PSPCL gets audit rap for over Rs 2.5-cr financial irregularities

Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, October 7

The audit team from the office of the Auditor General, Punjab, has pulled up the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) authorities for financial irregularities of more than Rs2 crore in DS division, Jagraon, DS division Adda Dakha and Transformer Repair Workshop (TRW)under the administrative jurisdiction of Suburban Circle (Central zone).

The amount pertains to miscellaneous advances (account code 28.868), shortage/ missing components (account code 28.874) and excess payment of salaries or travel advance (account code 28.401).

The audit report for 2015-16 fiscal, a copy of which was obtained under the Right to Information Act, 2005, by Rohit Sabharwal, president, Council of RTI Activists, revealed that an amount of Rs1,30,26,409 was outstanding under account code 28.868 (miscellaneous advance account – pending clearance) in DS Division, Jagraon, as on March 31, 2016.

The auditors further noted that as per scrutiny of records, nearly Rs1.15 crore (88.5 per cent) were outstanding against four persons of which one had expired in September, 2011, another retired in March 2015, while another was to retire in May 2016.

The auditors further pointed out that there was a debit balance of Rs42,10,254 under account code 28.874 in the account of Transformer Repair Workshop under suburban division at the end of March 2016 against the cost of shortages, missing components noticed at the time of joint inspection of damaged transformers.

“The huge outstanding amount under this head is the result of non-investigation and non-approval by the competent authority which needs justification,” the report said.

The auditors took strong exception to an amount of Rs96.95 lakh outstanding under account code 28.401 (amount recoverable from employees against excess payment) in DS divisions Jagraon and Adda Dakha at the end of March 2016. As per the audit report, the debit balance under this particular head in Jagraon division was Rs33,52,507 and in Adda Dakha division Rs63,42,595.

Here again, of six employees in Jagraon division from whom recovery had to be made, two had expired in 2010 and 2011, one had retired in August 2013 and another in February 2016. Services of one employee had been terminated in June 2014. Similarly, in Adda Dakha division from out of six defaulting employees, two had expired in 2013 and 2014, while another had been transferred elsewhere.

The auditors commented that the huge outstanding amount against employees indicated lack of internal control and laxity on the part of supervisory officers.

“Reasons for the non-recovery of outstanding amount from the employees should be made known to the audit besides making strenuous efforts for recovery thereof under intimation to audit,” concluded the audit report.