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Bathinda MC detects ₹2.5-cr fuel bill ‘scam’, ropes in VB
Bathinda MC, politicians, and petrol pump operators are under investigation for a ₹2.5 crore fuel scam, with fake billing causing daily losses of ₹70,000, says Punjab Vigilance Bureau.
The Bathinda municipal corporation’s (MC) officials, politicians and three petrol pump operators are under scanner for alleged misappropriation of over ₹2.5 crore as the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) is investigating “irregularities” in getting sanctioned fuel expenses.
An internal probe by the corporation authorities indicates that the local body has faced a loss of ₹70,000 per day on account of fake bills related to diesel, CNG and petrol expenses for the official vehicles. The largest municipality of southwest Punjab has about 150 vehicles with most of them running on diesel.
Municipal commissioner Rahul, who unearthed the “scam”, had asked the Bathinda range of the VB a few months ago to look into the matter. The probe is underway.
VB officials familiar with the case said the MC authorities matched the fuel bill for the period of May 1, 2022 to January 1, 2023 with the corresponding period of the 2023-24 financial year and came across “rampant overbilling and also fake billing”.
In his complaint, the commissioner suspected a loss of more than ₹2.5 crore in a year. The actual amount may be much higher as the malpractice detected this year is suspected to have been going on for several years, people familiar with the development said.
A VB functionary, familiar with the ongoing probe, said while requesting anonymity,”It is to be examined how services of those three fuel stations were taken and on whose instructions? An analysis of the official record will reveal why no one took note of the inflated bills and why transparency wasn’t ensured?”
Various branches of the MC have been asked to submit details in a specific format about the fuel source and its usage.
According to Rahul, financial irregularity was detected during the analysis of fuel bills for the two years. “Earlier, all vehicles were arbitrarily sourcing fuels from three fuel stations in the city. When I joined as the commissioner in December 2022, a huge consumption of fuel to the tune of ₹7 crore during the financial year of 2022-23 raised suspicion. Payments were made against handwritten bills raised by petrol pump operators,” he said.
The official said that in order to bring transparency, the MC invited bids for bulk fuel purchase backed with discounts. “The fuel stations, from where the MC had been availing fuel services earlier in large quantities, were not offering any discount. Under the new system, the fuel supplier will generate digital bills and CCTV footage too will be maintained for transparency. We found a sharp fall in the bill to the tune of ₹13 lakh per month even as the number of vehicles increased. So, a vigilance probe has been marked for an in-depth investigation,” the commissioner added.
