Mumbai: Funds collected by the Centre as cesses for specific purposes, such as the mineral trust, oil industry development and infrastructure, have not been fully transferred to dedicated funds, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said, while pointing out deficiencies in the collection, transfer and utilisation of these levies.
In the financial audit of the government accounts for the year 2018-19, tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, the government auditor said the issue of short-transfer of cess collected in the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI) for their dedicated accounts has been a recurring problem for many years.
There was short transfer of Rs 1,64,322 crore to various Reserve Funds/Boards from 35 cesses that were levied in 2018-19. Though the government collected Rs 2,74,592 crore from cesses that year, more than Rs 1,00,000 crore got transferred to the CFI rather than being used for the intended purposes, the CAG noted.
Under the scheme, such cesses and levies are required to be first transferred to designated Reserve Funds and utilised for the specific purposes intended by the Parliament.