CAG office finds loopholes in post and telecom ministry audit

The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has found an array of seeming violation of payments and other financial norms which have landed the post and telecommunications ministry into a Tk 185 million inconsistency in its audit accounts.  

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 19 May 2016, 04:17 PM
Updated : 19 May 2016, 04:17 PM

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said after a meeting on Thursday that the inconsistency stems from a number of factors ranging from the payment made to immigrant workers, premium payment on advance insurance policies and contractor payments made beyond specifications.
  
A Parliament Secretariat press release said that the meeting on Thursday began with an audit objection of over Tk 185 million for the audit of the ministry for the periods 2007-08 and 2008-09.
 
The Secretariat said that the Committee has advised the department to speed up the recovery process of over Tk 20 million worth unpaid telephone rentals.
 
The department has also been advised to settle within the next 15 days a Tk 2.37 million objection pertaining to salary paid to immigrant workers engaged to repair underground cables.  
 
The Committee has advised the department to take a deeper look into the process of employing immigrant workers and has also advised the use of outsourcing in this regard.
 
The Committee has also demanded an explanation regarding the failure to recover Tk 87 million worth insurance amount on imported machine parts.
 
Frowning at the payment made to suppliers in cash instead of cross cheques, the Committee has advised recovery of the amount from the officials concerned.
 
The Committee has also recommended settling two VAT non-payment issues that have led to a loss to the country’s exchequer.