ديوان المحاسبة الكويتي

State Audit Bureau of Kuwait (SAB)

Auditing the National Rationing System Read full text in English

2014 report Report

The audit was to investigate the data quality, validity and reliability of two sub-systems (Ration Card and Ration Distribution) of a National Rationing System (Ration System) with the comparison to the rules and regulations in order to make an assessment of soundness of the Ration system and its related operations.

In the report: part IT Post-Audit Study Key Finding (2) (page slide 41)

- The Ration System lacks input controls and data entry verifications methods.

- Some beneficiaries were registered over a period of three months meaning that the frequency of the auditing or cleanup process is not sufficient or there are no such systems.

- Cases of registered beneficiaries with erroneous national ID number, very short names or no name at all.

- Fraudulent transactions.

In the report: part IT Post-Audit Study Key Finding (4) (page slides 43, 44)

- The system issues more than one ration card per house hold, not only to the head of the family (the rest of the family members being linked as dependents).

- There are ration card holders that are not defined in the system as head of a household.

- The same ration card holders are linked as a dependent on another head of a household.

- Reported cases of beneficiaries having duplicated ration quotas (once as a card holder and once as a dependent).

In the report: part IT Post-Audit Study Key Finding (5) (page slides 45, 46)

- Process of deactivating beneficiaries and ration cards based on multiple business reasons.

- Weak or lack of processing controls of the system.

- Existence of active ration cards (receiving rations) that belong either to deactivated beneficiaries or to a non-existent beneficiaries.

- Possibility of abusing the system.

In the report: part IT Post-Audit Study Key Finding (7) and (8) (page slides 48-51)

- Faulty "definition" and "pricing" databases.

- Transactions for commodities unidentified in the system and with prices different than those  defined in the pricing database.

- Unreliable statistical reports.

- Possibility of fraud.

The risk cases visible on this page are collected and described by the e-Government Subgroup of the EUROSAI IT Working Group in contact with author Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI). In the same way, analytical assumptions and headings are chosen by the Subgroup. We encourage you to read the original texts by SAIs - to be found in the linked files.