Patna: Bihar has taken an important step towards digital governance by making bank guarantees completely online and available 24 hours a day. The Prohibition, Excise and Registration Department has introduced this system to make the process easier, faster and more transparent. Earlier, people had to visit banks and government offices to get bank guarantees in paper form, which often caused delays and confusion. Now, with everything going digital, these problems are expected to reduce sharply.
Under the new system, people can also pay e-stamp duty online for important documents like agreements, customs bonds, loan papers and power of attorney documents. This means there is no longer a need to buy physical stamp papers or stand in long lines at offices. Users can complete their work from anywhere at any time, which is especially helpful for businesses and government departments that deal with large numbers of documents every day.
To make this change possible, the Bihar government has partnered with National e-Governance Services Ltd (NESL), a central government agency that runs secure digital platforms. Until now, scheduled commercial banks in the state issued bank guarantees only in physical form. These paper documents could be lost, damaged or even misused. With the new electronic system, all guarantees will be issued and stored digitally, making them much safer and easier to track.
Another big benefit of the new system is that e-bank guarantees will now be accepted as security in government tenders and contracts. This will remove the need for bulky files and repeated verification. Every digital bank guarantee will have a unique number, which makes duplication or fraud almost impossible. All transaction details will be available in real time, helping both banks and government officials to check and confirm information quickly. Overall, this digital move is expected to bring more trust, speed and efficiency to financial and official work in Bihar.
