Controller The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pulled up the Indian Railways for a financial deficit of Rs 2,604.40 crore. This deficit has been incurred by the Railways due to the study of cases related to non-recovery of loans and Goods and Services Tax (GST), improper decisions to generate income from sources other than fares, wrongly granted exemptions and unnecessary expenditure. This has come to light in the study of a total of 33 cases. According to the CAG, the cases mentioned in the report are those which came to light in the test audit for the period 2021-22 and in earlier years. But these things were not revealed in the previous audit report.
Loss of Rs 834.72 crore in interest
In one of these 33 cases, the Railway Ministry suffered a loss of Rs 834.72 crore in interest. It was forced to pay this amount to a third party on a loan of Rs 3,200 crore given to IRCON for the development of a land. It said that IRCON paid the loan including interest but no development of the land was done. CAG has also recommended fixing responsibility for this huge loss and avoiding the decision to generate non-fare revenue at the end of the financial year without conducting a feasibility study. In another case, it was found that the railways did not charge for the ‘shunting’ activity of the engine. As a result, the East Coast Railway suffered a revenue loss of Rs 149.12 crore from 2018 to 2022.
Asked to collect GST soon
It has also brought to light a case of non-compliance of Goods and Services Tax provisions regarding levy of GST on services provided by the Railways to siding owners. This resulted in non-collection of Rs 13.43 crore from siding owners. The Comptroller and Auditor General has asked the Railways to recover the outstanding GST from siding owners at the earliest to avoid loss to the government exchequer and fix responsibility at the appropriate level for non-implementation of the provisions of the GST notification. CAG also audited the management of health services in Indian Railways. It found shortage of medical and paramedical staff in the hospitals of zonal railways. According to the Comptroller and Auditor General, “There was also a deficiency in the availability of machines/medical equipment in terms of IPHS (Indian Public Health Standards) norms.
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