Andhra Pradesh HC directs government to clear pending bills of contractors

Andhra Pradesh High Court directed Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma to clear the pending bills of contractors who completed the work for various government departments while hearing the petition filed by contractors. Justice B Devanand questioned that who would come forward for new work if the government fails to pay the bills of those who had earlier completed the work.

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday directed Chief Secretary (CS) Sameer Sharma to clear the pending bills of contractors who completed the work for various government departments while hearing the petition filed by contractors. The Chief Secretary appeared before the court, as directed by the judge during the previous hearing.

Sameer Sharma tendered an apology for the delay in the payment of bills. He said payment of bills is being done on a priority and clearance of contractors’ bills is placed ninth in the priority list.

Justice B Devanand questioned who would come forward for new work if the government fails to pay the bills of those who had earlier completed the work. He further observed that the Comprehensive Financial Management System (CFMS) seems to be the reason for the problem in the payment of bills. He said the CFMS was brought to overcome the problems in bill processing and now it appears that the technology itself has become a big problem.

The court questioned whether the government is in such a position in which it cannot even clear the bills of minor works. It made clear to Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma, who appeared before it in person on being summoned, to give the highest priority to the clearance of bills. The court explained how the contractors are subjected to severe inconvenience due to delays in the clearance of bills and how the CFMS has turned problematic.

The CS said that essential steps would be taken to ensure timely payment of bills. The Chief Secretaries of all the departments were assured that appropriate directions would be given on this.