A parliamentary committee on Tuesday directed Biman Bangladesh Airlines to identify those responsible for financial irregularities, recover outstanding revenues and take legal action over alleged misuse of public money, including irregularities involving the purchase and operation of two leased aircraft.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Undertakings also asked the national flag carrier to submit a list of former board members and purchase committee members involved in the decisions relating to the two aircraft within 15 days to one month.
The directives came at a progress review meeting on the recommendations of the committee’s sixth meeting, held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban with its chairman and Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni in the chair.
The meeting reviewed various audit objections, alleged irregularities in aircraft procurement and operations, weaknesses in reservation and passenger service systems, revenue collection and the operation of loss-making routes.
The committee discussed how Biman purchased two 15-year-old Dash-8 aircraft at the end of their lease periods despite its procurement policy not allowing the purchase of old aircraft.
It also examined allegations of wastage of public funds in connection with their purchase and subsequent operating costs. The committee asked the authorities to determine responsibility for the financial losses and take necessary legal action against those involved.
The meeting was informed that weaknesses in the Departure Control System and Rapid software had resulted in substantial revenue losses identified through audits.
According to audit findings, passengers on international flights were upgraded from economy to business class after making additional payments, but the money was not deposited in Biman’s accounting system.
The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General has started a comprehensive IT audit of Biman to detect such irregularities and prevent revenue leakage. The committee instructed the airline to provide auditors with all relevant data from July to October.
The committee also sought detailed reports on financial losses from operating different routes without proper commercial feasibility assessments. Biman was asked to submit board decisions and income-expenditure statements for each route.
It also examined payments made to Sabre, the provider of Biman’s Passenger Service System, despite the company allegedly failing to deliver the full services specified in the contract. Biman and the audit department were directed to submit a joint written report within seven days.
The committee asked Biman to submit all contracts, bills and other documents relating to expenditure on the two leased aircraft to the auditors within 15 days. The airline authorities pledged to comply.
An audit objection over alleged under-reporting of chartered cargo flight fares on the Dhaka-Guangzhou route during the Covid-19 period was also reviewed.
The committee directed Biman to complete an internal investigation within one month and submit a full report, identifying those involved and taking administrative and legal action against them.
The meeting was also informed that 111 unresolved audit objections involving around Tk753.50 crore had remained pending against Biman for the period from 1996 to 2021.
Of the 45 audit objections related to the recovery of money, the audit department did not accept Biman’s claims regarding eight objections because the airline failed to provide valid bank statements as evidence of the recovery of the money.
The committee directed Biman to submit a time-bound action plan within one month for settling the outstanding audit objections, recovering unpaid amounts and reporting progress in related cases and legal proceedings.
The committee stressed the need to ensure financial discipline, settle audit objections quickly, recover outstanding revenues and bring those involved in irregularities and corruption to account.
It also called for effective measures to turn Biman into a corruption-free, technologically modern, efficient and profitable organisation.