New Delhi: A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) performance audit tabled in the Delhi assembly on Monday (August 10) has revealed that records of environment compensation charge (ECC) collections in Delhi were missing for 280 days while Rs 843.12 crore collected under the charge remained unspent, reported Hindustan Times.

The ECC was imposed by the Supreme Court in 2015 and is collected by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). The proceeds from the ECC, which is levied on commercial vehicles entering Delhi to mitigate air pollution, is subsequently deposited to the account of the Delhi government.

As per the CAG report titled State Finances for Year 2024-25 between 2015-16 and 2024-25, Rs 1,624.63 crore was collected as ECC. The data pertaining to the collected amount was provided by the then Delhi government’s transport department’s Pollution Control Division.

The CAG audit also highlighted the fact that of the Rs 1,624.63 crore collected over the decade, only Rs 781.51 crore had been spent by March 31, 2025, leaving Rs 843.12 crore unspent.

However, the report stated that data did not include collections for two periods – between April 6 and April 26, 2018, covering 21 days, and between December 18, 2020, and September 2, 2021, covering 259 days. The CAG sought an explanation for the missing data, but the report stated that no response was received.

The CAG report indicated that in the initial years, the ECC collections were highest, increasing from Rs 144.06 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 358.11 crore in 2016-17 and Rs 472.63 crore in 2017-18.

In subsequent years, collections declined, falling to Rs 95.3 crore in 2023-24 and Rs 93.54 crore in 2024-25. The lowest annual collection, Rs 39.4 crore, was recorded in 2021-22 during the pandemic period, reported Hindustan Times.

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