No Savings for the State on Official Mobile Phones?

The government plans to save millions by limiting spending on official mobile phones for ministers, deputy ministers, and other state officials and employees. Although 7.5 million kuna was contracted annually, 25 million was spent…

Based on estimated expenses and data from 2013 and 2014, and reviewing the situation in 2015, Minister of Administration Dubravka Jurlina Alibegović has stated in numerous appearances that approximately 500 million kuna was spent on transportation, mobile telephony, representation, and official travel. According to established expenses, she said, in 2015, 236 million kuna was spent on fuel from the state budget, 25 million kuna on mobile telephony, 288 million kuna on official travel (per diems, accommodation, and airfare), and 20 million kuna on representation. Specifically, Jurlina Alibegović plans to save on phone bills by setting a monthly limit of 400 kuna for deputy ministers and assistants, while initially, state officials were to have their phone usage limited to 75 kuna per month, but they ultimately received 150 kuna.

According to data provided by the State Office for Central Public Procurement, the currently valid framework agreement for mobile telephony services was concluded on December 31, 2015, for a two-year period. It can be clearly concluded from this – the minister’s hands are tied, at least for another two years on this issue. Unless she decides to terminate the contract, which certainly incurs costs.

– The cost structure of the relevant procedure was not designed to procure tariffs, but rather to pay actual consumption costs according to the prices from the cost structure – they inform us.

According to the data available to this office, the total number of subscriber numbers is approximately 10,000 for 34 central public procurement entities. The realization of the framework agreement from 2013 for the period from 2013 to 2015 for 34 central public procurement entities amounts to approximately 15 million kuna including VAT, thus the annual expenditure of central procurement entities is 7.5 million kuna including VAT, and the monthly expenditure is 625,000 kuna including VAT. On average, each state official can spend 62.5 kuna per month on an official phone.

– Individual costs for each user may be higher or lower than this average. Namely, the right to official mobile phones is granted to state officials and civil servants of various ranks and job descriptions, and it is difficult to tie the limits or amounts covered per individual user of the official mobile phone to the average – note the State Office for Central Public Procurement.

However, the question arises, if 7.5 million kuna was contracted annually for official phones from 2013 to 2015, how did the state then spend 25 million kuna in 2015 alone? According to the data presented by Minister Jurlina Alibegović, it turns out that 10,000 officials spent an average of 208 kuna per month last year, which is three times more than contracted.

According to the currently valid Decision of the Government on the conditions for using official personal vehicles, mobile phones, regular airline lines, business credit cards, representation funds, and the method of approving official travel, it is prescribed who has the right to use an official mobile phone, and limits are set for the costs of mobile phones borne by the state budget. It is noted that the head of the body can approve an excess of the amount from the aforementioned Decision in writing, if it is related to performing work at the request of the head of the body, while costs above the prescribed limit are covered by the users themselves in the calculation of the first subsequent salary after the submission of the monthly bill.

– The Ministry of Administration is preparing a new Decision that will regulate, among other things, the conditions for using official mobile phones, with announcements that the rights of use will be reduced compared to the existing Decision.

The proposal is to introduce an upper limit for officials of 400 kuna and to reduce the upper limit for civil servants from 400 to 150 kuna. Accordingly, there will also be a reduction in the amount covered for the use of mobile telephony services per individual user at the expense of the state budget. There is also the possibility of exceeding the specified upper limits if it is related to performing tasks within the scope of the body with the consent of the head of the body.

Instead of negotiating with telecom operators so that the state pays the actual consumption cost according to the prices from the cost structure, which ultimately is more expensive, it could and should have been done differently. The offers from telecom operators today are so diverse that the state, which allows 10,000 officials to have an official phone, can request the creation of its own tariff. And it is very simple. It can say: we are looking for an offer for unlimited calls, without charging for call setup, 4 GB of internet, and some SMS. And we want new devices.

By quickly reviewing the offers from domestic telecoms for businesses, for about 150 to 170 kuna, one can obtain an unlimited number of calls within that network, several thousand free minutes to other networks, unlimited SMS, 2GB of internet, and no charge for call setup. If all 10,000 officials had such a tariff, the state would spend 18 million kuna annually. And the price could certainly be lower, considering the number of official phones.