Private firms too under Vigilance lens: Chief Vigilance Commissioner K V Chowdary

Hyderabad: Most people in the private sector believe that the anti-corruption agencies are watchdogs of only the government sector.  But in fact, said the Chief Vigilance Commissioner K.V. Chowdary, vigilance agencies also investigate complaints against the private sector. He was speaking during the Vigilance Awareness Week celebrations organised by the Income Tax Department here.

Giving the example of an ongoing investigation into a private contractor of the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd Chowdary said, “LPG companies have transport contractors to transport cylinders from plants to godowns of dealers. Similarly crane operators are contracted to load the cylinders onto the trucks of transporters.  In IOCL, a contractor of cranes demanded and accepted some bribe from the truckers to load quickly, and he loads slowly in case of no bribe. The truckers were paying '30 lakh in bribes per month.” “Of course, a few other staff of IOCL may have colluded with the contractor. The case is still under investigation,” he further said.