CHENNAI METRO RAIL LIMITED
TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR OUTSOURCING OF INTERNAL AUDIT
1. BACKGROUND
Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), hereinafter referred to as the Client, is the Special Purpose Vehicle of the Government of Tamil Nadu and the Government of lndia for implementation of Phase 1 of the Chennai Metro Rail Project. The GoI and GoTn have approved a Metro Rail project for Chennai in January 2009 with a total budget of INR 14600 crores (US $3 Billion). The project aims to alleviate the traffic problems of the city and reduce vehicular pollution. The Client intends to invite Tenders for Consultants to carry out an Internal Audit function initially for a period of 1 year and will be renewed subject to the performance.
2. PURPOSE
CMRL invites tenders from reputable audit firms for the following services:
• Developing a one-year concurrent internal audit coverage plan for the period 20012/13 extendable based on the performance for the next year.
• Performing a risk based internal audit as per an agreed coverage plan.
Eligibility Criteria:
I. The firm must be empanelled with C & AG, without which the application of the firm would not be considered.
II. Firms must also qualify following minimum criteria:
a) Any firm not qualifying these minimum criteria need not apply as their proposal shall be summarily rejected.
| Sl. No. | Particulars* | Minimum Criteria |
| 1 | Number of Full Time Partners associated with the firm for not less than 3 years with at least one being a Fellow CA | 6 |
| 2 | Turnover of the firm
(Average annual in last three financial yrs.) |
100 lakhs |
| 3 | No. of Years of Firm Existence | 5 years |
| 4 | No. of assignments of Statutory Audit of Corporate/PSUs entities except Bank / Branch Audit having a average turnover of not less than Rs 100 crores in the last 3 years. | Atleast 2 nos. |
c) Supporting Documents for Eligibility Criterions:
Following supporting documents must be submitted by the firm along with the technical proposal:
i. For S. No. 1 above, the firm must submit an attested copy of Certificate of ICAI
ii. For S. No. 2, the firm must submit, a copy of the balance sheet for the last three years.
iii. For SNo.3, the firm shall submit a declaration for no of years in existence.
iv. For S. No. 4, the firm must submit a copy of the appointment letters from the auditee organizations and Annual reports evidencing the turnover of the auditee organizations. Bank/Branch Audit of any Bank shall not be considered while taking into account the total number of assignments.
3. SCOPE OF THE WORK
The audit will be carried out in accordance with the relevant national standards of auditing, and will include such tests and controls as the auditor considers necessary under the circumstances. The general scope of the Internal Audit function includes the following besides the specific audit requirement of CMRL. In conducting audit special attention should be paid to the following:-
i) General Scope
1. Ensure that the accounting and financial management systems remain reliable and effective in design and to assess the extent to which they are being followed;
2. Review the efficacy, adequacy and application of accounting, financial and operating controls and thereby ensure the accuracy of the books of accounts;
3. Verify that the system of internal check is effective in design and operation in order to ensure the prevention of and early detection of defalcations, frauds, misappropriations and misapplications;
4. Identify areas of significant inefficiencies in existing systems and suggest necessary remedial measures;
5. Confirm the existence of financial propriety in all decision and verify compliance to government and statutory requirement.
6. Confirm that the agreed procurement procedures and arrangements have been followed for contract works, goods procured and services.
7. Check that all expenditure on works funded by JICA/GoTN/GOI Assistance, including procurement of goods and services have been incurred in accordance with the rules and relevant financing agreement.
8. That adequate records are maintained regarding the assets created and assets acquired by the project, including details of cost, identification and location of assets; and that the physical verification of assets is being carried out with due diligence.
9. Conducting special assignments and investigations on behalf of the Audit Committee or Managing Director into any matter or activity affecting the probity, interests and efficiency of the CMRL.
ii) Specific Audit requirements of CMRL
This assignment of Internal Audit will be done on concurrent basis. The audit compliance includes the following besides 100% pre audit of vendors bill before release of payment with the time frame as per CMRL existing policy & procedures.
1. Review all expenses and payments incurred by CMRL, covering the following key aspects:
a. Approvals as per delegation of Authority
b. Compliance to policies and standard operating procedures of CMRL
c. Adequacy of supporting documents as per nature of the payment
d. Adherence to Accounting Practices and standards as per the ICAI
e. TDS, Service Tax, VAT, Professional Tax, Income Tax, PF, ESI , any other statutory levies, etc – applicability, deductions and remittances – Compliance of various e-returns
f. Adherence to requirements of Companies Act, 1956, Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 .
g. Adherence to Chief Vigilance Commission guidelines.
h. Adherence to the Indian Contract Act, 1872
i. Adherence to the Directorate General of Supplies & Disposals (DGS&D) guidelines .
j. Verification of the contractual obligations and contract management. k. Verification of the key dates by the contractors.
2. Payments to project vendors and non-routine need to be checked with reference to compliance with the contract agreement, other policies of CMRL before release of payment by CMRL within a time frame. However, other expenses like Salaries, rent, etc (routing payments) can be checked after release of payments.
The no of contractor’s bill for pre audit before release of payment by CMRL would be 22 approx. But this may increase/decrease during the period under the audit.
3. Review procedures and operational controls existing In various departments to ensure timely, efficient and accurate data is provided.
4. Verification of Bank Reconciliation statement, conduct surprise physical verification of cash.
5. Verification of all the payments including statutory payments with in the Stipulated time.
6. Report on review of expenses and payments regularly.
7. Follow-up review of previously reported observations would be based on confirmation from CMRL
8. Review of the Fixed Assets Register maintained by the company
9. Physical verification of the fixed assets and cash once in a year and certify the same.
10. The following are the various types of Revenue and Capital expenditures which would be covered during the review:
Project Expenses
a. Verification of Agreements/ Purchase Ordersl Work Orders
b. Verification of Invoices
c. Verification of Accounting under applicable Head of Accounts.
d. Verification of Project Expenses and Capital Work-in-Progress.
e. Verification of Compliance with delegation of authority
f. MIS on monthly summary of expenses and payments relating to the project.
General/ Prime Consultancy Charges
a. Verification of Agreements
b. Verification of Invoices and Payments made after deduction of Statutory and other deduction as per the Contract.
c. Pre-audit of the payments made to General Consultants IPrime Consultants & capitalisation of the same.
d. Review of the performance of the GC as per the terms of the contract in consultation with CMRL.
Acquisition of Land for the project
Salaries and Allowances
a. Verification of Last Pay Certificates of the Deputationists
b. Verification of Pay Roll Register
c. Verification of full and final settlement
d. Review the process of deduction of TDS, Professional Tax and remittance
e. Review the applicability of PF/ESI etc.
Legal and Professional Charges
Printing & Stationery
Rent, Electricity and Water
Maintenance
Office Supplies
Advertisement
Travelling Expenses
Administration Expenses
Depreciation & Amortisation
Utilities and Postage
11.The following are the various types of funding tied up for the Project and which would be covered during the review:
Government of India
Government of Tamilnadu
Funding Agency – Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) Review the process of the claims made periodically and ensures the accuracy of the same with the relevant supporting documents.
12. Providing all necessary support in finalization of Accounts with the Statutory Auditors .
13.Provide support in preparing a detailed Standard Operating Procedures, IFRS and Policies for Finance & Accounts Division .
4. Extent and coverage of internal audit:
The extent and scope of internal audit will be as follows:
1. The internal auditor shall exercise 100% pre check of bills before the same being paid by Finance Division of CMRL of all the awarded contract including elevated, underground and systems contract.
2. The auditor will vouch 100% of cash payment vouchers, bank statements and transfer entry vouchers and cheque payments shall be vouched to cover 100% of the transaction in each of the months selected.
3. A list showing the months / year for which vouching has been carried out shall be mentioned in the report.
4. Routine errors of omissions or commissions noted during the course of internal audit may be rectified on the spot.
5. While conducting internal audit in a subsequent phase, the auditor will ensure that the compliance report on audit observations pointed out in the reports relating to earlier audit is made and corrective actions taken on those points are furnished in the Audit Report of the subsequent phase.
5. Period of Internal Audit
The period of internal audit would be one year extendable at the discretion of management for the next year, and it shall be running concurrently with the year during which the audit is done. The audit will be carried out in two phases of six months each ending on 30th September and 31st March. The appointment letter of auditors shall contain the details of date of commencement of audit, completion of audit work in each phase, the date by which the reports are to be submitted and phase-wise fees payable. It shall specify the level of inspecting officer, minimum period he will visit in each phase and the minimum qualifications of the members of the audit team.
6. Internal Audit Reports
The report should be structured in a manner to provide the following: (a) audit observations; (b) implications of the observations; (c) suggested recommendations; (d) management’s comments/agreed actions and (e) status of actions on the previous recommendations. In addition, the internal auditor should prepare and submit a consolidated report on a six monthly basis, summarizing the individual contract package wise interim reports and highlighting the critical issues which require the immediate attention of the CMRL. The reports should be submitted to CMRL within 30 days of the close of each period of six months. The auditor should discuss results of audit with the Managing Director of CMRL audit in each phase and important observations will be brought to his notice for taking timely corrective action. The report in respect of CMRL shall be submitted in triplicate for each phase of audit to the Managing Director, CMRL along with a soft copy on CD.
7. Submission of interim audit Report in respect of Contractor’s bills/non routines referred by Finance Division Interim report on scrutiny of Contractors bills shall however be submitted within 3 workings days as and when referred by Finance Division of CMRL so as release payments to contractors bill within the time frame. The interim pre audit report of contractor’s bill shall also be issued in three sets along with a soft copy on CD. The Audit Report will also be supported with the certificate from the Audit Firm that they have thoroughly checked required number of records / package as per terms of reference and their findings are based on the same.
8. General Terms and Conditions:-
1. Selection of firms will be done only after detailed scrutiny of the credentials of the firm, their competency, no. of qualified Chartered Accountants to be engaged for the Audit work.
2. The firms should be registered with the Controller and Auditor General of India and should quote their registration number.
3. Firms selected by CMRL shall maintain ethics of faith and the information provided by CMRL shall be kept ‘strictly confidential’. The firm shall execute “Confidentiality Non Disclosure Agreement” before commencement of the Internal audit assignment
4. In case of any dispute, the decision of MD, CMRL shall be final and binding.
5. All assignments shall be carried out with due diligence maintaining quality of work done and in least possible time.
6. All reporting including MIS shall be done on regular basis as required by CMRL from time to time.
7. CMRL reserves the right to cancel selected firms, if it considers necessary
8. The Audit work being conducted by the CA firm will be subject to supervision by Internal Audit Division of CMRL as and when required to ensure that the work is progressing as per agreed plan.
9. In case of non-fulfillment of any instructions issued by the CMRL, CMRL will be entitled to cancel the audit work without any obligations.
10. The successful firm shall not be entitled to claim any additional amount for any reason whatsoever for the above audit work.
11. The CMRL reserves the right to reject any or all offers received without assigning any reasons.
12. These are only proposed draft terms and conditions and can be modified at any time by the CMRL at its sole discretion.
13. The Audit party will consist of sufficient number of experienced and qualified professionals in relevant field.
Being in the field of work,I.A.W. may also be a trainer by virtue of experience gained in the course of functioning in taking up the issues confronted.This shall facilitate for a better environmental oriented dealing of the issues by both the executives and internal controllers.