The government has lost out on potential revenue of ₹12,229 crore as six telecom companies understated revenue of about ₹61,065 crore till 2015, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report on revenue sharing by private telecom service providers.
CAG, which tabled 14 reports relating to various Ministries and Departments on Friday, said the presumed loss was on account of lower licence fee, spectrum usage charge and interest income.
In its report on Agriculture Crop Insurance Schemes, the CAG has called for public audit of private companies offering crop insurance schemes as they receive massive funds from the public exchequer as subsidies.
The CAG said there were about 42,314 utilisation certificates outstanding involving ₹31,153 crore in respect of grants released up to March 2015, which were due by March 2016 from 33 Ministries/Departments.
BSNL rapped In another audit report, the CAG rapped Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) for unwanted augmentation of capacity. In its report on the Ministry of Communications and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for the year ended March 2016, the CAG noted that BSNL went in for capacity augmentation despite having 50 per cent unutilised wireline broadband capacity.
The CAG also called for strengthening the credit appraisal mechanism at IFCI Ltd, stating that the company has not observed the “highest standards” of due diligence in credit appraisal in some of the loan accounts.
In its report on catering services in Indian Railways, the auditor said, “IRCTC may be obligated to provide low-cost Janata meals on stations and these should be effectively advertised among passengers.” It also found that passengers were being overcharged for snacks.
Rail project overruns In a report on Railway electrification projects, the auditor noted that the Railways suffered a potential loss of ₹3,006 crore due to time and cost over-runs in 29 electrification projects. Of these, 17 were completed, but only one was completed within time; the rest had cost and time over-runs of eight to 77 months.
The auditor also pointed to shortcomings in financial management and implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.
Further, the auditor noted that the Finance Ministry has not adhered to the expenditure norms for release of funds under the 13th Finance Commission, resulting in short release of funds of about ₹1,909 crore to 15 States.
It also expressed concern about the National Rural Health Mission’s failure to spend ₹9,509 crore in 2015-16.