TN's revenue arrears nearing Rs 11,000 cr, says CAG

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has said that arrears of revenue for Tamil Nadu as on March 31, 2010, was Rs 10,990.96 crore, of which Rs 5,354.90 crore was outstanding for more than five years.

The CAG has asked the revenue department to make special efforts to vacate the stay orders and to speed up cases involved in litigation for receipt. A sum of Rs 737.13 crore was likely to be written off or waived, according to the apex auditor.

According to CAG's audit report (revenue receipts) for the year ended March 31, 2010, which is the latest, out of Rs 10,990.06 crore, demands amounting to Rs 1,163.31 crore were covered under the Revenue Recovery Act, while those for Rs 2,010.86 crore were stayed by the government or the High Court and other judicial or appellate courts, and Rs 314.71 crore was held up due to rectification or review applications.

The report also stated that Rs 49.54 crore could not be recovered on account of assesses becoming insolvent. A sum of Rs 737.13 crore was likely to be written off or waived.

An amount of Rs 2,457.62 crore was covered under the deferral scheme and Rs 632.84 crore was proposed to be eliminated in respect of appeal cases which are referred back for fresh disposal. It said Rs 480.32 crore was covered under civil suits and BIFR, and another Rs 294.79 crore was under various stages of recovery.

CAG has stated that Rs 2,848.94 crore had since been collected, and called for special efforts to vacate the stay orders and to speed up the cases revolved in litigation.

It asked the government to consider fixing targets for collection of old arrears in a time-bound manner and to closely monitor the performance of the department officers.