CAG finds irregularities in CIDCO's payments

The company violated norms for irregular payment to the tune of Rs 3-crore, on account of leave encashment by Cidco to its employees, the report, which was tabled recently, said.
"The leave encashment was made at 1.5 times the salary and allowances as against the payment equivalent to the State Government employees," the report said.
Besides, CIDCO had also included house rent allowance (HRA) in the allowances for leave encashment, resulting in a total irregular payment of Rs 3.33-crore during the four year period ending March 2008, the report said.

"HRA was also included in the allowances for leave encashment whereas the same was not to be included for State Government employees," the report said.
This resulted in an excess payment due to 1.5 times remuneration at Rs 1.93-crore and HRA of Rs 1.40-crore, the report said.
The report observed that the inclusion of HRA, which is a compensatory allowance, for leave encashment purpose resulted in employees getting HRA for more than 12 months in a year.

Citing another wasteful expenditure of CIDCO, the report said that the firm lost Rs 93 lakh by awarding a contract for laying sewerage pipelines in Kharghar in 2004, without ensuring land ownership for the project.
On account of this, the company had a loss of interest estimated at around Rs 32 lakh, it said.

In yet another case, CIDCO executed work for central-government run-National Institute of Fashion Technology in excess of deposit amount and failed to recover the dues of Rs 81 lakh despite lapse of three years.
This resulted in a loss of interest of another Rs 27.95 lakh, the report said.