KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — Point of sale machines have been installed in courthouses across the island to better facilitate the public in carrying out a range of transactions, such as the payment of traffic fines, bail bonds and maintenance allocations.

The implementation, which is part of a thrust towards the modernisation of the courts, has been completed in all but one court as of December last year.

Director, Corporate Planning and Performance Monitoring, Court Management Services, Audrey Rose-Morgan, said the initiative will be of benefit to the court as well as to the public.

“Many times when persons go to court and are charged, offered bail or fined, they will be remanded if they do not have the cash to pay immediately. This facility offers them on-time payment if they have a debit or credit card in their possession. This can be used for any transaction involving payment to the court,” she explained.

Rose-Morgan further noted that this is part of improvements in the courts’ security, as large sums of cash were being collected at some locations on a daily basis.

“It also makes things a lot faster, in that the processing time to swipe your card is different from having to collect money, write a receipt and process each transaction. It also reduces the build-up of members of the public waiting to be processed,” she said.

The point of sale facility was implemented following a successful pilot in six courts in 2016.