Controller of Defence Accounts (CDA), Chennai, is an organisation in the Defence Accounts Department. After the re-organisation of the whole department on 1st October 1951, the Controller of Military Accounts was christened as Controller of Defence Accounts. In 1966 the CDA(ORs) South was shifted from Mysore to Chennai. The role and function of CDA (ORs) South, Chennai then, was in handling the payment function of JCOs and ORs. Later on in January, 1988 the CDA Offices in Bengaluru and Chennai were swapped and thus the CDA's role at Chennai became that of the Regional Controller. In 1989 the administrative control of all the 11 DPDOs in South India along with the ZO(PD), Madras was shifted to the CDA Chennai and pension to over 1.11 lakh Defence pensioners of southern India is disbursed through these DPDOs till today. In the 1995 re-organisation of the Department the PAOs located within the command of the Regional Controller was merged with the Regional Controller setup. Consequently the control of the two PAOs viz., PAO (ORs) DSC, Kannur and PAO(ORs) MRC, Wellington was shifted to CDA Chennai. The Regional Study Centre (with a mandate to provide training in functional areas like pension and also to emerge as a launching pad for Computer based training packages and Distance Learning packages) was sanctioned in 1997 and formally came into existence in April 1998. The CDA Chennai has 54 sub offices spread over 19 locations in the four southern states.

Functions of Controller of Defence Accounts
The functions of the Controller of Defence Accounts is as follows:

Maintenance of accounts and audit of the Military Units and Formations in the States of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the Union Territory of Pondicherry. This also includes audit and payment of pay and allowances and all personal claims of the industrial and non-industrial staff attached to these Units and Formations;

Financial cover to the Area Commander, HQrs ATNK&K Area as his Financial Advisor;

Providing Integrated Financial advice (acting as IFA) to the Establishments under our jurisdiction (which includes two Cat A Estt - Officers Training Academy, Chennai and Defence Services Staff College, Wellington);

Maintenance of pay accounts of about 72,000 Army jawans by the two PAOs (Madras Regiment at Wellington, Tamil Nadu and the Defence Security Corps at Kannur, Kerala);

Disbursement of defence pension to over 1.11 lakh defence pensioners / family pensioners through the 11 DPDOs positioned in the four southern states;

Conducting need based and carefully thought-out training programmes and development of training material through the Regional Study Centre at Chennai.

Handling of Central Purchase Vouchers (CP Vrs) through DAD Cell;

Legal Cell of CDA Chennai handles all cases of the Department filed in the High Courts and subordinate Courts of the States of Tamil Nadu and Kerala besides the Central Administrative Tribunals at Chennai and Ernakulam;

Pension Adalat Cell which takes care of organising Defence Pension Adalats and monitoring the unsettled cases to finality.