Biman faces scrutiny over purchase of 15-year-old Dash-8 aircraft, Tk753 cr audit objections
Dhaka: A parliamentary committee has raised questions over the purchase of two 15-year-old Dash-8 aircraft by Biman Bangladesh Airlines after the expiry of their lease, despite the national flag carrier's procurement policy prohibiting the purchase of old aircraft.
The purchase, along with subsequent operating expenses and related activities, allegedly resulted in wastage of public money, according to a press release issued by the parliamentary secretariat following a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Undertakings on November 10.
The committee directed Biman to submit, within 15 days to one month, a list of members of the then board of directors and procurement committee involved in the purchase and related decisions.
It also instructed the authorities to determine responsibility for the alleged waste of public funds and take necessary legal action against those found responsible.
At the meeting, chaired by Chief Whip and committee chairman Nurul Islam Moni at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, members reviewed several allegations of irregularities involving aircraft procurement and operations, revenue collection, passenger services, and loss-making routes.
The committee also discussed the failure to provide auditors with relevant contracts and bills relating to expenses incurred for the two leased Dash-8 aircraft. It directed Biman to submit all relevant documents to the auditors within 15 days.
In another major finding, an audit reportedly identified significant revenue losses due to weaknesses in Biman's Departure Control System and RAPID software.
According to the audit, passengers on international flights were upgraded from economy to business class after paying additional charges, but the money was not deposited into Biman's accounting system.
The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General has started a comprehensive IT audit of Biman to investigate such irregularities and revenue leakages. The committee directed the airline to provide auditors with all relevant data from July to October.
The committee also questioned Biman's decision to pay the full amount under a contract with passenger service system provider Sabre despite the company allegedly failing to deliver the entire contracted services.
Biman and the audit department were asked to submit a joint written report on the matter within seven days.
The meeting also reviewed allegations that Biman incurred financial losses by operating several routes without proper commercial feasibility assessments, following decisions by its board of directors.
The airline was asked to submit the relevant board decisions along with detailed income and expenditure statements for each route.
Another audit objection concerned alleged underreporting of chartered cargo flight fares on the Dhaka-Guangzhou route during the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in additional money not being deposited into the government treasury.
The committee directed Biman to complete an internal investigation within one month, identify those involved, and take administrative and legal action against them.
The meeting further revealed that 111 unresolved audit objections involving approximately Tk753.50 crore had remained pending at Biman from 1996 to 2021.
Of 45 audit objections related to recovery of funds, auditors rejected Biman's claims of settling eight objections because the airline failed to provide valid bank statements as proof of the recovered amounts.
The committee directed Biman to submit a time-bound action plan within one month outlining measures to settle the outstanding audit objections, recover unpaid money, and update the status of related legal proceedings.
The meeting was attended by the Comptroller and Auditor General, the secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, Biman's managing director, and senior officials from the parliament secretariat, ministry, and airline.
