue payments. The plan,
however, doesn’t offer any solution
to ensure payments are made on
time.
But a government official who
also preferred to be anonymous,
says the policy was expected to be
officially implemented by April 1. The
official also said he was not aware
of any new measures to ensure
departments pay TMCs timeously.
Treasury had not responded to
TNW’s questions at the time of
going to print.