Thaindian News

New Delhi, Aug 5 (IANS) Things as simple as charging different prices for the same item in different clusters of delivery caused a loss of nearly Rs.11.06 crore during the Commonwealth Games, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said in a report Friday.

Calling it a bizarre case, the CAG observed that one of the vendors, Pico-Deepali offered different rates for the same item.

Citing some examples, it showed the price of first-aid kit varying between Rs.4,741 to Rs.3,934; tissue paper varying between Rs.1,580 to Rs.1,314; while a water dispenser’s price varied between Rs.11,852, and Rs.9,855.

A six-by-six solid garbage container’s minimum price was Rs.91,976 and the maximum was Rs.1,16,446. Price of a treadmill varied from Rs.5,35,654 to Rs.4,59,879, and same was the case with other physical fitness equipment.

Moreover, the prices paid for several items were almost double their price declared at the customs at the time of import.

A pigeon-hole cupboard declared to be worth Rs.5,200 at the customs, was given at a rate of Rs.14,440; a bookcase declared to be worth Rs.2,840 was given at Rs.7,655; a stackable chair of Rs.720 was declared worth Rs.1,542.

Apart from this, the CAG said it has found instances where the organising committee had paid the sub-contractors a price in excess of ten times more than what the sub-contractors paid.

“We also found some instances of sub-contracting (public display boards, UPS, and gensets) by the vendors, which revealed huge differences of 152 per cent to 1,140 per cent between the rates charged to the OC and the rates charged by the sub-contractors,” the report said.

The report also said that such sub-contracting was carried out irregularly by the vendors without OC’s approval, as contractually required.