E-Paper
Chandigarh Housing Board failed to recover ₹45 cr in licence fees from small flat allottees: Audit
The audit report, pertaining to 2017 to May 2023, has been obtained through an RTI application filed by Chandigarh resident RK Garg, who said the administration had not taken any action following the audit and remains unresponsive
From non-recovery of licence fees/rent from small flat allottees to delayed deposit of licence fees/rent into the government account, Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) is rife with irregularities, an audit by the director general of audit (Central), Chandigarh, has found.
The audit report, pertaining to 2017 to May 2023, has been obtained through an RTI application filed by city resident RK Garg, who said the administration had not taken any action following the audit and remains unresponsive.
CHB, an undertaking of the UT administration, was established in 1976 to provide affordable and quality housing to individuals lacking shelter within Chandigarh. As of March 2019, the board had completed the construction of a total of 67,565 houses across various categories, including rehabilitation schemes.
The audit report highlighted that during a test check of records related to the recovery of licence fees/rent from small flat allottees, it was noted that ₹45 crore was outstanding from 13,464 defaulters across different sectors as of March 31, 2023.
The board made no concrete efforts to recover these dues nor implemented any penalty clause to penalise defaulters. As a result of the absence of a solid recovery plan, the outstanding amount has been growing significantly. In August 2013, the UT administration decided that beneficiaries would be allotted small flats for 20 years at a licence fee of ₹800 per month for the first five years, with a 20% increase for the subsequent five-year periods, bringing the fee to ₹960, ₹1,152, and ₹1,382 for each successive term.
₹1.59 crore not deposited in govt account
The report noted that, according to Rule 6 of the Central Government (Receipts and Payments) Rules, 1983, and Rule 7 of the General Financial Rules, all money received as revenue or receipts must be promptly included in the government account. However, during a test check of records for 2017-2023, it was found that ₹1.59 crore received as licence fees/rent for March 2023 had not been deposited into the government account as of May 24, 2023. Retaining government receipts without depositing them promptly contravenes codal provisions. This amount should have been deposited immediately, but the board failed to do so.
Licence fees/rent not deposited promptly
During the check of records, it was found that licence fees/rent were being deposited by allottees into the respective bank, but the board was depositing these funds into the Consolidated Fund of India on a quarterly basis, instead of promptly after the realisation of government dues. Additionally, the receipts deposited into the treasury through challans were not reconciled or verified by the board, resulting in a delayed deposit of ₹53 crore.
The audit also pointed out that, as per Central Public Works Department (CPWD) guidelines (2019), the engineer in-charge should ensure that at any point during the progress of the work, the expenditure does not exceed the deposits received for the work. If timely deposits are doubtful, the officer is required to notify the client that work will stop unless further deposits are received, and the client must bear any contractual liabilities resulting from such stoppage.
However, the audit found that the provisional balance sheet for 2021-22 showed an expenditure of ₹118,53,23,468 as of March 31, 2023, and ₹118,39,72,493 as of March 31, 2021, with only a minor difference of ₹13,50,975 in the balances between the two years. This indicated that no significant progress was made during the year, and all works remained pending since the previous year.
Despite repeated attempts, CHB secretary Akhil Kumar could not be contacted for comments.
