RTO scam

Ahmedabad: Gujarat high court has directed the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to audit Chasmita Engineers Private Limited, which has caused a revenue loss of around Rs 700 crore to the state exchequer.
The company implemented automatic vehicle-tax collection and weight-measurement systems at all RTO check-posts in the state.
The court also directed the government to place the CAG report before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to look into alleged illegalities by the company. The court ruled that CAG should audit Chasmita Engineers for the period between 2006 and 2011.
The court was acting on a public-interest litigation filed by one Vipul Patel through his advocate Tejas Barot. The court told CAG to submit the report by October 10. The court said that after receiving the report it would decide whether the investigation should be handed over to an independent agency.
According to the petitioner, the state government had introduced the automatic vehicle-tax collection and weight-measurement systems in 2000. And from 2003, the contract was awarded to Chasmita Engineers. The purpose of the systems was to determine the weight and registration of vehicles entering Gujarat and to calculate penalty — in cases of overloading — and collect tax.
The petitioner alleged that the company did not implement the systems in a proper manner and engaged in illegalities. The petitioner cited an earlier CAG report and even after receiving the report, the state had failed to take action against the company, he said. It was submitted that contrary to the CAG findings, the state government extended the contract of the firm without floating tenders.