SRINAGAR: The Executive Engineer of the Public Works (Roads and Buildings) Division, Udhampur, made an excess payment of Rs 10 lakh to a contractor on a road project, after adding 4.88 per cent to the contractor’s work claims without any contractual or statutory basis, audit has found.
The irregular payment related to the road project from Dessean to S.K. Bair in Udhampur district. According to the audit, the additional amount was added to work-done claims between March 2021 and February 2023, resulting in a payment of Rs 10 lakh over and above the amount legitimately due.
The contractor had submitted bills totalling Rs 2.05 crore. The department subsequently added 4.88 per cent to the billed amount, which translated into an additional payment of about Rs 10 lakh.
Audit held that there was no contractual or statutory provision supporting the addition and therefore treated the amount as excess payment.
The Executive Engineer, R&B Division, Udhampur, stated in December 2023 that the matter was being scrutinised and that the outcome would be communicated to audit.
In its subsequent response in December 2025, the department argued that the work had been awarded to the lowest responsive bidder for Rs 2.14 crore and that the release of Rs 2.13 crore remained within the awarded amount as well as the approved project cost. On that basis, the department maintained that no excess payment had been made.
Audit rejected the department’s explanation, pointing out that the issue was not whether the total expenditure remained within the sanctioned project cost or awarded contract value. It concerned the unsupported addition of 4.88 per cent to the contractor’s bills.
The audit calculated that applying 4.88 per cent to the contractor’s billed amount of Rs 2.05 crore resulted in an excess payment of Rs 10 lakh.
The finding was recorded under the audit’s assessment of excess payments to contractors, which identified excess payment of Rs 10 lakh in respect of two projects across two divisions.
