Ironically, the biggest gainers from the Rs 100-crore e-tendering scam seem to have been corruption and its practitioners. The CWC (Civil Works Contract) system, which was scrapped by the BMC in favour of e-tendering to curb corruption and bring in much-needed transparency to the tendering process, is being used extensively again following the scam.

The inquiry initiated by the BMC’s Test, Audit and Vigilance Officer (TAVO) department found that senior officials had come to know about irregularities in e-tendering in the K/East (Andheri East), P/South (Goregaon), R/Central (Borivli) , R/South (Kandivli) and H/East (Santacruz) wards even before the scam came to light. After ward officers of the respective wards came to know about the irregularities, they cancelled the contracts and issued fresh ones under the CWC system.