CAG wants to regulate regulators

The Comptroller and Auditor General, who audits the government's receipts and expenditures, has sought powers to audit the functions of over a dozen other government regulators, including the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, which do not have appellate tribunals to listen to appeals against their verdicts.

''We have said that regulators must also be within the overview of the CAG,'' Vinod Rai, the current CAG, said at the diamond jubilee celebrations of the National Academy of Audit and Accounts held in Shimla.

The CAG's proposal to expand its oversight forms part of its suggestions made in the draft Bill governing the role and function of the CAG. The Bill is currently with the finance ministry.

If the proposal is accepted by the government, regulators such as the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) and Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), and the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India could come under the direct oversight of the CAG.

''There are at least 15 of them,'' Rai said. If the government agrees, CAG could take a view on their pricing decisions and say if their policy decisions were right or wrong, as it does for the ministries and government departments it audits.

CAG would, however, not be able to oversee regulators such as the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Rai clarified. SEBI already has a Securities Appellate Tribunal.