The Auditor General's Office (AGO) has stated a system is needed to verify the applications submitted for income support allowance. The AGO made the recommendation in its income support allowance scheme performance audit report.
In the report signed by Auditor General Hussain Niyazi, the AGO noted the income support allowance scheme was formulated in a short period of time to assist individuals in need of financial help due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that good policies have been established to verify the applications. However, the AGO stated that currently there is no system to verify that applicants do not receive any additional income, which could allow some individuals who receive an income to exploit the scheme. As such, the AGO noted that there is currently no means to verify through the submitted documents that applicants are not receiving above 324 US dollars in income from other means, especially if they receive the income through physical cash.
Furthermore, the audit report highlighted 217 applications that do not fit the criteria, most of which were from applicants who were employed. The report stated that these issues have cost the government USD 27,000 and that work has begun to recover the amount. However, the AGO reveals the income support allowance scheme has been a success, with 69% of the fund set for the scheme distributed to 86% of the applicants.