New Delhi: Delhi Government today came
under attack from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)
for paying Tata Motors a higher rate for procuring low-floor
buses which may not be suitable for some of the city roads.
During 2004-09 the DTC purchased 3,156 AC and non AC
low floor buses to cover a large area comprising rural and
suburban regions, the CAG said that making a homogeneous bus
fleet would not only increase the cost of operations.
In its report for the year ending March 2009, the CAG
pointed out about the procurement order for 1,500 non-AC and
1,000 AC low floor buses in September 2008 and said the
vehicles were purchased at "rates over and above the justified
rate" prescribed by a technical committee of the corporation.
It said the offer of Tata Motors was lowest with the
bid price of Rs 55.20 lakh for a non AC bus and Rs 64.19 lakh
for an AC bus. But the technical committee of the DTC had,
however, worked out a justified price of Rs 42.92 lakh for non
AC bus and Rs 50.56 lakh for AC bus.
After negotiations the government directed the
corporation to procure the non-AC bus and AC buses at Rs 51.89
lakh and 61.62 lakh respectively.
The CAG said the state exchequer would be further
burdened by an additional outflow of Rs 833 crore on account
of higher annual maintenance charges over a period of 12
years.
The report also rapped the government for extending
undue benefit to the supplier, saying norms for releasing
money to them were flouted.
It said the as per contract norms for purchase of 650
such vehicles in 2007-08, 20 per cent of the cost was to be
withheld for 45 days of delivery of the vehicles and it should
have been released after rectification of all the defects and
deficiencies by the contractor.
"Audit observed that he corporation released 15 per
cent payment amounting to Rs 40.16 crore out of the balance
withheld by the corporation for rectification of the defects
in contravention of the agreement," the report said.
It also questioned installation of unnecessary
equipment in the buses like retarder and anti skid lock
braking system which cost the exchequer Rs 168.94 crore.
"Making a homogeneous bus fleet would not only
increase the cost of operations but it might also be
unsuitable to ply the buses on uneven and harsher terrains
because of the low floors," it said.
It said the DTC suffered a loss of Rs 1,708.55
crore in 2008-09 and its accumulated losses and borrowings
stood at Rs 7,883 crore and Rs 7,566 crore as on March 31,
2009 respectively. The DTC earned Rs 25.90 crore per km during
the period while its expenditure per km was Rs 119.27 per km.
About the bus fares, the report said the fare
structure of the corporation, decided by the city government,
has no scientific basis and "thus there is a risk of commuters
paying for inefficiency of the corporation."
-PTI
First Published: Friday, April 02, 2010, 00:50