Auditor finds discrepancies in KSINC’s financial statements on ro-ro services

The roll-on roll-off (Ro-Ro) and ferry boat services operated by the Kochi Corporation and managed by Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation Limited (KSINC) have incurred a cumulative loss of ₹15.36 lakh over the four-month period from February to May this year.

Under the terms of the joint venture with the KSINC, the Corporation is liable to bear half the loss amounting to ₹7.68 lakh. Profit, if any, is also equally shared. According to the financial statement submitted by the KSINC to the Corporation, the monthly losses were ₹77,023 in February, ₹8.43 lakh in March, ₹2.71 lakh in April, and ₹3.44 lakh in May. The KSINC currently operates two ro-ro vessels and one ferry boat on behalf of the Corporation.

The opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) alleged that the KSINC had hastily submitted the financial statement for the four-month period even before the chartered accountant appointed by the Corporation had completed his audit of income and expenditure statements from 2017–18 to 2023–24. The auditor was engaged following concerns raised by the Corporation’s finance standing committee over an operational loss of ₹10 lakh reported by the KSINC for the period between June and September 2024.

“Ro-ro services consistently report operational losses, except during the festive months of December and January, despite services being always packed. Why would any agency continue operating a service at a loss? The chartered accountant’s report has highlighted glaring discrepancies between the income and expenditure statements submitted by the KSINC and the agency’s own accounts,” said Congress councillors Antony Kureethara and M.G. Aristotle.

According to the income and expenditure statement for the period from December 2017 to March 2025, the Corporation owes the KSINC ₹77.77 lakh.

The chartered accountant’s report concluded that the KSINC’s original statement included a 10% administration charge, which was not in the joint venture agreement. Although this charge was removed in the revised statement, other expenses were increased, which did not reconcile with the KSINC’s own accounts. Hence, the revised statement, the report deemed, is unreliable.

KSINC sources denied including administration charges in the statement but declined from further comments, saying they had not yet received the chartered accountant’s report.

Deputy Mayor and finance committee chairperson K.A. Ansiya said that the accounts officer had been instructed to prepare a report based on the chartered accountant’s findings. The report will be reviewed by the finance committee before being placed before the council.