I-T busts refunds scam by PSU staff in Chhattisgarh, 3,000 under lens

Raipur: The I-T department has unearthed a “refund scam“ in Chhattisgarh and identified nearly 3,000 employees of public sector giants Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) and South Eastern Coal Fields Ltd (SECL) and some major private industrial units who allegedly manipulated online I-T returns to claim higher refunds.

I-T sleuths said they initiated the prosecution of 60 BSP employees while two employees of SECL and three of Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd have already been arrested. As many as 2,700 similar cases have been identified in SECL in Ambikapur, and notices have been issued to 300 people for “suppression of salaried income“ to claim higher refunds, say sources. So far, irregularities of Rs 9 crore have been detected, officials said.

“The agents who helped these employees file online refund claims exploited a loophole -that refunds up to Rs 1lakh are directly credited to assessees because the government starts with the first step of trusting the person who is filing the I-T return,“ I-T chief commissioner K C Ghumaria told TOI on Monday .


The probe started in 2015 after Raipur's I-T department received an alert from CBDT that there was a sudden jump in refunds being claimed. The officials found that the BSP employees filed returns through a particular shop. In most cases, the refund amount was less than Rs 1 lakh as their annual income ranged between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 14 lakh.

During questioning, the “consultants“ said they reduced the number of taxable perquisites like house rent and allowances, by misleading clients that these are not taxable. While BSP employees argued they were not aware of I-T provisions and relied on the consultant because he assured quick refunds, the taxman isn't convinced.

BSP DGM (public relations) Vijay Mairal told TOI: “The PSU has nothing to do with this.We have deducted income tax at source as per rules and handed over Form 16 to employees.Now, it's an individual's responsibility to file returns and seek claims, if any .“ SECL spokesman Milind Chande said, “We expect they will file return and seek genuine refunds.“

A BALCO spokesman said some employees have been booked for claiming false refund.