Ahmedabad: A billing mess inside Gujarat Police has blown a Rs 2.51 crore hole in public revenue, with the CAG exposing 590 cases where bandobast and escorting services were undercharged instead of being billed at the mandated rates. Under a 1999 govt resolution and later standing orders, police units are supposed to recover charges at double the pay and allowances of deployed personnel, including house rent allowance wherever applicable. But an audit covering April 2023 to March 2025 found a startling pattern: many offices were billed at single rates or police officials just got the math wrong. The worst lapse surfaced in the office of the superintendent of police, Ahmedabad rural, where Rs 1.89 crore was short-levied across 302 cases because single rates were charged instead of double. Bharuch police under-recovered Rs 41.48 lakh in 123 cases for the same reason. In Mehsana, recovery was short by a total of Rs 15.39 lakh in 109 cases.SRPF Group IX in Vadodara, Gandhinagar police, and Ahmedabad city police also showed discrepancies, driven by failure to include HRA and incorrect application of rates. In total, the Rs 2.51 crore shortfall excludes an additional Rs 45.17 lakh in GST, the report says.The report noted that while some offices have issued revised demand notices and initiated recovery, action remains pending in several cases. Officials in multiple districts stated that verification of records is ongoing and corrective steps will follow.The report highlighted inconsistent interpretation of rules, calculation errors, and lack of scrutiny in billing processes. It also pointed to gaps in supervision across units handling such deployments.The issue was flagged to the state govt in Aug 2025, but no response was received till Nov despite reminders. The CAG audit has also recommended stronger internal checks and uniform implementation of prescribed rates to prevent revenue loss.
