The Election Commission (EC) has laid down criteria which it says must be met before it agrees to allocate funds from the central budget to pay the Centre for Maintaining Peace and Order's (CMPO) 2-billion-baht bill.
The now-defunct state agency has requested the cash to cover its expenses in handling the anti-government protests.
The criteria were worked out yesterday as EC members met national police chief Adul Saengsingkaew to clarify the CMPO's expenses accrued between Jan 22 to March 22, a well-placed EC source said.
Before approving the payment, the EC will consider whether the spending was lawful, whether the use of the money was worthwhile, and whether the CMPO's work yielded effective results, the source said.
The CMPO earlier asked the EC to approve the allocation of 2 billion baht from the central budget, but the request was denied due to a lack of detail. The EC then requested a meeting with former CMPO chief Chalerm Yubamrung to discuss the agency's spending, but Mr Chalerm instead assigned Pol Gen Adul to attend the talks.
The source said the CMPO spent money advanced to it from the central budget before seeking EC endorsement.
This does not comply with the Budget Bureau guidelines which state that approval must first be sought for any central budget spending, the source said.
Due to its caretaker status, the government must seek EC approval for all major spending decisions.
Pol Gen Adul told the EC that the spending was carried out on an emergency basis and a request for EC approval could not be filed in time, the source said.
The EC has also found that the daily allowances paid to officers in several state agencies connected with the CMPO differed markedly, the source noted.
The Department of Special Investigation wants to pay its 200 officers 3,333 baht each per day, while the Royal Thai Police is seeking to pay its officers only 700 baht each per day, the source said.
The EC will also consider whether the CMPO's work yielded effective results by looking at the instances of politically related violence during the operation, the source added.
According to the source, Election Commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn told the meeting he would be glad to meet Mr Chalerm on Monday to discuss the matter. No response was made by Pol Gen Adul for such a request, the source said.
EC secretary-general Phuchong Nutrawong said the agency will call a meeting with Budget Bureau representatives on Tuesday before deciding whether to approve the budget allocation.