GHMC repatriates adviser over Rs 6.92 cr payment irregularities

The allegations involve more than 200 contractors.

Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has repatriated its financial adviser K Sarath Chandra following a vigilance inquiry into alleged duplicate and excess payments made to contractors.

The allegations involve more than 200 contractors.

GHMC puts irregular payments at Rs 6.92 crore

On Tuesday, September 1, GHMC Commissioner RV Karnan said that Sarath Chandra has been directed to report to the State Audit Director for further orders.

One tap — then press “Add” on Google

The civic body said the Rs 6.92 crore amount is provisional.

According to the GHMC, any additional amount identified during the audit will also be recovered.

Rejecting the claim that the irregularities were ‘exposed’, Karnan said the issue was detected by the GHMC itself.

Duplicate bills and excess payments under scrutiny

Officials have been checking records to identify contractors who allegedly received duplicate payments.

It is alleged that duplicate payments of more than Rs 100 crore were made to over 200 contractors.

The GHMC has already recovered around Rs 7 crore from contractors, according to the information available.

A showcause notice was issued to Sarath Chandra on August 29.

The notice followed a vigilance inquiry conducted by the Additional Superintendent of Police, Vigilance. The inquiry report was submitted on August 28.

Govt clarifies

In a clarification issued by Telangana’s fact-check page on X, GHMC Commissioner RV Karnan said that the vigilance enquiry found discrepancies in 78 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) invoices amounting to Rs 6.92 crore.

Of the Rs 6.92 crore identified, Rs 6.83 crore relating to 74 invoices has been recovered, and the remaining Rs 8.35 lakh relating to four invoices has been received through demand drafts and is under credit to the GHMC General Fund.

The enquiry found that duplicate and excess payments resulted from bypassing the prescribed maker–checker control and inadequate reconciliation between the three Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) platforms, GHMC-ERP and the General Fund. The concerned vendors were blocked in the GHMC-ERP system, the post said.

It added that an independent Vigilance enquiry has examined the officials and contractors concerned, and departmental action and determination of pecuniary liability are being initiated against them. No officer has been let off, it said.

A comprehensive Special Audit under Section 196 of the GHMC Act, 1955, has also been recommended to establish the full extent of the irregularity. Any further amount found will be recovered in full, the post stated.

GHMC has strengthened system safeguards, including mandatory reconciliation across ERP, TReDS, General Fund and Audit records before release of payments, it added.