• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• BL Club
• Smartbuy
• Books
• Gallery

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Oct. 14

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) said on Wednesday that it has sought details on reports of alleged discrepancies in the books of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group’s flagship company, Reliance Communications (RCom ), to see if it needs to initiate any action against the telecom major’s auditor.

“I have asked the ICAI Director (Discipline) to gather information on this matter. We have asked the company management (RCom), the Department of Telecom (DoT) and the auditor to provide us the data (financial statement) and we will also approach the Registrar of Companies to provide us with data,” said the ICAI President, Mr Uttam Prakash Agarwal.

“Only after that, we can take any action against the auditor,” he added.

The DoT-appointed independent auditor that scrutinised the accounts of RCom had found that the telecom major has under-reported revenues of Rs 2,799 crore to the Government, resulting in under-payment of Rs 315 crore as licence fee and spectrum charges during 2006-08.

RCom officials said that they have not yet received any communication from ICAI.

When asked, an RCom spokesperson said, “The mischievous conspiracy of our corporate rivals is aimed at harming the interests of our two million shareholders. A copy of the report has not been received as yet by RCom, nor has DoT at this stage sent any communication to RCom in this regard.”

“The special auditor has not even discussed the alleged report/findings with RCom till date.

“The difference between revenue as per the TRAI figures and as per the financial accounts has been reported by RCom itself from quarter to quarter, and has not been “discovered” by the special auditors. There is no irregularity or discrepancy in RCom’s audited accounts. There is no double counting or double reporting of revenues in different accounting years.

“An appropriate response will be provided as and when DoT provides a copy of the report to RCom and seeks its explanation in that regard,” he added.

More Stories on : Telecommunications | Accountancy | Reliance Communications Ltd

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line