A parliamentary committee has instructed Biman Bangladesh Airlines to identify those responsible for financial irregularities, waste of public money, and revenue losses and to take legal action against them, according to a press release from the Parliament Secretariat, as reported by BSS.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Undertakings gave the instruction at its sixth meeting, a progress review of its earlier directives to Biman, at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban held on Tuesday. 

Committee Chairman and Chief Whip Md. Nurul Islam Moni presided.

Two leased aircraft

The committee voiced concern over Biman’s two 15-year-old Dash-8 aircraft, which were leased and then bought after the lease ended, saying the airline’s procurement policy does not allow the purchase of old aircraft. It also discussed the costs of running the aircraft and alleged waste of public funds. Biman was told to submit, within 15 days to one month, a list of the then board members and procurement committee members involved in the decision and to determine who is responsible and take legal action.

The committee said Biman had not shown the auditors the contracts and bills for spending on the two aircraft. Biman was directed to hand over all related documents to the auditors within 15 days, and the airline’s officials assured the committee they would do so.

Revenue and systems

The audit findings showed that weaknesses in Biman’s Departure Control System and Rapid software caused substantial revenue losses. The audit found that international passengers were upgraded from economy to business class after paying the required charges, but the extra money was not entered in Biman’s accounting system. The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (OCAG) has started a full IT audit of Biman, and the committee directed the airline to give auditors all relevant data from July to October this year.

The committee also reviewed allegations that Biman paid the full amount to Sabre, the provider of its Passenger Service System, even though the company did not deliver all the work in the contract. Biman and the audit department were told to submit a joint written report within seven days.

Routes and cargo flights

The committee asked Biman to submit the board decision papers and income and expenditure statements for each route that incurred losses due to decisions made without proper commercial feasibility assessments.

It also reviewed an audit objection that Biman understated fares for charter cargo flights on the Dhaka-Guangzhou route during the COVID-19 pandemic so that extra money was not paid into the government treasury. Biman was told to complete an internal investigation within one month, identify those involved, and take administrative and legal action.

Pending objections

The meeting was told that 111 audit objections, involving about Tk 753.50 crore, remain unresolved against Biman for 1996 to 2021. Of the 45 objections concerning recovery of money, the audit department rejected Biman’s claims on eight because the airline did not provide valid bank statements as proof. The committee directed Biman to submit a report within one month with a time-bound plan to settle the objections, recover outstanding money, and update the status of related cases.

The committee also directed Biman to take effective steps to become a corruption-free, technologically modern, efficient, and profitable organisation, the press release said.

Committee members and whips Miah Nuruddin Ahmad Apu and Md Akhtaruzzaman Mia, along with MPs Mst. Tahsina Rushdir, Khondoker Abu Ashfaque, Mohamed Koysor Ahmed, Bishwas Jahangir Alam, Mohammad Nazibur Rahman, and Mohammad Kamal Hossain, attended.

The Comptroller and Auditor General, the Secretary of the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry, Biman’s Managing Director, and senior officials were also present.