§ 42-11.1-5. Determination of eligibility for payment of interest.
(a) Each state agency that is required to make a payment from state funds according to
a contract and that does not make the contract payment by the required payment date
shall make an interest payment to the contractor in accordance with this chapter on
the amount of the contract payment that is due, unless failure to make such contract
payment is the result of a lien, attachment, or other legal process against the money
due the contractor, or unless the amount of the interest payment as computed in accordance
with the provisions of § 42-11.1-6 is less than ten dollars ($10.00).
(b) The required payment date shall be thirty (30) working days after the receipt of an
invoice for the amount of the contract payment due, except when:
(1) The state controller in the course of the state controller's audit determines that
there is reasonable cause to believe that payment may not properly be due, in whole
or in part;
(2) In accordance with specific statutory or contractual provisions payment must be preceded
by an inspection period or by an audit to determine the resources applied or used
by a contractor in fulfilling the terms of the contract;
(3) The necessary state government appropriation required to authorize payment has yet
to be enacted;
(4) The cash balance of the fund or sub-fund from which the payment is to be made is insufficient
to finance the payment;
(5) A proper invoice must be examined by the federal government prior to payment;
(6) The goods or property have not been delivered or the services have not been rendered
by the contractor in compliance with the terms or conditions of the contract;
(7) The required payment date is modified in accordance with subsection (d) of this section.
(c) Any time taken to satisfy or rectify any of the types of conditions described in subsection
(b) shall extend the required payment date by an equal period of time.
(d) Each state agency shall have five (5) working days after receipt of any invoice by
the state agency at its designated payment office to notify the contractor of defects
in the delivered goods, property, or services. Defects in the invoice or improprieties
shall delay the commencement of the time period specified in subsection (b) of this
section. When a state agency fails to notify a contractor of such defects or suspected
improprieties within five (5) working days of receiving the invoice, the number of
days allowed for payment of the corrected proper invoice will be reduced by the number
of days between the fifth day and the day that notification was transmitted to the
contractor. If the state agency, in such situations, fails to provide reasonable grounds
for its contention that a defect or impropriety exists, the required payment date
shall be calculated from the date of receipt of an invoice.
(e) The budget office shall have five (5) working days after receipt of invoice to transmit
the invoice to the controller's office for processing.
(f) Notwithstanding any provision of the general law of the state of Rhode Island or any
tariffs promulgated in accord therewith to the contrary, the provisions of this chapter
shall provide the sole basis for determining and making interest payments on invoices
submitted by public utilities to state agencies.
(g) A proper invoice submitted by the contractor shall be required to initiate any payment,
except where the contract provides that the contractor will be paid at predetermined
intervals without having to submit an invoice for each scheduled payment, in which
case the state agency responsible for making the purchase shall submit an approval
voucher to the state controller for the payment that is due and, for the purposes
of determining eligibility for payment of interest and subject to the exception of
time-to-rectify provisions of subsection (b) of this section, the required payment
date shall be the payment due date specified in accordance with the contract.