ACB raid in Jagtial Municipality exposes Rs 8.23 crore tax shortfall, missing assets
HYDERABAD: In a surprise check, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Telangana’s Karimnagar Range raided the office of the Municipal Commissioner, Jagtial Municipality, and uncovered financial irregularities, missing assets, and suspicious transactions, including a tax collection shortfall of over Rs 8.23 crore on Tuesday.
According to ACB officials, the team verified records, financial transactions, taxes, pending applications, and overall municipal operations. Preliminary findings show that officials failed to collect revenue, manage assets, and comply with financial regulations.
The ACB found that officials significantly under-collected property and advertisement taxes during the 2025-2026 financial year. Further, the ACB identified a tax collection shortfall of Rs 8.23 crore in Jagtial Municipality for 2025-2026. The municipality demanded Rs 17.19 crore for Property Tax, Shopping Complex Property Tax, and Advertisement Tax, but collected only Rs 8.95 crore.
Officials failed to collect any Advertisement Tax against a due of over Rs 8.12 lakh. They also left a Property Tax shortfall of Rs 7.23 crore and a Shopping Complex Property Tax deficit of nearly Rs 92 lakh, showing poor revenue collection efficiency.
Missing Vehicles and Irregular Repair Payments
The inspection revealed that four APE autos (missing since 2022) and one tractor (missing since 2020) are absent from municipal assets. Officials have not filed any police complaint or taken any action to date.
Additionally, officials issued cheques for vehicle repairs in the name of M.A. Anil, Assistant Engineer, instead of directly to the companies that performed the repairs. This practice violates Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO) rules, which require account pay cheques to be made only to the service provider.
Officials regularly sent vehicles to Telangana Automobiles in Kothirampur, Karimnagar for servicing, bypassing local service centres in Jagtial Town and District. They did not maintain log books or properly record fuel consumption and odometer readings.
The ACB found 194 shops in the municipal complex. Officials last called tenders 18 years ago, and the same allottees remain in occupation. Although they maintain a register, officials do not record details of rent collected. They have ignored the requirement to call tenders every three years for nearly two decades.
The verification of staff mobile phones revealed that Pamukuntla Anand Kumar, Deputy Executive Engineer, made suspicious UPI transactions totaling approximately Rs 1,00,000 from July 2025 onward. Investigators are examining these transactions further.
The verification also reviewed Layout Regularisation Scheme (LRS) applications. Of 9,047 applications received, 1,944 applicants paid the processing fee. Officials approved 1,003, rejected 206, and left 735 pending, indicating possible delays and administrative bottlenecks.
The ACB’s preliminary report identified several other deficiencies: officials did not maintain stock or disbursement registers, did not keep a register for stationery purchases, did not attach GST bills and dates on bills, and did not keep proper authorized bills. Officials also failed to keep a register for seized single-use plastic or its recycling, and they did not properly maintain employee attendance registers. The Smart Touch Biometric attendance system is not used regularly.
The ACB stated that further verification of records is in progress to ascertain the full extent of lapses and to fix responsibility on the officials concerned. The bureau will submit a detailed report to the government and recommend necessary action against the responsible municipal officials.
In its press note, the ACB also reminded the public that if any public servant demands a bribe, citizens can contact the toll-free number 1064 for legal action. The ACB can also be reached via WhatsApp (9440446106), Facebook (Telangana ACB), and X (formerly Twitter) @Telangana ACB. The bureau assured that it will keep the names and details of complainants secret.
