Railway to look into allegation of bribing by Oracle India

10 Oct 2022 , 07:08 AM

The Ministry of Railways has initiated an investigation into accusations that Oracle’s Indian branch set up slush funds in 2019 to pay bribes totaling $400,000 to executives of a railway public sector enterprise (PSU).

The revelation comes after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) penalized Oracle $23 million for breaking the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by setting up slush funds to pay foreign officials in the United Arab Emirates, India, and Turkey (FCPA).

Twelve PSUs fall under the purview of the Ministry of Railways. The identity of the organization engaged in the case could not be confirmed by Ministry officials. The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL), in response to inquiries from the paper, stated that it “did not have any contractual association with Oracle India during the period under reference (2016-19) or subsequently.”

The US regulator said that Oracle India employees had engaged in “an excessive discount scheme” in connection with a 2019 transaction with a transportation firm owned by the Ministry of Railways in an order dated September 27.

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