Scandal-hit RDA abolishes CDR system

The Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) has scrapped its Call Deposit Receipt (CDR) system after it became the conduit for the transfer of Rs1.94 billion from the authority's accounts.

In its place, a new foolproof financial system has been implemented, under which all payments to companies, firms, and individuals will be made strictly through cross cheques.

Investigations into the scandal are currently underway, with both the Punjab government's fact-finding committee and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) actively probing the matter.

During the third session of the committee, held in Lahore, former RDA officials and current employees failed to provide satisfactory responses to the committee's questions.

Written statements were demanded from all those summoned, which will be scrutinised in the upcoming sessions.

The scandal first came to light in the second week of May 2025, following the alleged suicide of a former RDA deputy director of finance in Sialkot.

A review of financial records revealed that the CDR system had been introduced in 2016 after a significant deduction was made from RDA's account by the income tax department at the start of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus Project.

Initially, the CDR system operated transparently between 2016 and 2019. However, records from 2020 to 2025 revealed that CDRs based on the RDA's account balance were used to transfer funds to the bank accounts of various companies, firms, and individuals.

Letters were written requesting the issuance of new CDRs in their names. Officials with financial signing authority, including the Director General and director finance at the time, allegedly displayed gross negligence, allowing these transfers to proceed undetected.

The discrepancy was discovered only after the newly appointed Director of Admin and Finance, Ahmed Sohaib Qazi, conducted a thorough review of the financial records.

In response, RDA has now eliminated the CDR mechanism and implemented a secure payment system. Under the new protocol, cross-cheques will only be issued after the director general, director of finance, and deputy director of finance have verified the complete documentation and affixed their signatures.

Banks will only process these cheques after verifying them with RDA.

Meanwhile, the fact-finding committee, formed by Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman and led by Board of Revenue Member (Taxes) Mudassar Waheed Malik, includes members Moazzam Iqbal Supra and Madiha Tahir Shah.

The committee held its third session on July 14 in Lahore, where several former and current RDA finance officials appeared.

Two former officials who claimed ignorance about the preparation and signing of the CDRs failed to convince the committee. Another employee, whose wife received Rs1.8 million in her bank account, also failed to offer a satisfactory explanation.