Test checks of records of 1,024 units in commercial tax, stamp duty and registration fees, State excise, motor vehicles, land revenue and other departments during 2011-12 revealed preliminary audit findings involving revenue loss/ under assessment/ short levy to the tune of Rs.506.34 crore in 2,658 cases.
This was stated in the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India ( Revenue Sector) for the year ended March, 2012, which was placed in the State Assembly on Friday.
During the course of the year, the departments concerned accepted under-assessment and other deficiencies of Rs.115.4 crore involved in 1,254 cases and collected Rs.3.59 crore in 264 cases.
Short levy of penalty
With regard to ‘VAT audits and refunds,’ it was found that there were substantial arrears in completion of the planned audits from 2006-07 to 2010-11, ranging from 13 to 51 per cent.
An analysis from the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes revealed that the penalty of at least 10 per cent of the under declared output tax or excess input tax was not levied, resulting in short levy of penalty by Rs.133.16 crore.
It was found that instructions issued by the CCT were not adhered to with regard to selection of dealers and as a result, top dealers with high turnovers were not selected for audit since inception of APVAT in 2005.
It was also found that stamp duty and registration fees of Rs.53.51 crore was not realised on 21 lease agreements/ authorisation agreements and MoU as they were not registered as per provisions of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899.
Similarly, stamp duty of Rs.50.37 crore on more than 6.5 lakh vehicles was not collected by private banks/ financial institutions during 2010-11 on vehicles hypothecated to them. Performance audit of disaster preparedness was conducted in five districts—East Godavari, Nellore, Visakhapatnam, Kurnool and Khammam districts.
It was found that 30 Early Warning Systems (EWS) installed in East Godavari district in 2008 became unusable within one year of their procurement. In Nellore, of the 30 EWS installed, 12 were with low power battery and were installed at places where no power was available.
Sat phones on the blink
Out of 67 HAM radios available in East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Nellore and Khammam, only one was functional and none of the satellite phones was in working condition.
In the same districts, inspection of 126 shelters showed that only 29 were usable. Rescue boats available in Nellore, East Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts were either not usable or not commensurate with the population to be evacuated.
