Issue Nº429 – News in brief

The Auroville Electrical Service informed the community that the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) has recently changed Auroville’s high tension connection tariff from the existing IIA tariff (meant for places of worship and educational institutions) into tariff V (General Purpose) because Auroville’s service connection has a mixed load. TNPDCL also sent Auroville an arrears amount notice for Rs. 91.50 lakhs (approximately US $ 107,000). This amount will be distributed among the consumers connected to the Auroville owned high tension network based on their monthly consumption. On average, the amount payable by each consumer will be thousands of rupees.

On 21 March, the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation called all trustees, executives, managers and accountants of all Auroville units for an urgent meeting at the Sri Aurobindo Auditorium to hear about Income Tax (IT) and General Service Tax (GST) issues. A PowerPoint presentation was shown which explained the complexities of accounting of the Auroville Foundation and the present problems. The general tax management in India has evolved to become data centric with the Government having wide information and the enforcement of tax laws have become more stringent in the last decade with greater significance on accounting data. Though the Auroville Foundation has been exempted from paying income tax, it currently faces an income tax dispute of Rs. 14.00 crores (approximately US $ 1.6 million) related to repayment of tax deducted at source (TDS). Also, various trusts of Auroville have faced GST investigations and scrutiny, resulting in a cumulative liability of around Rs. 15.00 crores (approximately US $ 1.75 million). The reasons for this are lack of clarity and inadequate understanding of regulations leading to inaccurate accounting; not providing timely advice to units when regulatory non compliances are identified / if identified; and not maintaining sufficient documentation to support representation before GST and Income Tax departments. Gaps in Auroville accounting practices were listed, which have led to questions by from the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, which ultimately audits the accounts of the Auroville Foundation before they are presented to the parliament of India. For these reasons, and others, there is a need for qualified professionals to be deputed as accountants, and Auroville needs to ensure that there is a rotation of accountants and auditors as a matter of good governance process. This has led to a number of policy decisions, such as that audit firms will be rotated periodically to ensure that no audit firm is continuously engaged; accounting support firms will also be periodically rotated; and accounting resources will be developed in-house and provided so that the skill sets of these resources are regularly upgraded.

Further to the meeting of 21 March, Dr. G. Seetharaman, the Officer on Special Duty of the Auroville Foundation, sent out a mass bulletin informing the community about the changes of Chartered Accountants (CAs) effective 1 April 2025. The existing accountants will do the accounts up to 31st March 2025 and will hand over the accounts to the new accountants. The existing accountants should also hand over the past ten years’ accounts backup to the Auroville Foundation and the last one year’s backup to the new accountants to migrate March 2025 closing balances to Zoho for the Financial Year 2025–26. They will also support the new accounting firms with respect to compliances like GST, TDS, PF & ESI till 30 June so that the transition happens seamlessly.

From 1 April 2025, the trusts cannot engage accountants other than those approved by the Auroville Foundation. Units having individual accountants and not engaging the services of common accounting firms can continue to do so, provided the accountants are capable of handling the accounts in Zoho. These accountants also will work along with their new trust accountants (CA firms), as indicated above, so that compliances can be improved and uniform practices can be established. They can seek guidance from these CA firms whenever required.

All other accountants already working with Auroville units, who are eager and willing to work with the CA firms, can approach the accounting firms through FAMC from 24 March 2025. Interviews will be conducted during the week beginning 24 March at the FAMC office to shortlist and onboard these accountants.

An article in the newspaper Business Line of 25 March mentions that the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) is planning to develop a cutting-edge Sustainability Campus on a 100 acre site given to it by Auroville, with 20 acres dedicated to the Centre of Excellence for Zero Emission Trucking (CoEZET). CoEZET will establish a testing and research facility for electric trucks. The objective is to intensify efforts to accelerate India’s transition to electric trucking as trucks currently contribute 45% of the country’s transport emissions.

On 29 and 30 March, the Auroville Youth choir gave two well-attended end of season performances of western classical music in CRIPA. The programme featured choral classics, with pieces composed many centuries ago, as well as by contemporary composers. 

The Working Committee appointed by the Residents’ Assembly (RA WCom) shared with the community the eighth issue of the quarterly journal, Voice of Auroville, which aims to inform well wishers and friends of Auroville across India and the globe on the current unfolding events with factual updates and articles. As with previous issues, this eighth edition focuses on the crisis Auroville is going through, reporting on events between November 2024 through February 2025. People who wish to be added to the subscribers list or be removed from it can email voiceofauroville@auroville.services. 

On 19 March, three Residents’ Assembly appointed working groups, the RA-WCom, L’Avenir d’Auroville (RA-TDC) and the Auroville Council, sent a joint letter to the Matrimandir Team and the Auroville Town Development Council constituted by the Governing Board, warning about non-compliance consequences with Indian law, which requires obtaining necessary quarrying permits for ordinary earth excavation and approvals and environmental clearances for the creation of water bodies of the magnitude of the Matrimandir Lake. The working groups requested that corrective measures be taken to safeguard the well-being of all stakeholders and restore balance between participatory processes, human development, and the preservation of fauna and flora.

The second year version of the Auroville Cyclothon was flagged off on March 2. A total of 294 participants from Auroville, Pondicherry, Chidambaram, Mayiladuthurai, Bangalore, and Chennai had a choice of cycling 100 km, 50 km or 25 km. The Auroville Cyclothon’s focus is on joy of cycling inside and around Auroville. For more information visit https://aurovillecyclothon.com

The Auroville Town Development Council (ATDC) constituted by the Governing Board has advertised for talented and passionate architects and engineers to join its team. The ATDC is looking for individuals who have the ability to prepare working drawings and coordinate with consultants; have excellent design and problem-solving skills with site experience; have the ability to clearly communicate technical information, both verbally and in writing; and who can manage project budgets.

On 27 February 2025, at the invitation of Mr. Koshy Varghese, a group of seven residents met with the Secretary, the OSD, Dr. Seetharaman, and the consultant for visa matters, Mr. Koshy. The residents attended in their personal capacity.

While the meeting was initially called to discuss the 3 February gathering regarding the PKS case [see AV Today # 428, Evergreen Land Dispute] the conversation also included various concerns about the AVFO’s administration of Auroville. Points raised by the residents included the lack of response to numerous communications sent by the RA WCom and the IAC to the AVFO and GB; concerns about new internal “cumbersome and invasive” visa procedures; issues with linking visa recommendations to payment of “back dues” of what ought to be voluntary BCC contributions; the cutting of maintenances; the removal of competent people from their workplaces without justification; the recent ‘Residence Criteria Standing Order’; and concerns about attempts to change the Auroville Foundation Act.

Although the Secretary claimed she was open to examining specific visa cases and expressed the need for more regular communication, no concrete promises or actions were made during the meeting. The Secretary did not sign any of the approximately 90 pending visa recommendations while she was present in Auroville.

The Admissions and Terminations Scrutinising Committee (ATSC) constituted by the Governing Board has called for people to maintain the Admissions and Terminations Registry (ATR). The ATSC members were appointed on the basis of the Admission and Termination Regulations gazetted by the Auroville Foundation on 4 January 2024, which were, however, stayed by the Madras High Court on 23 February 2024. The RA-WCom has sent out a mass bulletin pointing out that both groups are included in the 2023 Admissions and Terminations regulations that have been stayed by the Madras High Court and that, therefore, they do not have any legal validity and that their formation is “bordering on contempt of court”.

The RA-WCom clarified its understanding of whether or not it is required for Aurovilians on a valid Auroville Entry Visa to inform internal groups and/or the RRO/FRRO when leaving or returning to India. Residents were previously asked to fill out departure and arrival forms at the Residents’ Service at Town Hall. This was not a legal requirement. It was simply Auroville’s internal process of knowing who was out of Auroville and India. The only legal requirement is going through immigration at the airport, upon departure and arrival. 

B.S. Sathyanarayan, the Accounts Officer of the Auroville Foundation, informed the community on 2 March about the commencement of a centralised common accounting system for the Auroville Foundation, its trusts, units and projects. Changes are to be effected in Auroville’s Financial Service (FS) and all Aurovilians are to have bank accounts and hold their money in the bank instead of in the FS account. The FS account will henceforth only be used to the value of maximum two months maintenance per person (e.g. Rs. 40,000) necessary for spending in Auroville so that no cash handling of funds need to happen from the FS. The maintenance which is generally spent within Auroville units only will be credited into the FS account (subject to the limit as earlier indicated) and any amount meant for the Aurovilians to draw cash for use for other purposes will be directly credited to their bank accounts. Banks will setup ATMs in Auroville to provide cash liquidity wherever needed to Aurovilians or others.

The FS will continue having community accounts subject to the condition that the total contributions by all members of the community will not exceed Rs. 20 lakhs in a year. 

The Working Committee approved by the Governing Board has issued “Procedures and guidelines for the use and allocation of an Auroville residential asset in the case of departure of an Auroville resident from Auroville or the death of an Auroville resident.” The document outlines the rights of residents and Newcomers who leave Auroville permanently or for an indefinite period, and the consequences of the approval for their departure or the absence thereof from the HRS (Human Resources Service). Also the consequences of having been asked to leave, following due procedure, have been laid down. The document further specifies what is to be done upon the death of the Auroville resident or Newcomer. In this section the document states that, in case the deceased has not left a will, the Housing Service is authorised to deal or dispose of the moveable assets and personal belongings of the deceased.