Para 3.7.16 — MSO

3.7.16 Besides the checks prescribed in paragraph 3.1.20, it should be verified in auditing bills of contractors or suppliers that:

(i) the purchase of the stores has been sanctioned by the competent authority;

(ii) all purchases of stores are made in accordance with the instructions laid down in Chapter 8 of the Compilation of General Financial Rules (Revised and Enlarged), 1963, or the similar rules of the Governments concerned, with special reference to the rule that no purchase which requires the sanction of a superior financial authority is sanctioned by a lower authority in instalments by splitting the requirements so as to obviate the necessity for sanction of the competent authority;

(iii) the rates charged in the bills are in conformity with those in the agreements;

(iv) the necessary inspection certificates have been furnished with the bills in cases where the contract stipulates inspection in stages, at the time of manufacture or after erection at site;

(v) claims in respect of railway freight, insurance charges, etc. are duly supported by cash receipts, irrespective of the amount involved, when orders have been placed FOR destination basis;

(vi) the prices claimed in respect of contracts concluded on the basis of prices prevailing in the market on the date of receipt of the order by the firm or on the day of supply are not at variance from the market prices as intimated by the suppliers and have also been confirmed by the purchasing officers;

(vii) the actual dates of despatch/delivery of stores conform to those stipulated in the contracts/agreements in cases where deliveries are to be spread over and made in phases at different times, involving varying prices linked to deliveries;

(viii) no payments on account of customs duty or increase in customs duty have been made except under the provisions of the contract or under orders of the competent authority in respect of stores procured from outside the country;

(ix) discrepancies or deficiencies, if any, pointed out by the consignees in their receipt certificates have been duly taken into account and appropriately dealt with before releasing final payments for supplies in respect of which the advance or part payments stipulated in the contracts; and

(x) the stores have been delivered within the stipulated period and belated deliveries or slippages, if any, have been regularised by the competent authority.