Dispur mulling mechanism for resolving long-pending bills: ‘Most bills are from the era of earlier governments’

Guwahati: The state government is quite serious about the huge sums that have to be paid in lieu of old, pending bills after the matter is dragged to court and is mulling putting in a new mechanism so that it can be resolved outside the court.

Finance department sources said that the government has asked different departments to provide data on the number of cases related to the payment of contractors’ bills that are pending in courts. The state government is contemplating a mechanism like the creation of an ombudsman’s post to resolve the issue without being taken to court. The amount that the government has to pay the contractors becomes hugely inflated as the court imposes fines and penalties, and this can be avoided if the matter is resolved through out-of-court settlements, the sources added.

Last month, such a bill payment case came to light where the Health Department had to pay an amount of around Rs 100 crore instead of the original bill amount of around Rs 50 lakh owed to a contractor after he approached the court. However, the department conducted negotiations, and the amount ultimately paid out was reduced to around Rs 40 crore.

Sources said the cases pending in court involve bills that were incurred during the time of earlier governments and not during the tenure of the present BJP government. The Health Department bill related to the period between 1992 and 1999, during which the contractor supplied some items to the department. Similarly, bills related to the payment for yarn and blankets during the time of the Congress government are still pending, the sources said.

It was also stated that such a state of affairs was the result of work orders given without following proper procedure. Still, the sources said, around Rs 14 crore was paid out to suppliers of yarn and blankets last year, and another Rs 16 crore or so remains to be paid.

A senior Finance Department official said that no such long-term bills are pending during the present government’s term and that regular payments are being made to contractors and suppliers.

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