The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), facing humongous pressure of painstakingly going through data spread over a decade to prepare an audit report on the functioning of the private power distribution companies run by Reliance and Tata, has switched to using the United Nation Audit Software, which has made its job easier.
According to sources, to streamline the documents and figures mentioned in the files of Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL), BSES Rajdhani and Yamuna; the national auditor has also roped in a team of IT experts who are working round-the-clock to help it prepare a report on this contentious issue so that it can be placed before Parliament.
Elaborating on the importance of the software, sources said, “It is an upgraded version with zero error. And through this, everything will be crystal clear. Already things are under control and possibly the report will come out soon.”
It is around a year-and-a-half that the audit started on January 9, 2014, but it is going to take possibly another seven months for the final report.
A “noticeable delay” in handing over files to the national auditor came even after its letter to Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung on June 16, 2014, expressing annoyance over the delay. Then, Jung had raised serious questions on the functioning of Delhi government’s top bureaucrats for not playing the role of a facilitator “effectively” despite having 49 per cent share in Discoms.
“Those who are engaged in the audit of Discoms cannot wait for an infinite period for crucial records required for the audit as ordered by the Supreme Court,” CAG Sashi Kant Sharma had said.
Arvind Kejriwal, during his first stint as Delhi Chief Minister from December 28, 2013, to February 14, 2014, had claimed that the audit would expose financial irregularities of private companies, promising to make a case for reduction in power rates.