|
| |
[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Spl Audit Report ] [ Observations ] [ Issues ] [ Lighthouse Act ] [ LHLS Committee ]
LHLS COMMITTEE REPORT
CONTENTS
Report of the Committee- 08 Pages
Annex ‘A’ Notification of the Ministry- 01 Page
3. Annex ‘B’, ‘C’, "D’ & ‘E’
Minutes of the meeting - 18 Pages
4. Annex ‘F’ Definition of ‘Home Trade Ship’ - 01 Page
5. Annex "G" Modified ILH Forms - 06 Pages
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE FOR STREAMLINING THE COLLECTION OF LIGHTDUES;
PROJECTION OF
ESTIMATES, ETC.
*****
The Committee was constituted under the chairmanship
of Chief Controller of Accounts vide Ministry of Shipping’s Order
No.LH-11020/21/2000-SL dated 24.11.2000(Annexure-A). The terms of reference of the
Committee were:-
 | Mechanism of Monitoring the receipt of Lightdues by Customs Authorities for which
purpose amending the Lighthouse Accounting Rules may be considered, if necessary. |
| Streamlining the accounting, estimating of Lightdues, transfer to GRF |
| Reconciliation of receipt with Customs authorities. Review of recruitment rules to
facilitate proper accounting. |
| Suggestions for adequate manpower for accounts set up in the Dept. of Lighthouses &
Lightships. |
The Committee discussed at length various issues in details in number
of meetings (Annexure B, C, D & E). The Committee also made site visits to some major
and minor Ports and held discussions with the Customs and Port officials. Based on the
information gathered from the various sources and after due deliberations, the Committee
has the following observations/recommendations:
- MECHANISM OF MONITORING THE RECEIPT OF LIGHTDUES BY CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES AND AMENDING
LIGHTHOUSE ACCOUNTING RULES.
- With the present mechanism, the Dept. of Lighthouses & Lightships is depending
entirely upon the Customs to collect the Lightdues.
Contd….2/
-2-
- The Lightdues are collected only from foreign going ships as the home trade ships, ships
conducting coastal shipping, sailing vessels were exempted from payment of Lightdues. It
was noted by the Committee that the home trade ships in terms of Merchant Shipping Act
also include voyage to Sri Lanka (Colombo), Maldives, Myanmar (Burma), Malaysia (Malaya),
Singapore, etc. (Annexure F)
- The Lightdues are supposed to be collected by the Customs authorities on arrival of the
ship whereas they are collecting the dues when the ship departs from the Port. This is
basically on account of the fact that collection of dues has been clubbed with Port
Clearance to be obtained by the shipowners from the Customs authorities. The Committee
also noted that with Customs collecting Lightdues on departure of ships, the shipowner
gets a definite advantage by way of free days leading to months in some cases, which is
unintended. There may be revenue loss to DGLL on account of this incorrect application of
Rules.
- It was noted that there was no cross check carried out by the Dept. of Lighthouses &
Lightships about the number of ships calling at a port to reconcile with the statement
received from Customs in ILH-11 as no details were collected from Ports. It was also
observed that the ships, which had paid Lightdues at other Indian Ports, were not covered
in the monthly statement forwarded in ILH-11 Form.
- Many of the Customs Houses, which the Committee visited, do not possess the Rules
regarding the collection of Lightdues. Hence, the collection and time of collection were
left to their discretion.
- The Committee examined the suitable amendments to Lighthouse Accounting Rules,
amendments to ILH-9 and ILH-11 Forms.
Recommendations:
- The Lighthouse Accounting Rules are required to be made simpler and more comprehensible
so that all users are able to use it effectively. The Committee was of the opinion that
for better comprehension "Civil Accounting Procedures" could be considered in
place of existing accounting procedures.
- Dept. of Lighthouses & Lightships will ensure that each of the Customs House is
provided with a copy of Lighthouse Accounting Rules and with a clear note regarding
application of the rules in critical areas such as the basis of collection of Lightdues,
whether it is on NRT or GRT, the date on which Lightdues are collectable.
- With immediate effect the Customs authorities should be told that the collection of
Lightdues should be based on computation from the date of arrival of the ship, or from the
due date in case where the ship has paid Lightdues at the previous Indian Ports within the
stipulated period.
4. DGLL Organisation should interact on a regular and periodic basis
with the Port authorities to get an independent feed back regarding the number of vessels
arrived so that there could be a separate cross check system for reconciliation in
DGLL’s organization.
5. The Lighthouse Dept. should amend the Rules to exclude Myanmar
(Burma), Sri Lanka, Malaysia (Malaya), Singapore & Maldives Islands from the home
trade category and also interact with DG Shipping to ensure that foreign ships that take
license for domestic trading (coastal run) have been properly authorised for the purpose.
DG (Shipping)
Contd….4/
-4-
while considering the issue of license for coastal run may like to see
that license for coastal run has not been taken with a view to evade Lightdues.
- The ILH forms as modified and attached to the recommendations will be adopted henceforth
by the Customs authorities and DGLL (Annexure G).
- STREAMLINING THE ACCOUNTING, ESTIMATING OF LIGHTDUES, TRANSFER TO GRF:
- The Committee also examined the process of collection of Light dues by Customs Dept. It
was noted that the individual Customs Houses report their collections to respective
PAO’s who then reconcile the figures and send it along with ILH-11 Form to the PAO,
Lighthouses and Lightships. One of the main drawbacks of this system is that there is a
time gap between the collections and the dispatch of the information by the PAO, Customs.
Further, the collections are done manually.
- Payments on account of Light dues are received by PAO, LH&LS by Demand Drafts from
the respective PAOs Customs. To avoid delays and timely remittance, the matter was
examined and discussed by the Committee with the representative of Pr. Chief Controller of
Accounts, CBEC for direct transfer of Lightdues by PAOs, Customs to Major Head 1051 which
could help in proper projection of estimates.
Contd….5/
-5-
- The Committee observed that the total revenue earned by the Dept. on account of
Lightdues collections and miscellaneous receipts was initially credited to the General
Revenue of the Govt. of India. The entire receipts were however treated as expenditure to
the General Revenue at the end of the financial year. After meeting the revenue
expenditure by the Dept., the balance (surplus or otherwise) is transferred to the GRF.
It was also noted by the Committee that projections in the budget
estimates were not made properly. The Public Accounts Committee had made observation on
the variation in budget estimates and the actual expenditure particularly in General
Reserve Fund. These large variations had invited CAG paras.
Recommendations:
- To avoid delays in remittance of collections by PAOs, Customs the Lighthouse Accounting
Rules should be suitably amended for crediting directly to the Government Accounts by
PAOs, Customs.
- The Customs authorities will be requested to place the Lightdues collection on line for
which there is a minor modification required in the existing software of Customs Dept.
Collection data should be made available on line to the office of the DGLL including the
PAO, Lighthouses & Lightships to monitor the collection for possible realistic
projections in Budget/Revised estimates.
- RECONCILIATION OF RECEIPTS WITH CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES – REVIEW OF RECRUITMENT RULES
TO FACILITATE PROPER ACCOUNTING
- SUGGESTIONS FOR ADEQUATE MANPOWER FOR ACCOUNTS SET UP IN THE DEPT. OF LIGHTHOUSES &
LIGHTSHIPS
Observations:
a) Committee noted that as of now the Department of Lighthouses
& Lightships is not properly equipped for handling the budget and accounting work. It
was noted that Dept. of Lighthouses & Lightships was not able to get incumbents for
the posts of Divisional Accountant (DA) & Commercial Accountant (CA) due to low pay
scales.
b) The Committee also noted that the Budget Estimates, Porforma
Accounts of the Dept. of Lighthouses & Lightships were prepared by an Officer who does
not have accounts background. There was no post of Accounts Officer.
c) Reconciliation of Receipts was not carried out by the DGLL and the
PAO, Lighthouses & Lightships.
Recommendations:
For proper handling of the budget and accounting work, it is
recommended that the Budget and Accounts Division in DGLL’s organisation may be
strengthened. For filling up the posts of Divisional Accountants and Commercial
Accountant, proposal for encadrement of these posts be submitted by the Dept. of
Lighthouses & Lightships. A post of Budget and Accounts Officer is essential for
handling the accounts of the Dept. with the assistance of DA/CA. The DGLL’s
organisation may examine the creation of a post of a Budget and Accounts Officer.
Contd….7/
-7-
- OTHER OBSERVATIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS:
- The Lightdues are collected on NRT basis at the rate of Rs.8/- per ton which when
compared to Lightdues collected by other countries appear to be very low. The rates of
Lightdues were last revised in the 1993. It was also noted that most of the countries like
Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka collect Lightdues on GRT basis. The Committee
recommends that Lightdues should be collected on the basis of GRT. The Rules should be
suitably modified to incorporate this change. The Lightdues sshould be collected in hard
currency (converted into Indian Rupee) and the Committee recommends that to start with it
should be U.S. $ 0.15/per ton (GRT), per call basis.
- The Depreciation Reserve Fund may be utilised for replacement of assets. The expenditure
towards special repairs, replacement of vehicles, replacement of equipments etc. may be
met from the Depreciation Reserve Fund. A subhead under Revenue Head 3051 may be opened in
consultation with the Office of the Chief Controller of Accounts.
****
|
