Wipro disagrees with CAG on undue favour by UIDAI

Global software major Wipro Ltd disagreed with the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) that the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) had shown undue favour to it, the company said on Wednesday.

"We disagree with the findings of the (CAG) report that UIDAI extended undue favor to us. We draw attention to the latter's response in the report that the acceptance of goods was given by the competent authority in UIDAI after commissioning the equipment," the IT major said in a statement here.

Asserting that it maintained highest standards of corporate governance and transparency, the company said UIDAI had signed the annual maintenance contract after the warranty period expired.

In a report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, the statutory auditor said UIDAI had granted undue favour to Wipro in a maintenance contract worth Rs.4.92 crore.

"The UIDAI, in contravention of the provisions of the contract, extended undue favour to the vendor (Wipro) and incurred an avoidable expenditure of Rs.4.92 crore on annual maintenance contract of the equipment for a period covered under warranty/free maintenance," the CAG report stated.

According to the 'General Conditions of Contract', the vendor was responsible for erection and installation of the goods and services at the destination sites and for making them fully operational, subject to an acceptance test based on the prescribed norms.

"The UIDAI did not route its advertisements through the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity in accordance with the advertisement policy of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. This led to loss of Rs.1.41 crore as the eligible discount was not availed," the report added.

--IANS

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