CAG Report Flags Financial Irregularities in Jharkhand, ?1.60 Lakh Crore in Expenditure Lacks Utilisation Certificates

Ranchi: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has flagged serious financial and administrative irregularities in several Jharkhand government departments, including the absence of utilisation certificates for expenditure amounting to around ?1.60 lakh crore as of March 31, 2025. The report for the financial year 2024-25 was tabled in the Jharkhand Assembly on Tuesday by Finance Minister Radhakrishna Kishore.
The CAG said the failure to submit utilisation certificates for such a large amount raises concerns over the possibility of misuse of government funds. Under financial rules, departments are required to submit utilisation certificates to establish that funds released in one financial year were spent for the intended purposes.

The report also highlighted irregularities in the Commercial Taxes, Transport, Excise and Prohibition, and Revenue, Registration and Land Reforms departments, with a combined financial impact of ?4,324.44 crore. Of this, the government and departments accepted irregularities amounting to ?859.43 crore, but only ?23.56 crore has been recovered so far.

The CAG attributed significant revenue losses to shortcomings in the GST and e-way bill systems, weak departmental monitoring and inadequate data sharing between government agencies.
The audit found a lack of effective coordination between the GSTN and e-way bill portals. In several cases, taxpayers filed nil returns while e-way bills were generated for goods worth large amounts. Instances were reported in Dhanbad and Jamshedpur.

The report also found cases where fresh GST registrations were issued against PANs linked to cancelled registrations despite outstanding dues. Multiple e-way bills being generated against the same invoice also raised concerns over monitoring mechanisms.

The CAG further pointed to discrepancies between income-tax and GST data. Some businesses reported substantial turnover in income-tax returns without corresponding GST registrations.
More than 1.24 lakh transport vehicles had expired tax validity, according to the report. Motor vehicle and green tax amounting to ?111.24 crore remained unrealised. Weak software controls and inadequate monitoring of temporary registrations contributed to the revenue loss.

The Excise Department also failed to recover certain dues related to differential excise duty, minimum guaranteed fees and transportation charges.
The CAG has recommended stronger integration of GSTN and NIC systems, regular cross-verification of income-tax and GST data, time-bound recovery of outstanding dues and field-level verification by specialised teams.

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