Rule 7. General Principles : All moneys received by or on behalf of the
Government either as dues of Government or for deposit, remittance or
otherwise, shall be brought into Government Account without delay, in
accordance with such general or special rules as may be issued under Articles
150 and 283 (1) of the Constitution |
Rule 8. 1 (i) Under Article 284 of the Constitution all moneys received by
or deposited with any officer employed in connection with the
affairs of the Union in his capacity as such, other than
revenues or public moneys raised or received by
Government, shall be paid into the Public Account.
(ii) All moneys received by or deposited with the Supreme Court
of India or with any other Court, other than a High Court,
within a Union Territory, shall also be dealt with in
accordance with Clause (i) of sub-rule (1).
(2) The Head of Account to which such moneys shall be credited and
the withdrawal of moneys therefrom shall be governed by the
relevant provisions of Government Accounting Rules 1990 and the
Central Government Account (Receipts and Payments) Rules,
1983 or such other general or special orders as may be issued in
this behalf.
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Rule 9. It is the duty of the Department of the Central Government concerned to
ensure that the receipts and dues of the Government are correctly and promptly
assessed, collected and duly credited to the Consolidated Fund or Public
Account as the case may be. |
Rule 10. The Controlling Officer shall arrange to obtain from his subordinate
officers monthly accounts and returns in suitable form claiming credit for the
amounts paid into the treasury or bank as the case may be, or otherwise
accounted for, and compare them with the statements of credits furnished by the
Accounts Officer to see that the amounts reported as collected have been duly
credited. For this each Accounts Officer will send an extract from his accounts
showing the amounts brought to credit in the accounts in each month to the
Controlling Officer concerned.12
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Rule 11. (1) Detailed rules and procedure regarding assessment, collection,
allocation, remission and abandonment of revenue and other
receipts shall be laid down in the regulations of the department
responsible for the same.
(2) In departments in which officers are required to receive moneys on
behalf of Government and issue receipts therefor in Form GAR-6
the departmental regulations should provide for the maintenance of
a proper account of the receipt and issue of the receipt books, the
number of receipt books to be issued at a time to each officer and a
check with the officer's accounts of the used books when returned.
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Rule 12. Amounts due to Government shall not be left outstanding without
sufficient reasons. Where such amounts appear to be irrecoverable, the orders of
the competent authority shall be obtained for their adjustment.
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Rule 13. Unless specially authorized by any rule or order made by competent
authority, no sums shall be credited as revenue by debit to a suspense head.
The credit must follow and not precede actual realization.
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Rule 14. Subject to any general or special orders issued by a Department of the
Central Government, an Administrator or a Head of a Department responsible for
the collection of revenue shall keep the Finance Ministry fully informed of the
progress of collection of revenue under his control and of all important variations
in such collections as compared with the Budget Estimates.
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Rule 15. Rents of buildings and lands : (1) When the maintenance of any rentable building is entrusted to a
civil department, other than the Central Public Works Department,
the Administrator or the Head of the Department concerned shall
be responsible for the due recovery of the rent thereof.
(2) The procedure for the assessment and recovery of rent of any
building hired out will be regulated generally by the rules applicable
to residences under the direct charge of the Central Public Works
Department.
(3) The detailed rules and procedure, regarding the demand and
recovery of rent of Government buildings and lands, are contained
in the departmental regulations of the departments in charge of
those buildings.
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Rule 16. Fines : 13 (1) Every authority having the power to impose and/ or realize a fine
shall ensure that the money is realized, duly checked and
deposited into a treasury or bank as the case may be.
(2) Every authority having the power to refund fines shall ensure that
the refunds are checked and no double refunds of amounts of fines
collected or refunds of fines not actually paid into a treasury or bank
as the case may be, are made.
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Rule 17. Miscellaneous Demands : The Accounts Officer shall watch the
realization of miscellaneous demands of Government, not falling under the
ordinary revenue administration, such as contributions from State Governments,
Local Funds, contractors and others towards establishment charges.
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Rule 18. Remission of Revenue : A claim to revenue shall not be remitted or
abandoned save with the sanction of the competent authority.
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Rule 19. (1) Subject to any general or special orders issued by the Government
Departments of the Central Government, Administrators and Heads
of Departments, other than those in the Department of Posts, shall
submit annually on the 1st of June to the Audit Officer and the
Accounts Officer concerned, statements showing the remissions of
revenue and abandonment of claims to revenue sanctioned during
the preceding year by competent authorities in exercise of the
discretionary powers vested in them otherwise than by law or rule
having the force of law, provided that individual remissions below
Rupees one hundred need not be included in the statements.
(2) For inclusion in the statements referred to in Rule 19 (1) above,
remissions and abandonments should be classified broadly with
reference to the grounds on which they were sanctioned and a total
figure should be given for each class. A brief explanation of the
circumstances leading to the remission should be added in the
case of each class.
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Rule 20. Departments of the Central Government and Administrators may make
rules defining remissions and abandonments of revenue for the purpose of Rule 19 above.
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General Principles Relating to Expenditure and Payment of Money. |
Rule 21. Standards of financial propriety : Every officer incurring or
authorizing expenditure from public moneys should be guided by high standards
14
of financial propriety. Every officer should also enforce financial order and strict
economy and see that all relevant financial rules and regulations are observed,
by his own office and by subordinate disbursing officers. Among the principles on
which emphasis is generally laid are the following :-
(i) Every officer is expected to exercise the same vigilance in respect
of expenditure incurred from public moneys as a person of ordinary
prudence would exercise in respect of expenditure of his own money.
(ii) The expenditure should not be prima facie more than the occasion
demands.
(iii) No authority should exercise its powers of sanctioning expenditure
to pass an order which will be directly or indirectly to its own advantage.
(iv) Expenditure from public moneys should not be incurred for the
benefit of a particular person or a section of the people, unless -
(a) a claim for the amount could be enforced in a Court of Law,
or
(b) the expenditure is in pursuance of a recognized policy or
custom.
(v) The amount of allowances granted to meet expenditure of a
particular type should be so regulated that the allowances are not on
the whole a source of profit to the recipients.
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Rule 22. Expenditure from public funds : No authority may incur any
expenditure or enter into any liability involving expenditure or transfer of moneys
for investment or deposit from Government account unless the same has been
sanctioned by a competent authority.
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Rule 23. Delegation of Financial Powers : The financial powers of the
Government have been delegated to various subordinate authorities vide
Delegation of Financial Powers Rules, 1978 as amended from time to time. The
financial powers of the Government, which have not been delegated to a
subordinate authority, shall vest in the Finance Ministry. |
Rule 24. Consultation with Financial Advisers : All draft memoranda for
Expenditure Finance Committee or Public Investment Bureau and Cabinet
Committee for Economic Affairs or Cabinet shall be circulated by the Ministry or
Department concerned after consultation with the concerned Financial Adviser of
the Ministry or Department. A confirmation to this effect shall be included in the
draft memorandum at the circulation stage. |
Rule 25. Provision of funds for sanction :
(1) All sanctions to the expenditure shall indicate the details of the
provisions in the relevant grant or appropriation wherefrom such
expenditure is to be met.15
(2) All proposals for sanction to expenditure, shall indicate whether
such expenditure can be met by valid appropriation or reappropriation.
(3) In cases where it become necessary to issue a sanction to
expenditure before funds are ommunicated, the sanction should
specify that such expenditure is subject to funds being
communicated in the Budget of the year. |
Rule 26. Responsibility of Controlling Officer in respect of Budgetallocation: The duties and responsibilities of a controlling officer in respect of
funds placed at his disposal are to ensure :
(i) that the expenditure does not exceed the budget allocation.
(ii) that the expenditure is incurred for the purpose for which funds
have been provided.
(iii) that the expenditure is incurred in public interest.
(iv) that adequate control mechanism is functioning in his department
for prevention, detection of errors and irregularities in the financial
proceedings of his subordinate offices and to guard against waste
and loss of public money, and
(v) that mechanism or checks contemplated at
(iv) above are
effectively applied. |
Rule 27.
(1) Date of effect of sanction : Subject to fulfillment of the provisions
of Rule 6 of the Delegation of Financial Powers Rules, 1978, all
rules, sanctions or orders shall come into force from the date of
issue unless any other date from which they shall come into force is
specified therein.
(2) Date of creation to be indicated in sanctions for temporaryposts: Orders sanctioning the creation of a temporary post should,
in addition to the sanctioned duration, invariably specify the date
from which it is to be created. |
Rule 28. Powers in regard to certain special matters : Except in pursuance of
the general delegation made by, or with the approval of the President, a
subordinate authority shall not, without the previous consent of the Finance
Ministry, issue an order which -
(i) involves any grant of land, or assignment of revenue, or
concession, grant, lease or licence of mineral or forest rights, or
rights to water power or any easement or privilege of such
concessions, or
(ii) involves relinquishment of revenue in any way.16
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Rule 29. Procedure for communication of sanctions : All financial sanctions
and orders issued by a competent authority shall be communicated to the Audit
Officer and the Accounts Officer. The procedure to be followed for
communication of financial sanctions and orders will be as under :-
(i) All financial sanctions issued by a Department of the Central
Government which relate to a matter concerning the
Department proper and on the basis of which payment is to
be made or authorized by the Accounts Officer, should be
addressed to him.
(ii) All other sanctions should be accorded in the form of an
Order, which need not be addressed to any authority, but a
copy thereof should be endorsed to the Accounts Officer
concerned.
(iii) In the case of non-recurring contingent and miscellaneous
expenditure, the sanctioning authority may, where required,
accord sanction by signing or countersigning the bill or
voucher, whether before or after the money is drawn, instead
of by a separate sanction.
(iv) All financial sanctions and orders issued by a Department of
the Central Government with the concurrence of the Internal
Finance Wing or Ministry of Finance, as applicable, should
be communicated to the Accounts Officer in accordance with
the procedure laid down in Rule 25 of the Delegation of
Financial Powers Rules, 1978, and orders issued thereunder
from time to time.
(v) All financial sanctions and orders issued by a department
with the concurrence of the Ministry of Home Affairs or
Comptroller and Auditor General of India or Department of
Personnel should specify that the sanction or orders are
issued with the concurrence of that Department along with
the number and date of relevant communication of that
Department wherein the concurrence was conveyed.
(vi) All orders conveying sanctions to expenditure of a definite
amount or up to a specific limit should express both in words
and figures the amount of expenditure sanctioned.
(vii) Sanctions accorded by a Head of Department may be
communicated to the Accounts Officer by an authorized
Gazetted Officer of his Office duly signed by him for the
Head of Department or conveyed in the name of the Head of
the Department.
(viii) All orders conveying sanctions to the grant of additions to
pay such as Special Allowance, Personal Pay, etc., should
contain a brief summary of the reasons for the grant of such
additions to pay so as to enable the Accounts Officer to see
that it is correctly termed as Special Allowance, Personal
Pay, etc., as the case may be.17
(ix) Orders issued by a Department of a Union Territory
Government where Audit and Accounts (a) have not been
separated shall be communicated direct to the Audit
authority; (b) have been separated, copies shall be endorsed
to the Audit authorities.
In case of sanctions in respect of matters, where reference
was made to the Central Government under the Rules of
Business framed under Section 46 of the Government of
Union Territory Act, 1963, the following clause shall be
added in the sanction endorsed to Audit:-
" A reference had been made in this case to the Central
Government and the above order/letter conforms to the
decision of the Central Government vide Government of
India, Ministry / Department of ……..Letter
No…………dated…………..".
(x) Copies of all General Financial Orders issued by a
Department of the Central Government with the concurrence
of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India shall be
supplied to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
(xi) Copies of all sanctions or orders other than the following
types should be endorsed to the AuditOfficers:-
(a) Sanctions relating to grant to advances to Central
Government employees.
(b) Sanctions relating to appointment or promotion or
transfer of Gazetted and non-Gazetted Officers.
(c) All sanctions relating to creation or continuation or
abolition of posts.
(d) Sanctions for handing over charge and taking over
charge, etc.
(e) Sanctions relating to payment or withdrawal of
General Provident Fund advances to Government
servants.
(f) Sanctions of contingent expenditure incurred under
the powers of Head of Offices.
(g) Other sanctions of routine nature issued by Heads of
Subordinate Officers (other than those issued by
Ministries or Departments proper and under powers of
a Head of Department).
(xii) Sanctions accorded by competent authority to grants of land
and alienation of land revenue, other than those in which
assignments of land revenue are treated as cash payment,
shall be communicated to the Audit and/ or the Accounts
18
Officer, as the case may be, in a consolidated monthly return
giving the necessary details.
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Rule 30. Lapse of sanctions : A sanction for any fresh charge shall, unless it is
specifically renewed, lapse if no payment in whole or in part has been made
during a period of twelve months from the date of issue of such sanction.
Provided that -
(i) when the period of currency of the sanction is prescribed in the
departmental regulations or is specified in the sanction itself, it shall
lapse on the expiry of such periods; or
(ii) when there is a specific provision in a sanction that the expenditure
would be met from the Budget provision of a specified financial year, it
shall lapse at the close of that financial year; or
(iii) in the case of purchase of stores, a sanction shall not lapse, if tenders
have been accepted (in the case of local or direct purchase of stores)
or the indent has been placed (in the case of Central Purchases) on
the Central Purchase Organization within the period of one year of the
date of issue of that sanction, even if the actual payment in whole or
in part has not been made during the said period. |
Rule 30. Lapse of sanctions : A sanction for any fresh charge shall, unless it is
specifically renewed, lapse if no payment in whole or in part has been made
during a period of twelve months from the date of issue of such sanction.
Provided that -
(i) when the period of currency of the sanction is prescribed in the
departmental regulations or is specified in the sanction itself, it shall
lapse on the expiry of such periods; or
(ii) when there is a specific provision in a sanction that the expenditure
would be met from the Budget provision of a specified financial year, it
shall lapse at the close of that financial year; or
(iii) in the case of purchase of stores, a sanction shall not lapse, if tenders
have been accepted (in the case of local or direct purchase of stores)
or the indent has been placed (in the case of Central Purchases) on
the Central Purchase Organization within the period of one year of the
date of issue of that sanction, even if the actual payment in whole or
in part has not been made during the said period. |
Rule 31. Notwithstanding anything contained in Rule 30, a sanction in respect of
an addition to a permanent establishment, made from year to year under a
general scheme by a competent authority, or in respect of an allowance
sanctioned for a post or for a class of Government servants, but not drawn by the
officer(s) concerned, shall not lapse. |
Rule 32. Remission of disallowance's by Audit and writing off ofoverpayment made to Government servants : The remission of disallowance's
by Audit and writing off of overpayments made to Government servants by
competent authorities shall be in accordance with the provisions of the
Delegation of Financial Powers Rules, 1978, and instructions issued thereunder.
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| II. Defalcation and Losses |
Rule 33. Report of Losses :
(1) Any loss or shortage of public moneys, departmental revenue or
receipts, stamps, opium, stores or other property held by, or on
behalf of, Government irrespective of the cause of loss and manner
of detection, shall be immediately reported by the subordinate
authority concerned to the next higher authority as well as to the
Statutory Audit Officer and to the concerned Principal Accounts
Officer, even when such loss has been made good by the party
responsible for it. However the following losses need not be
reported:19
(i) Cases involving losses of revenue due to -
(a) mistakes in assessments which are discovered too
late to permit of a supplementary claim being made,
(b) under assessments which are due to interpretation of
the law by the local authority being overruled by
higher authority after the expiry of the time-limit
prescribed under the law, and
(c) refunds allowed on the ground that the claims were
time-barred:
(ii) Petty losses of value not exceeding Rupees two thousand.
(2) Cases involving serious irregularities shall be brought to the notice
of Financial Adviser or Chief Accounting Authority of the Ministry or
Department concerned and the Controller-General of Accounts,
Ministry of Finance.
(3) Report of loss contemplated in sub-rule (1) & (2) shall be made at
two stages-
(i) An initial report should be made as soon as a suspicion
arises that a loss has taken place.
(ii) The final report should be sent to authorities indicated in subrule (1) & (2) after investigation indicating nature and extent
of loss, errors or neglect of rules by which the loss has been
caused and the prospects of recovery.
(4) The complete report contemplated in sub-rule 3, shall reach
through proper channels to the Head of the Department, who shall
finally dispose of the same under the powers delegated to him
under the Delegation of Financial Power Rules, 1978. The reports,
which he cannot finally dispose of under the delegated powers,
shall be submitted to the Government.
(5) An amount lost through misappropriation, defalcation,
embezzlement, etc., may be redrawn on a simple receipt pending
investigation, recovery or write-off with the approval of the authority
competent to write-off the loss in question.
(6) In cases of loss to Government on account of culpability of
Government servants, the loss should be borne by the Central
Government Department or State Government concerned with the
transaction. Similarly, if any recoveries are made from the erring
Government officials in cash, the receipt will be credited to the
Central Government Department or the State Government who
sustained the loss.20
(7) All cases involving loss of Government money arising from
erroneous or irregular issue of cheques or irregular accounting of
receipts will be reported to the Controller-General of Accounts
alongwith the circumstances leading to the loss, so that he can take
steps to remedy defects in rules or procedures, if any, connected
therewith. |
Rule 34. Loss of Government property due to fire, theft, fraud : Departmental
Officers shall, in addition to taking action as prescribed in Rule 33, follow the
provisions indicated below in cases involving material loss or destruction of
Government property as a result of fire, theft, fraud, etc. -
All losses above the value of Rupees ten thousand due to suspected
fire, theft, fraud, etc., shall be invariably reported to the Police for
investigation as early as possible.
Once the matter is reported to the Police Authorities, all concerned
should assist the Police in their investigation. A formal investigation
report should be obtained from the Police Authorities in all cases, which
are referred to them.
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Rule 35. Loss of immovable property by fire, flood, etc. : All loss of
immovable property exceeding Rupees fifty thousand, such as buildings,
communications, or other works, caused by fire, flood, cyclone, earthquake or
any other natural cause, shall be reported at once by the subordinate authority
concerned to Government through the usual channel. All other losses should be
immediately brought to the notice of the next higher authority. |
Rule 36. Report to Audit and Accounts Officers : After a full enquiry as to the
cause and the extent of the loss has been made, the detailed report should be
sent by the subordinate authority concerned to Government through the proper
channel; a copy of the report or an abstract thereof being simultaneously
forwarded to the Audit or Accounts Officer. |
Rule 37. Responsibility for Losses : An officer shall be held personally
responsible for any loss sustained by the Government through fraud or
negligence on his part. He will also be held personally responsible for any loss
arising from fraud or negligence of any other officer to the extent to which it may
be shown that he contributed to the loss by his own action or negligence.
The departmental proceedings for assessment of responsibility for the loss
shall be conducted according to the instructions contained in Appendix 1 and
those issued by the Ministry of Personnel from time to time. |
Rule 38. Prompt disposal of cases of loss : Action at each stage of detection,
reporting, write off, final disposal, in cases of losses including action against
delinquents and remedial measures should be completed promptly with special
21
attention to action against delinquents and remedial measures, taken to
strengthen the control system. |
| III. Submission of Records & Information |
Rule 39. Demand for information by Audit or Accounts Officer : A
subordinate authority shall afford all reasonable facilities to the Audit Officer or
Accounts Officer for the discharge of his functions, and furnish fullest possible
information required by him for the preparation of any official account or report. |
Rule 40. A subordinate authority shall not withhold any information, books or
other documents required by the Audit Officer or Accounts Officer. |
Rule 41. If the contents of any file are categorized as 'Secret' or 'Top Secret' the
file maybe sent personally to the Head of the Audit Office specifying this fact,
who will then deal with it in accordance with the standing instructions for
handling and custody of such classified documents.22 |