Pending bills so high, ITDC offers staff cash to collect

Rarely has a Government department announced an “incentive” scheme for its employees such as the Indian Tourism Development Corporation...

Rarely has a Government department announced an “incentive” scheme for its employees such as the Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) did six months ago. Bogged down with unpaid bills adding up to an estimated Rs 25 crore, the ITDC management announced a reward scheme under which employees who help realize outstanding bills are eligible for between 2-20% of the amount, depending on the “age” of the debt.

So far, there has been a solitary claimant — an employee got Rs 40,000 by landing a Rs 2.4-lakh payment that had been due for as many as 15 years. Last heard, ITDC’s management was considering doubling the “incentive” package to take the reward up to 40% of the pending bill.

A scrutiny of official records showing “balance (pending) for Ashok Hotel,” throws up one reason why recoveries have been so slow. For included in the over 1,000 names of Government Departments and individuals — from whom payments are due — are some of the most influential offices in the country.

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For instance, the bills, available with The Indian Express, show the Prime Minister’s Office owes ITDC Rs 4.92 lakh, the Vice President’s Secretariat Rs 4.67 lakh, the Election Commission Rs 9.70 lakh and the Lok Sabha Secretariat Rs 15.65 lakh.

Several investigative, security and regulatory departments have also run up huge dues. The Comptroller and Auditor General, for instance, owes ITDC Rs 3.12 lakh, the National Security Advisory Board Rs 1.71 lakh, the Central Bureau of Investigation Rs 1.36 lakh and the Cabinet Secretariat Rs 86.84 lakh.

The “aged balance” has been categorized by the ITDC in separate folders for Government Departments, PSUs, airlines, Diplomatic Missions and so on and topping the list of creditors are Indian Airlines with Rs 3.87 crore dues, Air India with Rs 2.60 crore, Ministry of External Affairs (Hyderabad House) with Rs 2.42 crore, the Ministry of Urban Development with Rs 93.30 lakh and the Mines and Metals Trade Corporation (MMTC) with Rs 89.56 lakh.

Top ITDC officials, who did not want to be named, said some “recent recoveries” made by them had not yet been logged in.

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Said a top official: “These bills have accumulated on account of conferences, banquets as well as other expenses such as booking of air tickets via ITDC, use of the airport lounge and so on. We estimate the pendency would be in the range of Rs 25 crore and after sending legal notices to creditors, we have taken up the cases of six of the largest Departmental creditors with the Cabinet Committee for Disputes. We have also put a sizeable number of our personnel exclusively on the job of recoveries and announcement of the incentive scheme is a last-ditch effort to get the dues back.”

Other senior officials in ITDC’s Finance Wing said some of these dues fell into a “grey area” since either the original vouchers had been misplaced or there was a disagreement on actual amounts. They also pointed out that with some claims going back 10-15 years, the ITDC was willing to waive interest and focus on the principal dues.

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