FBR's audit departments: AGP report terms performance unsatisfactory

The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) has expressed serious concern over the poor performance of Federal Board of Revenue's (FBR) Directorate General, Internal Audit and Directorate General, Post Clearance Audit (PCA). According to the annual report of AGP for 2014-15, the auditor general has termed the performance of both these organisations unsatisfactory.
The Directorate General, Internal Audit and Directorate General, Post Clearance Audit were created under Sections 3B and 3DD of the Customs Act, 1969. The functions/objectives of the Internal Audit are to conduct audit and send reports to the concerned field formations for initiation of recovery whereas Directorate of PCA is required to safeguard government revenue against losses and fraud, the report says.
It is evident that both PCA and Internal Audit have an unsatisfactory cost-benefit ratio, which reflects poor performance of these offices, it maintains. This lacklustre performance was pointed out to the department in October 2014. The Director Post Clearance Audit, Lahore, replied that the primary objective of PCA was to safeguard government revenue against losses and frauds. Directorate Internal Audit, Lahore replied that the office conducted internal audit and submitted reports to the concerned field formations for initiation of recovery.
In its meeting held in January 2015, the DAC directed the formations to submit fresh reply to address the Audit observation. Further progress was not reported till finalisation of the report. The audit recommends that FBR should take effective measures to improve the performance of these offices by developing key performance indicators and benchmarks for these offices for the purpose of evaluation. Further, internal audit reports be provided for Audit as and when required.