Shimnit Utsch enjoyed undue benefit of Rs 7.17 crore
SHILLONG: Car owners in Meghalaya who went for high security registration plates between 2007 and 2016 had to cough up more money than in other northeastern states like Mizoram, showed a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) tabled in the Assembly on Friday.
In the process, the common man suffered while the vendor enjoyed “undue benefit” to the tune of Rs 7.17 crore.
In a comparison between Mizoram and Meghalaya, CAG found that the difference in rates for the new registration plates ranged between Rs 14.43 and Rs 736.29 per plate for two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers.
While two-wheeler owners in Meghalaya had to shell out Rs 692.32 (for scooters) and Rs 682.43 (motorcycles), those in Mizoram paid Rs 669 and Rs 668, respectively. For three-wheelers, the registration arte in the State was Rs 959.35 and that in Mizoram was Rs 940. Security registration plates for four-wheeler cost Rs 1681.29 in Meghalaya and that in Mizoram was Rs 945.
This disparity was despite the fact that in both states, M/s Shimnit Utsch was the implementing agency. The State Government allowed the vendor to carry out registration without asking it for an analysis of rates in other states, the CAG report pointed out.
In its explanation last October the Meghalaya Transport Department said it signed a deal with the vendor six years before Mizoram and hence a comparison was not possible. “Moreover, the Government was earning concession fee (amount payable to the government by the vendor against grant of rights or for right to use property),” was the State Department’s reply.
However, the CAG report says the reply “is not acceptable” as the Department did not revise rates for affixation of the new registration plates based on prevalent market rates even after 11 years of the signing of the agreement.
