Cost of Developing and Maintaining IT Systems, Helplines and Processes to Disburse CDC Vouchers and Onboarding Merchants
Ministry of Culture, Community and YouthSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the costs of developing, maintaining, and onboarding merchants for the Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers Scheme. Mr Leong Mun Wai inquired about the total expenditures for IT systems, helplines, and civil servant man-hours dedicated to the voucher disbursement process. Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong Chun Fai noted the scheme’s evolution from paper to digital tranches to support households and heartland merchants. He emphasized a whole-of-government approach involving the People's Association, GovTech, and IMDA to create an inclusive and seamless digital voucher experience. The Minister stated that existing resources like RedeemSG and Digital Ambassadors were utilized to ensure the scheme remains sustainable and cost-effective.
Transcript
17 Mr Leong Mun Wai asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) what is the total cost of developing and maintaining the IT systems, helplines and other processes to disburse Community Development Council Vouchers, including man-hours for civil servants tasked from their other roles; and (b) what is the total cost of onboarding merchants to the system.
Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai: The Community Development Councils (CDCs) first launched the paper CDC Vouchers Scheme in June 2020 to help lower-income households defray their daily expenses and, at the same time, support local merchants and hawkers affected by the pandemic. Evolving from paper to digital, the CDC Vouchers Scheme was scaled up and launched nationwide in December 2021. The latest and fourth digital tranche launched on 3 January 2024, aims to help Singaporean households cope with the cost of living and strengthen support for heartland hawkers and merchants.
The evolution of the Scheme from a paper voucher format to a digital one was driven by a spirit of innovation and collaboration among all stakeholders. The five CDCs and the People's Association (PA) worked closely with Government agencies like GovTech, IMDA, the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI), Enterprise Singapore (ESG) and various community partners, including the Federation of Merchant Association Singapore (FMAS) and merchant and hawker associations. Together, we leveraged technology to design an inclusive and seamless digital voucher experience for residents and merchants alike.
To ensure the Scheme is sustainable and cost-effective, the CDCs deployed a whole-of-government and whole-of-community approach and used existing Government resources and systems, such as GovTech's RedeemSG (RSG) and GoWhere feature and SG Digital Office's Digital Ambassadors. Together, we will continue to improve the Scheme to serve our Singaporean households.