Govt corners AAP as CAG flags excise losses

The Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) performance review on Delhi's excise policy between 2017 and 2022, the first of 14 pending reports by the audit agency to be tabled in the Delhi Assembly, flagged a string of major violations in awarding licences, quality control, and pricing, leading to a notional loss of over 2,000 crore to the exchequer.

- Snehil Sinha and Paras Singh

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government seized on the report's findings to attack the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which governed during the audit period. The BJP demanded "answers" from the AAP over decisions made regarding the excise policy, and said that "those involved in corrupt practices will be held accountable".

The report highlights that the now-scrapped 2021-22 excise policy alone resulted in notional revenue losses of 2,002.68 crore. These include ₹890 crore from the failure to retender surrendered retail licences, ₹941 crore from exemptions and relaxed rules for zonal licensees, ₹144 crore from unwarranted Covid-19 fee waivers, and ₹27 crore from incorrect security deposit collections.

The report also highlighted a string of shortcomings of the old policy, which it analysed over a period of three years. Of the eight chapters in the entire audit report, seven are on the old policy while one chapter audits the new policy.