Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has admitted to duplicate and excess payments to contractors through the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS), but put the amount involved at ₹6.92 crore, against reports alleging irregular payments of more than ₹100 crore.According to GHMC, discrepancies were identified in 78 invoices involving ₹6.92 crore. Of this, ₹6.83 crore related to 74 invoices had already been recovered, while the remaining ₹8.35 lakh pertaining to four invoices had been received through demand drafts and was being credited to the GHMC general fund.A preliminary vigilance enquiry found that the duplicate and excess payments resulted from the prescribed maker-checker control being bypassed, coupled with a lack of reconciliation between the three TReDS platforms, GHMC’s ERP system and the general fund.The enquiry also found that the duplicate-detection mechanisms of the TReDS platform providers failed to prevent invoices from being uploaded more than once, including across different platforms.The civic body said the irregularities were detected internally during validation of the online payment system as part of an ERP/software upgrade, segregation of accounts and a review by the additional commissioner (finance).GHMC said some officials had been found prima facie responsible and that departmental proceedings, along with the determination of pecuniary liability under Section 281A of the GHMC Act, 1955, were being initiated. Criminal action would follow if the departmental enquiry or special audit established criminal intent.The corporation also rejected claims regarding an alleged 10% commission and an 18% GST component in the payments. It said any excess GST paid on an amount that was not actually due could be refunded by the GST Department to GHMC. However, such a refund would not reduce a contractor’s obligation to return any excess payment received.
