Latest news with #ComptrollerandAuditorGeneral
Hans India
20 hours ago
- Health
- Hans India
Hospital Asset Tracking in India: Solving a ₹1.8 Crore Problem
A single Indian hospital can lose over ₹1.8 crore a year—not from surgeries gone wrong or billing disputes, but simply from patients getting lost and assets vanishing into storerooms. Nurses—India's most overworked frontline caregivers—can lose up to 60 minutes per shift just searching for equipment. These aren't isolated issues. And most hospitals have no system in place to fix them. The Hidden Costs Draining Indian Hospitals Rising costs in healthcare aren't always about advanced machinery or doctor salaries. Many of India's private hospitals are silently losing lakhs every year because of invisible inefficiencies. Nurses waste up to 60 minutes per shift searching for equipment. Mobile medical devices like ECGs and oxygen cylinders go missing due to lack of tracking systems. Patients miss appointments after getting lost in multi-building campuses. Over-ordering of equipment happens due to poor visibility into what already exists. These aren't one-off problems—they are systemic leaks in the engine. How Much Time Do Nurses Lose Searching for Equipment? A report in Nursing Times shows that nurses lose 30–60 minutes per shift just finding medical equipment. For a 300-bed facility with 100 nurses, that adds up to over 50,000 hours of wasted skilled time each year. At a conservative ₹200/hour, that's ₹1 crore in annual productivity lost—not on patient care, but on chasing items like IV pumps or monitors. Now imagine recovering even 80% of that time through a real-time asset tracking system for hospitals. That's more healing, less hunting. Why Hospitals Keep Losing Expensive Equipment According to studies in both U.S. and Indian hospitals, 10–20% of mobile assets are lost or stolen over their lifecycle. In India, this often includes: Oxygen cylinders ECG machines Stretchers Patient monitors The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) found that in Kerala alone, medical equipment worth ₹7.28 crore was left unused due to mismanagement or lack of trained staff. And because hospitals can't track these assets, they over-order backup stock—leading to utilisation rates as low as 50%, compared to an industry ideal of 75–80%. This is a classic case of capital sitting idle while the system keeps spending. What is RTLS? Why Smart Hospitals in India Are Adopting It Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) are indoor navigation and positioning systems that allow hospitals to: Track the location of assets and staff Guide patients through large campuses Reduce appointment no-shows Improve response time in emergencies However, most RTLS solutions require Wi-Fi, Bluetooth beacons, or expensive infrastructure—which makes them impractical for many Indian hospitals. Solution- A Hardware-Free RTLS System As hospitals search for indoor navigation systems that work without Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, or explore RTLS solutions tailored for Indian settings, one trend stands out: the shift toward hardware-free, softwar++++e-driven platforms. One such system gaining traction is Mapsted, which operates without external beacons or routers. Instead, it uses smartphone sensors and passive tags—making it more compatible with India's dense, multilingual, and often infrastructure-constrained hospital environments. Mapsted's RTLS works directly through smartphones and passive tags—making it: Cheaper to deploy Easier to maintain More suited to India's dense OPDs and multilingual patient base Hospitals using Mapsted's location-based platform have seen: Increased patient throughput Fewer missed appointments Reduction in lost equipment Over 2,000 staff hours saved annually Smart Navigation Is Not a Fancy Add-On—It's Infrastructure India's healthcare system is under pressure: rising medical costs, growing patient volumes, and a shrinking skilled workforce. To solve these challenges, hospitals must stop thinking of smart navigation and hospital asset tracking as 'nice to have' technologies. They are foundational tools for: Cutting operational losses Improving staff productivity Making better use of every rupee invested By choosing a solution like Mapsted's hardware-free RTLS system, hospitals don't just save money—they transform how healthcare works.
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Business Standard
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
CAG flags excise lapses in Maharashtra, cites revenue loss of several crore
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has pulled up the Maharashtra state excise department for serious lapses in its operations, which have led to a substantial revenue shortfall. The CAG report pointed out that due to incorrect assessment of licence renewal fees, the state lost Rs 20.15 crore in revenue and Rs 70.22 crore in interest. The audit further stated that failure to implement revised rates for supervision fees had caused an additional shortfall of Rs 1.20 crore. According to the report, the then Excise Commissioner exempted excise duty on old stock of beer without obtaining prior approval from the state government. The report also highlighted that the delayed submission of mild beer samples for chemical analysis had hampered tax recovery to the tune of Rs 73.18 crore. "Under the Bombay Prohibition (Privilege Fee) Rules, 1954, a provision exists to charge fees for changes in partnership. However, no such provision was applicable to significant changes in shareholding of public limited companies, resulting in a loss of Rs 26.93 crore to the state," the CAG observed. The absence of a provision in the Excise Act for declaring production cost also led to a missed opportunity for the government to earn additional revenue, it added. The audit further revealed that in the case of Canteen Stores Department (CSD), the production cost of 11 products or brands was undervalued, causing a revenue loss of Rs 38.34 crore in excise duty. Additionally, errors in the purchase cost of imported foreign liquor resulted in non-collection of Rs 11.48 crore between August 2018 and March 2022, and Rs 2.89 crore between May 2017 and March 2022. The cumulative effect of these lapses caused a massive revenue loss for the government, raising serious concerns about the functioning of the Excise Department, the CAG stated.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Maharashtra excise department lapses caused revenue loss of several crore rupees: CAG
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has pulled up the Maharashtra State excise department for serious lapses in its operations, which have led to a substantial revenue shortfall. The CAG report pointed out that due to incorrect assessment of licence renewal fees, the State lost ₹20.15 crore in revenue and ₹70.22 crore in interest. The audit further stated that failure to implement revised rates for supervision fees had caused an additional shortfall of ₹1.20 crore. According to the report, the then Excise Commissioner exempted excise duty on old stock of beer without obtaining prior approval from the State government. The report also highlighted that the delayed submission of mild beer samples for chemical analysis had hampered tax recovery to the tune of ₹73.18 crore. "Under the Bombay Prohibition (Privilege Fee) Rules, 1954, a provision exists to charge fees for changes in partnership. However, no such provision was applicable to significant changes in shareholding of public limited companies, resulting in a loss of ₹26.93 crore to the state," the CAG observed. The absence of a provision in the Excise Act for declaring production cost also led to a missed opportunity for the government to earn additional revenue, it added. The audit further revealed that in the case of Canteen Stores Department (CSD), the production cost of 11 products or brands was undervalued, causing a revenue loss of ₹38.34 crore in excise duty. Additionally, errors in the purchase cost of imported foreign liquor resulted in non-collection of Rs 11.48 crore between August 2018 and March 2022, and ₹2.89 crore between May 2017 and March 2022. The cumulative effect of these lapses caused a massive revenue loss for the government, raising serious concerns about the functioning of the Excise Department, the CAG stated.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
‘Excise mop-up mismatch cost govt 1.5k cr in '21-22'
Mumbai: Mismatch, undervaluation, and oversight in the state excise collection and excise department's GST payments and returns reportedly cost the state around Rs 1,500 crore in revenue, said the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its report for 2021-22 tabled in the assembly on Friday. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "Out of the 405 high-value data inconsistencies identified by the audit, the department responded in all 405 cases. Of these, 94 cases, constituting 23.2%, turned out to have compliance deficiencies with a mismatch of input tax credit (ITC)/tax liability/turnover of Rs 1,155.89 crore," it said. The CAG said excise duty on obsolete stock of beer was waived without obtaining permission from the govt. There was a short raising of demand of duty of Rs 73.18 crore on mild beer due to delay in granting approval for sending duplicate samples for chemical analysis. Also, there is no provision in excise law to declare the details of manufacturing cost (components like raw material, labour, and overheads). "If there was a provision to check the manufacturing cost, the govt would have got additional revenue to that extent. "
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
CAG warns Maharashtra of ‘Debt Trap' citing off-budget borrowings
The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on Maharashtra State Finances for the year 2023-24 has said that 'off-budget borrowings' affect state's fiscal transparency. Issuing a warning that off-budget borrowings increases the public liabilities of the state substantially over a period of time, leading to a debt-trap, it directed the Maharashtra government to bring them within the ambit of legislative control to ensure sustainable financial management. 'Financing expenditures through off-budget borrowings increases the public liabilities of the State substantially over a period of time leading to a debt-trap, without the Legislature even knowing that such liabilities are being created,' the report said. 'Government of Maharashtra's increasing use of off-budget borrowings not only affects fiscal transparency but also risks circumventing budgetary controls and legislative oversight. The State Government needs to improve its fiscal accountability by ensuring that all liabilities are comprehensively reported in the annual financial statements. Furthermore, these off-budget borrowings should be brought within the ambit of legislative control to ensure sustainable financial management,' said the report. Off-budget items are government borrowings and expenditures that do not get reflected in the government budget. The observations of the CAG hold importance at a time when the Maharashtra government has been relying on raising OBB. In an exclusive interview with The Indian Express in April 2025, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Praveen Pardeshi had said that the state government has decided to fund capital expenditure through off-budget source of funding and has planned to raise and spend around Rs 30,000 crore on several key projects. The report maintained that 'all Government borrowings and expenditure should legitimately be covered within the respective budgets and the Government must include the disclosure of the details of the off-budget borrowings' done through various agencies of the state government in the budget and accounts. The CAG report said that the Off-budget borrowing allows the government to meet its expenditure requirements without recording these debts in the budget, thereby bypassing legislative scrutiny. 'Such borrowings are often raised through State-owned or State-controlled entities, with repayments ultimately covered by the State Government's budget. These borrowings, which are serviced through the State's budget, are effectively considered as the State's own liabilities under Article 293(3) of the Constitution,' it said. The CAG report pointed out that as outlined in the Maharashtra Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (MFRBM) Act and the Rules (2006, amended in 2008), the State Government must provide full disclosure of its liabilities including off-budget in Form B-6 of the Medium-Term Fiscal Policy Statement (MTFPS) of that particular year. 'However, Audit has observed that despite the requirement for transparency, off-budget borrowings were not disclosed in the budget documents. As per the MTFPS 2023-24, the State Government has disclosed an outstanding off-budget borrowing of Rs 19.40 crore only (outstanding prior to 2004-05),' it said. The outstanding off-budget borrowing increased significantly from Rs 51 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 10,135 crore by the end of 2023-24, indicating the increase in State's reliance on off-budget borrowing for large-scale capital expenditures.
