Mobile Application for Enhancing Revenue Collections in Local Government Authorities. A Case of Tanzania

Abstract

Point of Sale terminals play a significant role in revenue collection and have become rampant to Tanzanian Local Government Authorities. Point of Sale systems monitors cash flow, transactions, and price control while reducing human error and managing staff, customers, and inventory. However, Point of Sale systems are vulnerable to fake receipts, thus reducing revenue collections among Local Government Authorities. The cross-sectional Design was used to facilitate knowledge for the subsequent data collection. Data were collected from 300 respondents in Mbeya and Songwe regions using purposive and simple random sampling. 70% of respondents reported that fake receipt is the major factor affecting revenue collection, followed by lack of training (20%) and security (8%). In this study, we propose a mobile-based solution to enhance revenue collection in Local Government Authorities by addressing major factors affecting revenue collection. The developed mobile application was evaluated and validated; Whereby the results confirm that the designed tool is effective against money fraud, transaction errors, human errors, and defaulters with minimal resource usage. Hence, the designed mobile application can be applied as an auditing tool to reduce money fraud and increase revenue collection for the Local Government Authorities