India's auditor notes significant income losses in the IT and telecom sectors.

Concerns regarding revenue losses, inadequate oversight, and ineffective policy execution in important projects have been raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), who has identified significant shortcomings in the operations of the ministries of communications and electronics and information technology (Meity).

The government's "Make in India" campaign and its efforts to upgrade the nation's digital infrastructure may be impacted by the audit report, which was presented to Parliament on Tuesday and revealed anomalies in telecom revenue-sharing and incentives for electronics manufacture.

The audit revealed financial inefficiencies and inadequate monitoring in telecom governance and digital infrastructure. Given the government's strong desire for independence in digital services, semiconductors, and telecommunications, the results cast doubt on the accountability and execution of important programs. The telecom industry was the CAG report's largest red flag. The department of telecommunications was unable to collect ₹2,463.67 crore from telecom service providers because revenue assessments were delayed, according to the supreme auditor.

The audit body discovered that under-recovery resulted from revenue assessments that took an average of 20 months to complete, although they were supposed to be finished in 12 months. The efficiency of the SARAS revenue management system, which was implemented to expedite telecom tax collection, was also called into doubt.

The telecom industry in India, which shares revenue with the government in the amount of around ₹14,000 crore a year, has come under fire for underreporting and noncompliance.

Significant financial irregularities at BSNL were also brought to light by the CAG, which revealed that the state-owned telecom provider had lost ₹1,757.76 crore by neglecting to charge Reliance Jio for extra technology use under an infrastructure-sharing agreement.

Additionally, BSNL lost ₹5.43 crore because it failed to collect GST input tax credits and ₹38.36 crore because it failed to deduct license costs from payments to telecom infrastructure providers.

Under the modified special incentives package system (M-SIPS), which was implemented to increase electronics production, the national auditor discovered delays in the processing of applications and the distribution of incentives.

Just ₹2,136 crore has been distributed by April 2023, despite ₹36,991 crore in promised investments under the initiative. Additionally, the CAG stated in its report for the year ending March 31, 2023, that frequent policy changes resulted in discrepancies that impacted investor trust.

A ₹17.22 crore loss to the government resulted from the CAG's reprimand of the department of posts for failing to follow set criteria, indicating lax rule enforcement in one of the biggest government organizations in the nation.

During July 2022 to September 2023, this includes ₹13.57 crore in unrecovered GST on Speed Post services provided across 15 postal circles under the book now pay later scheme.

The Kerala Postal Circle failed to deduct tax at the source on the maturity proceeds of Postal Life Insurance and Rural Postal Life Insurance contracts from September 2019 to May 2023, resulting in the remaining loss of ₹3.65 crore.