CAG moots independent body to plug road toll leakages

Seeing clear signs of revenue leakages on tolled sections of national highways, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has asked the finance ministry to look into the need of appointing a single independent and professional agency to monitor and report on the traffic using these stretches.

The CAG, Vinod Rai, told construction industry leaders on Friday that audit by his office has shown that traffic projections can fluctuate widely. "We have found that for a similar stretch managed by two different developers, they come out with different traffic projections. Why can't we have a single professionally managed third party agency that monitors the traffic volume,'' Rai wondered.

Speaking at a conference organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi, Rai said his office has found that there has been leakage of revenue and has written to the finance ministry on the need for using an independent agency.

He said his office had also requested the government to allow it to check the accounts of all projects on public-private partnership (PPP) basis.

Sending a clear message that private developers managing tolled highway stretches and infrastructure projects on PPP mode should be ready for greater scrutiny from the his office, he said, "We have told the government to inform the developers upfront that there is every likelihood of their books being questioned by the public auditor. They should not be surprised when we audit their projects.''

However, he clarified that the focus of the CAG's audit would remain on private developers completing projects. "We would look more into the question of outcome than that of procedures. The aim is to ensure that the public good is protected,'' he said.