PATIALA: The Punjab state electricity Board (PSEB) has finally woke up to give heed to the numerous complaints from the applicants of "OYT" (Own Your Tubewell) Scheme for supplying poor quality material by the contractors/suppliers.

The contractors and suppliers were also allegeldy charging much higher rates as compared to the rates at which PSEB was procuring the material. The scandal was reportedly going on in connivance with PSEB officials.

Y.S.Ratra, Chairman, PSEB, said Saturday  that Borad has decided to sent the case  along with  complaints received from various parts of the State to Punjab Vigilance Bureau  for  thorough probe into the nefarious activities being indulged by the suppliers/Officers/ officials of the  PSEB and Punjab Govt.

Severe action will be taken against all delinquent officers/officials of the Board and the Punjab Government on receipt of the enquiry report from the State Vigilance Bureau, Ratra added.

The Excise & Taxation Authorities have also requested the Board to supply them the Division-wise lists of connections released by the PSEB under OYT Scheme to ensure that the purchases/sales have been made by the dealers after issuing proper invoices and the VAT due @ 12.5% has been charged and paid in the Govt. treasury.  Accordingly, lists are being supplied separately to Excise & Taxation Authorities for proper evaluation of the VAT paid by the dealers and to investigate   the issue of undervaluation of bills by the dealers/contractors.

The preliminary inquiry conducted by the Board stated that the dealers/contractors are charging approximately   48 to 52% extra as compared to the rates at which PSEB is purchasing the material and found that in rough estimate given by the dealers, in addition  to the cost of the material  they have added Rs.5000/- to be paid as bribe to CEI/ PSEB Officers/Officials towards inspection fee (Rs.500/-), Test Report Charges(Rs.1,000/-) and file charges(Rs.3,500/-).  The committee also informed that the bills issued by the dealers were undervalued and less VAT is being paid on account of undervaluation of the bills.

PSEB Chairman had ordered an inquiry under the supervision of a committee comprising of three Chief Engineers of the Board i.e. CE/Technical Audit & Inspection, CE/Enforcement & CE/DS,(West Zone), Bathinda.  The committee further deputed three Divisional Officers of PSEB to visit the villages and places in Moga and Baghapurana to know the facts.  

There were instances where the bills issued to the applicants for the material purchased were less than the amount charged, thus robbing the Punjab Govt. by evading VAT due to undervaluation of bills.

In order to safeguard the interest of the farmers/OYT applicants, the matter was discussed at the level of   Hon'ble Chief Minister, Punjab and it was decided to suspend the OYT Scheme upto 31.10.2008.

Ratra, further informed that tubewell connections against test reports already received upto 30.5.2008 shall be released.   In addition, those applicants who have already completed their works and were awaiting clearance from CEI after depositing requisite inspection fee upto 30.05.2008 shall be allowed to submit test reports for release of tubewell connections.

Board had introduced "OYT" (Own Your Tubewell) Scheme in the Month of August,2007.  For registration of the applications under this scheme, the applicants were required to deposit Rs.25,000/- adjustable towards Service Connection Charges.  The entire material required for release of connection was to be provided by PSEB, the cost of which was to be borne by the applicant.  Keeping in view the large number of applications received and to expedite the release of connection under this scheme, the applicants were allowed to arrange quality material duly inspected by PSEB on their own.  It was also decided to refund Rs.25,000/- deposited by the applicants at the time of registration of their applications.

However, keeping in view the hardships being faced by the applicants the condition of purchasing material from approved manufacturers/ suppliers of PSEB was withdrawn and the applicants were allowed to purchase the material as per ISS/PSEB specifications   from any vendor within or outside the State of Punjab and inspection of material by PSEB for all the items except distribution transformers was waived off.  The approximate rates at which the Board was purchasing the material were also advertised in various newspapers to facilitate the applicants to purchase the material at reasonable rates.