OC probe finds 'mismanagement' in sale of Games tickets

An internal probe by the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee has found instances of "mismanagement" in the sale of tickets, which resulted in the sale of tickets worth R40 crore as against a target of R80 crore. Moushumi Das Gupta reports.

An internal probe by the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (OC) has found instances of "mismanagement" in the sale of tickets, which resulted in the sale of tickets worth R40 crore as against a target of R80 crore.

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The probe team has compiled data of the total seats occupied in each of the venues. "We have come across mismanagement in the sale of tickets. The probe has not pinpointed the person/persons involved,” an official dealing with the probe said on Wednesday. “We’re trying to find out if anybody from within the OC was involved or there was some wrongdoing by outside agencies responsible for printing and selling tickets.”

“Our net revenue from the sale of tickets is R26 crore. Of the R40 crore we earned, we had to give R14 crore to Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, which was given the contract for selling Games ticket,” said the official.

The OC is also probing if there was a deliberate attempt to print fewer tickets. “We’ve also come across instances of bundles of back-dated tickets in the OC building,” the official said.

ED probe

On Wednesday, OC director general VK Verma appeared before the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in connection with alleged financial irregularities during the Queen Baton Relay (QBR) launch programme in London in 2009. The ED has already registered a case under Foreign Exchange Management Act in the QBR case.