Swedish bus and truck maker Scania’s internal inquiry has found proof of misconduct by employees, including the involvement senior management, the company said on Wednesday, reported Reuters. The company said that those involved had quit the firm after three media outlets reported that Scania had bribed to win bus contracts in seven Indian states between 2013 and 2016.
A spokesperson for the company said it had started the internal investigation in 2017. However, the results were not disclosed. “This misconduct included alleged bribery, bribery through business partners and misrepresentation,” the official said, without giving any more details.
Swedish news channel SVT’s reported that Scania had delivered a specially equipped bus to a firm with links to India’s Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. The vehicle was intended for Gadkari’s daughter’s wedding, and was not completely paid for.
However, the Union minister’s office dismissed the allegations. “The media allegations that in November 2016, Scania delivered a luxury bus to a company that had close ties with Gadkari’s sons are malicious, fabricated and baseless,” a statement read, according to ANI. “Gadkari and his family members have absolutely nothing to do with the purchase or sale of the bus. Nor do they have anything do with any firm or individual who might be linked with the purchase or sale of the bus.”
Gadkari’s office also said that since the whole episode was an “internal affair” of the Swedish firm, it will be prudent to wait for their official statement. The minister also called it an “unfortunate and sinister campaign” to tarnish his reputation.
The minister also claimed to have encouraged the Nagpur Municipal Corporation to begin a pilot project, and that the civic body signed a commercial memorandum of understanding with the Swedish company. Gadkari’s office said the deal was a “purely commercial arrangement”.
The spokesperson for Scania said the company had not sold a bus to the Indian minister.
However, the company said it sold the Scania Metrolink bus to a Bengaluru-based dealer called Transpro Motors, which sold it to a firm named Sudarshan Hospitality, identified as an “Indian bus operator”. Sudarshan Hospitality, which is based in Nagpur, denied sending a bus for Gadkari’s personal use. The price of the bus was not disclosed.
“...this particular bus was purchased from Scania India in 2016 by one of the company’s private dealers who delivered it to one of its customers (an Indian bus operator),” Hans-Åke Danielsson, a company spokesperson based in Sweden told The Indian Express. “I have no information about the current status of the bus.”
Scania CEO Henrik Henriksson told SVT that the company had stopped selling city buses in India, and had shut down operations in the country. “We may have been a bit naive, but we really went for it ... we really wanted to make it in India but underestimated the risks,” he told Reuters.
Henriksson added that any wrongdoing in India was done by a few individuals who had left the firm, with cancellation of contracts of all business partners involved.
The Scania spokesperson, meanwhile, said the company’s inquiry had not involved the police, according to Reuters. “While the evidence is sufficient to prove breaches in compliance with Scania’s own business codes so that the company can take severe action accordingly, the evidence is not strong enough to lead to prosecution,” the official added.
The company is a bus making unit under Volkswagen AG’s commercial vehicle arm Traton SE.
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