Bangalore Development Authority Faces Scrutiny Over Financial Mismanagement

The Comptroller and Auditor General has criticized the Bangalore Development Authority for poor financial management, pointing to a loss of Rs 3,500 crore due to failure in collecting betterment tax. The CAG's report also highlighted religious grant disparities in Karnataka.

The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) faces severe criticism over its 'lackadaisical effort' in raising internal revenue from legally enforceable avenues, indicating 'poor financial management,' according to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). The financial watchdog pointed to a Rs 3,500 crore loss due to uncollected betterment tax.

Tabled in the Assembly on Thursday, the CAG's compliance audit report on the Department and Public Sector Undertakings for the fiscal year ending March 2022 observed that BDA grossly underperformed in collecting projected betterment tax. Against a projection of Rs 3,307.55 crore for Arkavathy Layout and Rs 195.72 crore for Nada Prabhu Kempegowda Layout (NPKL), BDA managed to collect only Rs 3.22 crore from April 2019 to March 2022.

The report highlighted that BDA failed to follow procedures prescribed under the Act for tax collection. Additionally, the agency paid Rs 34.66 crore as interest on outstanding loans in 2019-20 and 2020-21, an expense deemed avoidable if BDA had pursued potential revenue sources earnestly. The audit further noted a disparity in government grants to temples, with Muzrai temples receiving significantly less compared to private temples.

(With inputs from agencies.)