ICOM: New allowance introduced with budgetary approval; unaware it required Pay Commission greenlight

The new living allowance to employees of Information Commissioner’s Office (ICOM) – flagged in an audit for lack of approval from the National Pay Commission – was given with budgetary approval by the Parliament, says Information Commissioner Ahmed Ahid.

An audit flagged over MVR 1 million paid for a new allowance to employees of ICOM between January and July last year over lack of necessary approval from the Pay Commission.

Ahid told Sun that the Parliament had approved the introduction of a living allowance of MVR 3,000 and passed a budget allocation for its disbursement in 2023.

He said that the Parliament had informed the Finance Ministry of the decision, and the latter had been regularly releasing funds to pay the allowance.

Ahid said the ICOM had been unaware it also required approval from the Pay Commission.

“We were under the assumption that there wasn’t any issue in this since it was approved by the Parliament and the Finance Ministry had been facilitating it. But the Audit[or General’s Office] informed us that this also requires a specific permit from the Pay Commission,” he said.

Ahid said the ICOM is therefore engaged in efforts to get the necessary approval from the Pay Commission.

The recently released audit report flagged the disbursement of the new allowance as a violation of the state’s pay policy. The Auditor General’s Office also recommended that the state recover the MVR 1 million paid for the allowance.