The revenue arrears of the Kerala government, as on March 31, 2023, stood at ₹27,902.45 crore, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has noted in the latest audit report on State finances tabled in the Kerala Legislative Assembly on Tuesday (October 15, 2024).
This amount pertained to 16 cases of revenue remaining uncollected by 15 government departments, with State Goods and Services Tax department alone accounting for ₹13,559.58 crore. Of the total arrears of ₹27,902.45 crore, ₹1,204.79 crore represents arrears older than five years.
This is not the first time that the CAG has flagged this issue. To compare, the revenue arrears as on March 31, 2022 had stood at ₹28,258.39 crore, and ₹21,797.86 crore till March 31, 2021, indicating that the State government has not had much success in recovering the arrears.
As per the latest report, the arrears on taxes and duties on electricity stood at ₹3,800.92 crore, arrears in interest receipts of the Finance department at ₹6,855.62 crore, and the arrears of the Motor Vehicles department (MVD) at ₹1109.91 crore. Other departments include Police (₹454.35 crore), Excise (₹285.26 crore), State Audit Department (₹105.49 crore), Registration (₹719.95 crore), Mining and geology (₹198.96 crore, and Forest (₹398.03 crore).
Published – October 15, 2024 03:27 pm IST