TAXILA: Serious questions have been raised over financial transparency and compliance with official accounting procedures after the Rawalpindi Waste Management Company (RWMC) allegedly failed to submit vouched account records against millions of funds released to it by the Municipal Committee Taxila during the financial years 2024-25 and 2025-26.
According to sources, the funds were being released to RWMC under the Services and Asset Management Agreement (SAAMA) in accordance with government directions and after approval by the competent authority of the Municipal Committee Taxila.
The record of vouchers also included expense on vehicles, fuel, machinery expenses, expenses on purchase of sanitary items, uniforms and wages of the staff.
The failure to produce the corresponding vouched accounts has made it difficult to establish how the public money was actually spent and whether expenditures were incurred strictly for the purposes for which the funds were released.
Sources revealed that the MunicipalCommittee Taxila also communicated to RWMC for provision of furnishing vouched accounts against payments released by the committee on regular bases. It specifically requested thatnecessary directionsbeissued to RWMC for the immediate submission of complete vouched account records for all payments released during 2024-25 and 2025-26 up to date.
The matter has also attracted the attention of the Resident Audit Officer (A&A), over the non-submission of vouched records relating to funds released to RWMC.
According to an audit observation, the absence of vouched accounts was hindering financial transparency and proper verification of expenditure. More significantly, the audit office made it clear that in the absence of the requisite record, it could not assume responsibility for any financial irregularity or alleged embezzlement that might subsequently be detected during an audit or investigation.
The warning has effectively shifted the responsibility for maintaining and producing expenditure evidence onto the agency receiving the public funds and has raised questions about why complete supporting documentation was not being submitted as part of rou-tine financial accountability.
The official correspondence further warned that if RWMC failed to provide the requisite vouched account record and any financial irregularity or embezzlement was subsequently pointed out or detected by an audit or investigating agency, the concerned office of the Municipal Committee would not be held responsible because of the non-production of the record by RWMC.
Officials of the municipal committee confirmed that they had written many letters to RWMC Taxila chapter to provide details of vouched account records which are a fundamental component of public financial management because they provide documentary evidence of payments, purchases, services and other expenditures but they not provided single accounts so far.
When contacted, the Operation Manager RWMC Taxila chapter Shehryar Khan said that he was not aware of the provision of such financial documents to the local municipal committee.
When contacted, company spokesperson, Amir Khan declined to comment over the issue as he said that he had nothing to do with such matters as he was responsible only for issuing press releases to the media.