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In line with the Government of India's focus on efficiency, transparency, and digital governance under Special Campaign 5.0, the Department of Legal Affairs (DLA), Ministry of Law & Justice, is successfully achieving a major milestone in procedural simplification by integrating the Legal Information Management and Briefing System (LIMBS) with the Public Financial Management System (PFMS).
According to the Ministry of Law and Justice, this reform is enabling the digitisation of the entire process of advocate fee disbursal and forms an important component of the Government's broader initiatives of Ease of Doing Business and Digital India. Earlier, payment of fees to advocates involved physical processing, manual verification, and submission of hard copies to the Pay & Accounts Office, often resulting in delays and paper-intensive workflows. The enhanced e-Bill module now enables end-to-end electronic processing of fee disbursals to Law Officers and Panel Advocates, eliminating manual paperwork and delays that previously characterised the system, the Ministry said. This initiative ensures uniformity, timely processing, and disbursement of payments, while also strengthening digital record-keeping across Ministries and Departments. With further enhancements in the e-Bill module, bills generated by Law Officers and Panel Advocates on the LIMBS platform are now also seamlessly transmitted to PFMS for digital verification, sanction and payment. The integration has made the entire process paperless--reducing processing time, enabling real-time bill tracking, and eliminating human error. Each claim generates a Claim Reference Number (CRN), enabling administrative units to track progress in real time. Once verified and digitally signed by the Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO), payments are released directly to the beneficiary's bank account through PFMS--without any physical file movement. The Central Agency Section (CAS) of the Department of Legal Affairs implemented the e-Bill module for panel advocate payments through LIMBS in February 2025, and the Department is now preparing to extend the system to other litigation units, including the Delhi High Court. A proposal for creating a Retainer Fee Module within LIMBS to cover Law Officers' periodic payments is also being considered for implementation, the Ministry said. This integration strengthens digital governance, enhances speed and efficiency, ensures transparency and accountability, and promotes environmental sustainability. The uniformity of the platform also facilitates standardisation of legal fees payment processes. The initiative directly contributes to the objectives of Special Campaign 5.0 by simplifying internal government processes, promoting digital transformation and improving citizen-centric service delivery through enhanced efficiency. By eliminating manual procedures and standardising workflows, the Department of Legal Affairs continues to expand this reform to other categories of legal fees payments, thereby aligning with the vision of a Viksit Bharat @2047. (ANI)
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