PART I
PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL PRINCIPLES
1. Short title, commencement and
applicability. -
(1) These
Rules may be called the Central Government Account (Receipts and Payments)
Rules, 1983.
(2) They
shall come into force on 1- 6 -1983.
(3) They
shall apply to all transactions, other than payment of pensionary benefits,
pertaining to the Central Government and the Union territories of Delhi and
Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
2. Definitions.—
In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) "Accounts
Officer" means the Principal Accounts Officer or a Pay and Accounts
Officer functioning under the scheme of departmentalisation of Accounts, as the
context may imply;
(b) "Accredited
bank" in relation to a Ministry or Department, or Union territory means
the Reserve Bank or any bank which is appointed to transact business of the
Government pertaining to that Ministry or Department or Union territory;
(c) "Audit
Officer" means any officer subordinate to, or under the superintendence of
the
Comptroller and Auditor-General, who exercises audit
functions;
(d) "authorised
departmental regulations" means regulations made by certain departments of
the Government;
(e) "bank"
means any branch of the State Bank of India acting as the agent of the Reserve
Bank of India in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India
Act, 1934 (2 of 1934), any branch of a subsidiary bank as defined in section 2
of the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959 (38 of 1959) which is
authorised to transact Government business as agent of the State Bank of India,
or any branch of a bank as may be appointed by the Reserve Bank of India as its
agent under the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 45 of the Reserve Bank
of India Act, 1934 (2 of 1934);
(f)
"Central Treasury" means and includes any
treasury or sub-treasury not being a treasury or sub-treasury under control of
a State Government;
NOTE- Treasuries in Union
territories are Central treasuries.
(g) "cheque
drawing D.D.O." means a drawing and disbursing officer functioning under a
Ministry or Department (including Central Public Works Department, Forest
Department and
Departments in which the provisions of Central
Public Works Account Code are authorised to be followed) or a union territory,
who is authorised to withdraw money for specified types of payments against an
assignment account opened in his favour in a specified branch of an accredited
bank;
(h) "competent
authority" means the Government or any other authority to whom the
relevant power may be delegated by that Government;
(i)
"Comptroller and Auditor-General" means the
Comptroller and Auditor-General of India appointed under article 148 of the
Constitution;
(j)
"Consolidated Fund" means the Consolidated
Fund of India as referred to in clause (1) of article 266 of the Constitution;
(k) "Contingency
Fund" means the Contingency Fund of India established under the
Contingency Fund of India Act, 1950 (49 of 1950) in
pursuance of clause (1) of article 267 of the Constitution;
(l)
"Controller General of Accounts" means the
Controller General of Accounts in the Ministry of Finance (Department of
Expenditure) who, inter alia, is
responsible for establishing and maintaining a technically sound
payment-cum-accounting system in the departmentalised accounts offices and for
prescribing the rules for regulating the custody, payment into and withdrawal
of money from the Government Account;
(m)
"departmental officer" means an officer of
the Government authorised to handle Government money;
(n) "Government"
means the Central Government and the Union territories of Delhi and Andaman and
Nicobar Islands;
(o) "Government
Account" means the account relating to the Consolidated Fund the
Contingency Fund and the Public Account;
(p) "Public
Account" means the Public Account of India referred to in clause (2) of
article 266 of the Constitution;
(q) "Reserve
Bank' means any office or branch of the Banking Department of the Reserve Bank
of India constituted under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (2 of 1934).
3. Location of moneys credited
to Government Account. -
(1) Unless
otherwise specified, moneys credited to Government Account shall be held either
-
(i)
in the Reserve Bank; or
(ii) in
a Central Treasury, the cash, business of which is not conducted by the bank.
(2) The
deposit of such moneys in the Reserve Bank shall be governed by the terms of
the agreement specified in Appendix I to these rules made with that Bank
under section 21 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (2 of 1934).
NOTE- The balances in small coin depots, rupee
coins, balances in mint and cash balances held in Post Offices or other
departmental offices are not reckoned as part of the General Cash balance of
the Government.
4. Other offices authorised to
hold departmental Treasure Chests.-
The Officers in charge of Military Treasure Chests and such
offices of the Posts and Telegraphs Department as are authorised to perform all
or any prescribed part of the duties of a Treasury Officer in respect of
custody of the cash balances, and claims against the Government that may be
presented to them for disbursement; and also in respect of moneys that may be
tendered to them for credit to the Government Account, shall have to observe
the relevant provisions of the Treasury Rules of the Central Government.
5. Custody of money relating to
or standing in the Government Account.-
(1) The
bank is responsible for the safe custody of Government moneys deposited in the
bank.
(2) The
procedure for the safe custody of moneys in the hands of Government officers
referred to in rule 4, shall be regulated by the provisions contained in Part
IV (Rules 109 to 112 in particular) of the Treasury Rules of the Central
Government.
6. Payment of revenues, receipts
and dues of the Government into Government Account by Officers authorised to
receive them-
(1)
All moneys received by or tendered to Government
officers on account of revenues or receipts or dues of the Government shall,
without undue delay, be paid in full into the accredited bank for inclusion in
Government Account. Pay-in-slip in Form GAR 1 (using perforated duplicates for
carbon copying) shall be used for the purpose. Moneys received as aforesaid
shall not be utilised to meet departmental expenditure except as authorised in
sub-rule (2) nor otherwise kept apart from the accounts of the Government.
(2)
Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1),
direct utilisation of departmental receipts for departmental expenditure is
authorised in the following cases, namely:-
(a)
in the case of cash receipts utilised by Postmasters
and other heads of offices of Posts and Telegraphs Department for departmental
purposes in accordance with Posts and Telegraphs departmental regulations;
(b)
in the case of moneys received on account of the
service of summons, diet-money of witnesses and similar purposes, in civil,
revenue and criminal cases and in the case of dietmoney of witnesses deposited
by the assessees with the Income Tax Officers;
(c)
in the case of deposits received at a Civil Court and
utilised by the Court to meet claims for the refund of such deposits;
(d)
in the case of the Public Works Department (and other
departments in which the provisions of Central Public Works Account Code are
authorised to be followed) for temporary utilisation of cash receipts for
current works expenditure, under the provisions of authorised departmental
regulations;
(e)
in the case of cash received by the Forest Department
and utilised in meeting immediate local expenditure;
(f)
in the case of cash found on the persons of prisoners
at the time of their admission to jail and used for the repayment by jail
Superintendents under departmental regulations, of similar sums due to other
prisoners on their release;
(g)
in the case of cash receipts of Railways utilised under
departmental regulations or with the previous approval, general or special, of
the Government, for departmental purposes;
(h)
in the case of the National Library, Calcutta, or any
other Government library, to permit refund of security deposits of members of
the Library and the replacement of books belonging to the library which are not
returned by borrowers out of their deposit money;
(i)
in the case of the Botanical Survey of India, to permit
the refund to indentors of quinine and purchasers of seeds and plants, out of
the amount deposited by them, of such amount as may be in excess of the cost of
quinine or of seeds and plants including incidental charges on packing,
remittance, connected therewith;
(j)
in the case of the Survey of India Department, to
permit the refund to indentors of maps or other priced publications, out of the
amount deposited by them, of such amount as may be in excess of the cost of
maps or publications including incidental charges on packing, and forwarding,
connected therewith; the payment of commission to selling agents out of sale
receipts and to permit refund to indentors or private publishers of maps or
other priced publications of royalty charges and scrutiny charges for checking
of external boundary of India from out of amount deposited in excess by them;
(k)
in the case of offices subordinate to the Ministry of
External Affairs and stationed outside India where a branch of the accredited
bank does not exist, to permit the direct utilisation of fees and other
receipts realised by them towards their departmental expenditure;
(l)
in the case of All India Radio, to permit payment of
commission to (i) sale agents of All India Radio Programme journals, and (ii)
to advertising agencies, out of the sale proceeds of the journals and of
advertising time in Commercial Service of All India Radio, respectively;
(m) in
the case of Regional Poultry Farms, Hassarghatta, Bangalore, Bombay and
Bhubaneswar, to permit refunds to private poultry
farmers of amounts paid in advance by them in excess of the cost of chicks,
etc., supplied to them including incidental charges connected therewith;
(n)
in the case of Department of Publications, to permit -
(i) the
remittance by the sole concessionaire of the amounts due towards advertisements
in Government publications after deducting the commission payable to him; and
(ii) the
refund of moneys deposited in advance by indentors for supply of publications
out of the sale proceeds of the publications;
(o)
in the case of Films Division to permit payment of
commission to commission agents out of sale proceeds of films for non-commercial
exhibitions in India;
(p)
in the case of the Social Welfare and Rehabilitation
Departments to utilise the cash received on private order work for the payment
of wages to labour employed on that work;
(q)
in the case of Central Research Institute, Kasauli, to
utilise the cost received on account of sale of sera and vaccines produced at
the Institute, for refund to the indentors of the excess amount received from
them;
{Refer
Correction Slip 15}
(r)
in the case of Central Institute of Psychiatry, Ranchi,
to utilise the amount of advance deposited by the patients as maintenance
charges at the time of their admission to the Institute, to refund the
unutilised amount of maintenance charges to the patients discharged from the
Institute.
Provided that the authority hereby given to utilise
departmental receipts for departmental expenditure shall not be construed as
authority to keep the departmental receipts and expenses defrayed therefrom,
outside the account of the payments into and withdrawals from the Consolidated
Fund or Public Account, as the case may be.
(3)
In special cases authorised by the Government, moneys
received or tendered on account of the revenues of the Government may be
deposited with a bank other than the Reserve Bank or its agent for the purpose
of Government transactions. The conditions under which such deposits may be
made and the manner in which the balances of such deposits shall be included in
the Government Account shall be decided by the Government in each case after
consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General.
7. Facility
for public to credit Government dues direct into the accredited bank of a
Ministry/Department and certain tax receipts in other Nationalised bank
also.-
Money due to the Government may also be credited directly
into the specified branch of the accredited bank in which a particular
departmental officer holds his account, in accordance with the procedure
notified by the Ministry, Department and, or Union Territory concerned for the
purpose. Tax receipts pertaining to the Central Board of Direct Taxes and
Central Borad of Excise and Customs (and of any other particular Ministry or
Department as may be decided by the Government from time to
time) and also sales tax revenue of Delhi Administration are authorised under
special procedures notified therefor, to be credited by the tax payers directly
into any branch of the authorised bank within the municipal limits at the
selected centre notified for the purpose. Form of challan to be used, and
related matters are contained in rule 26.
8. Deposit of Government revenue
etc. by the receiving branch of the bank into the Reserve Bank.-
Immediately on receipt of Government revenues, receipts or
dues, the receiving branch of the bank shall cause them to be included in the
Deposits of the Government held by the Reserve Bank of India in accordance with
the provisions of rule 3.
9. Bar against money withdrawn
from Government Account being deposited in a bank other than the accredited
bank, etc.-
A Government
officer may not, except with the special permission of the Government, deposit
moneys withdrawn from the Government Account under the provisions of rule 11,
in a bank account other than that with the accredited bank.
10. Cross reference to rules
relating to receipt of Government Revenues, etc.-
The procedure to be adopted by Government officers in
receiving moneys on account of Government revenues or dues, granting receipts
for such moneys and bringing them in the Government Account, and the bank in
receiving such moneys and granting receipts for them shall be regulated by the
provisions contained in Part II of these rules.
11. Withdrawal of money from
Government Account.-
(1) Save
as expressly provided by, or under these rules, or unless the Government in
Ministry of Finance
(Department of Expenditure) otherwise direct in any case,
moneys may not be withdrawn from the
Government Account other than against cheques issued by an
Accounts Officer on an account opened in his favour, or by a cheque drawing D.D.O. on an assignment Account opened
in his favour, at a specified branch of the accredited bank. In so far as civil
Ministries or Departments are concerned, such accounts shall be opened under
orders issued by the Financial Adviser of the Ministry or Department concerned
in consultation with the Controller General of Accounts.
(2) A
cheque drawing D.D.O. functioning
under the scheme of departmentalisation of accounts may withdraw money for such
purposes as may be prescribed by the Controller General of Accounts by general
order.
Provided that the Controller General of Accounts may permit
withdrawal by any particular cheque drawing
D.D.O. for any other special purpose.
NOTE.—In so far as cheque
drawing D.D.Os. functioning under
Central Public Works Department and Departments for which the provisions of
Central Public Works Account Code are authorised to be followed, and under
Forest Department are concerned, the purposes detailed in the Central Public
Works Account or code applicable to Forest Department may be deemed to be those
approved by the Controller General of Accounts under the provisions of this
sub-rule.
(3) An
Accounts Officer and or cheque-drawing
D.D.O. shall not draw a cheque for
withdrawal of money for any purpose unless the claim for withdrawal complies
with the provisions contained in these rules as to the person by whom and the
form in which the claim shall be preferred.
NOTE.—Save as otherwise
provided, no cheque shall be drawn until it is intended to be issued soon
after.
(4) No
withdrawal shall be permitted on a claim for the first of any series of
payments of pay and allowances to a Government servant (other than a person
newly appointed to Government service) prepared by a drawing and disbursing
officer unless the claim is supported by a copy of the last pay certificate (in
Form G.A.R. 2)
issued by the drawing and disbursing officer of the previous office in which
the Government servant had served.
(5) An
Accounts Officer or Cheque-drawing D.D.O. shall obtain sufficient information
as to the nature of every payment he is making and shall not accept a claim
which does not formally present that information, unless there are specific
orders of Government against disclosure of the nature, on any individual claim
or type of claims in the public interest.
Explanation.—In this rule, the term
'withdrawal' with its cognate expressions refers to the withdrawal of funds
from the Government Account for disbursements of or on behalf of the
Government.
12. Responsibility for moneys
withdrawn.-
(1)
If a cheque drawing D.D.O. receives information from
the Accounts Officer that moneys have been incorrectly withdrawn and that a certain
slim should be recovered in respect of any bill passed by him, he shall effect
the recovery without delay and without regard to any correspondence undertaken
or contemplated with reference to the retrenchment order; and he shall, without
delay, repay the sum in such manner as the Accounts Officer may direct.
(2)
Subject as hereinafter provided in this rule, the
procedure to be observed by a Government officer in regard to moneys withdrawn
from the Government Account for expenditure shall be regulated by the
provisions made in this behalf in Part III of these rules.
(3)
A Government officer supplied with funds for
expenditure shall be responsible for such funds until an account of them has
been rendered to the satisfaction of the Accounts Officer concerned. He shall
also be responsible for seeing that payments are made to persons entitled to
receive them.
(4)
If any doubt arises as to the identity of the
Government officer by whom an account of such funds shall be rendered, it shall
be decided by the Government.
13. General instructions for
handling cash.-
Save as otherwise expressly provided in these rules or in
any authorised departmental regulations, the following instructions shall be
observed by all Government officers who are required to (a) receive Government
dues and handle cash or (b) perform the functions of drawing and disbursing
officers (with or without cheque drawing powers), or both: —
(i)
Every such officer (referred to in this rule as the
Head of the Office) should maintain a cash book in Form G.A.R.3.
(ii)
All monetary transactions should be entered in the cash
book as soon as they occur and attested by the Head of the Office in token of
check.
Exception (a).—An 'Account Payee'
crossed cheque or bank draft drawn in the personal name of a recipient
(Government servant or third party) by a Pay and Accounts Officer (or by a
cheque drawing D.D.O.) and routed through a departmental office merely for the
purpose of delivery to the recipient thereof, need not be entered by the latter
office in its cash book; the delivery of such a cheque or draft to the
concerned party may be recorded in, and watched through a separate
"crossed cheques and bank drafts transit register."
Exception (b).—Cheques issued by cheque-drawing D.D.O.s are required to be
entered in a 'Register of Cheques issued' in Form G.A.R.4.
Therefore, only those cheques drawn by him which are encashable in his capacity
as Disbursing Officer for arranging payments in cash, need be entered in the
cash book.
Exception (c).—Receipts in the form of local cheques, or demand drafts
(to be crossed) in favour of Pay and Accounts Officers (or endorsed in their
favour as per Note 2 under rule 18) accepted by non-cheque drawing D.D.Os need
not be entered in the Cash Book but should be entered in the Register of
Valuables (Form
G.A.R. 5) and remitted into the accredited
bank duly supported by challans for credit to Govt. Account. {Refer Correction Slip 20
(iii)
The cash book should be closed regularly and completely
checked. The Head of the Office should verify the totalling of the cash book or
have this done by some responsible subordinate other than the writer of the
cash book and initial it as correct. {Refer
to Correction Slip 24}
Exception: In order to minimise the
balance under 'Traffic Suspense - Cash-in-Transit' at the close of financial
year, Ministry of Railways may keep their cash books open for the month of
March each year upto 18th April for N.F.Railway, and upto 10th April in respect
of other Indian Railways.
(iv)
At the end of each month, Head of the Office should
verify the cash balance in the cash book and record a signed and dated
certificate to that effect. In regard to any discrepancy noticed therein, the
instructions contained in Section V of Chapter 2 of the General Financial
Rules, 1963 should be followed. In case the verification of cash balance is not
possible on the last working day of a month on
account of disbursement of, monthly salary and allowances, it may be
done on the first working day of the next month before making any transactions
on that day.
(v)
Entries made in the cash book regarding remittance of
receipts to the accredited bank for credit into Government Account should be
attested by the Head of Office after verifying them with reference to the
bank's receipt recorded on the pay-in-slips or challans. When the credit
appears in the receipt scroll from the bank, the actual date of realisation of
the cheque or draft should be indicated by cheque drawing D.D.O.s against the
original entry in the cash book so as to keep track of outstanding items.
(vi)
An erasure or over-writing of an entry once made in the
cash book is strictly prohibited. If a mistake is discovered, it should be
corrected by drawing the pen through the incorrect entry and inserting the
correct one in red ink between the lines. The Head of Office should initial
every such correction and invariably date his initials.
(vii)
A Government officer who handles Government money
should not, except with the special sanction of the Head of Office be allowed
to handle also in his official capacity money which does not belong to the
Government. Where under any special sanction, a Government officer deals with
both Government and non-Government money in his official capacity, the
Government money should be kept in a cash box separate from the non-Government
money and the transactions relating to the latter should be accounted for in a
separate set of books and kept entirely out of the Government Account.
(viii)
The employment of peons to fetch or carry money should
be discouraged. When it is absolutely necessary to employ one for this purpose,
a man of some length of service and proved trust worthiness should only be
selected and in case where the amount to be handled is large, one or more
guards should accompany the messenger.
NOTE 1.—The duties imposed
by clauses (ii) to (vi) of this rule on the Head of Office may be entrusted to
a subordinate gazetted officer nominated by the Head of Office for this purpose.
NOTE 2.—The cash books
should be bound in convenient volumes and their pages machine numbered. Before
bringing a cash book into use, the Head of Office or the officer nominated by
him under Note 1 should count the number of pages and record a certificate of
count on the first page of the cash book.
NOTE 3.—If large number of
bank drafts, cheques are received by any departmental office, receipt thereof
and remittance into bank need not be entered individual itemwise in the cash
book. It would be sufficient if the total of the daily entries pertaining to
the same classification from a register of valuable (Form G.A.R. 5) maintained for the purpose is carried to the cash book giving
cross reference in the latter to the serial numbers thereof in the former.
NOTE 4.—Cash and other
valuables held in safe custody, on behalf of the Government, by a departmental
officer or drawing and disbursing officer should be kept in an adequately
strong cash chest or almirah (where, necessary, even embedded in the wall). The
type of cash chest to be used for the purpose may be decided on the basis of
the amount of cash and other valuables generally required to be kept therein in
safe custody, and other relevant circumstances, such as general state of
security of the premises of the office, the areas in which it is located, etc.
The cash chest/ almirah should be secured by two locks of different patterns so
that the keys of one do not fit into the other. The keys of such locks should
be kept in different persons custody where practicable; and in any case, should
be kept apart from that of the other lock so that the chest will not be
accessible to unauthorised persons. The chest should not be opened unless both
the custodians of the two locks are present for the purpose. Duplicate keys
thereof should be placed in separate sealed covers and lodged with different
officers of higher rank than the custodians of the chest. Wherever possible,
such sealed covers should be kept in the relevant branch of the accredited bank
conducting business of the department concerned.
A duplicate keys register
should be maintained indicating the authorities with whom they are lodged. Once
a year, in April, the keys must be sent for examination and returned under
fresh sealed covers to the respective officer / bank with whom they are meant
to be lodged, and a note kept in the register that they have been inspected and
found intact and genuine and sent back to the nominated authorities. Similarly,
entries should be made in the register in regard to any occasion when the
duplicate keys had to be obtained for opening the chest and the date of
re-sealing and lodging with the nominated authorities.
Subject as provided in the
preceding paras of this note, the detailed procedure to be observed with regard
to the custody of Government money in the possession of the departmental
officers may be laid down by departmental regulations.
14. Adjustment of transactions
of the Government with a State Government.-
No transactions of the Government with a State shall be
adjusted against the balance of the Government except in accordance with such
directions as may be given by the Controller General of Accounts on the advice
of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India to regulate, the procedure for
the accounting of such transactions.
15. Extent of responsibility of
the Reserve Bank in connection with the business of Government.-
Nothing contained in, or in the application of these rules
shall have effect so as to impose upon the Reserve Bank in connection with the
business of the Government any responsibility not imposed upon it by the terms
of the agreement referred to in rule 3.
NOTE.—The bank will be kept
open for the conduct of Government transactions on a recognised holiday, or
beyond normal business hours on any day (e.g. on the last working day of March
every year), if so required by the Controller General of Accounts, or by any
authority or authorities nominated by him.
16. Authority competent to frame
departmental regulations for detailed procedures under these rules.-
(1)
Where, under the provisions of these rules, detailed
procedure with respect to any matter is required to be prescribed or regulated
by departmental regulations, such regulations relating to particular
departments shall be made by the Government, or with the approval of the
Government, by such departmental authorities as may be authorised by the
Government to act in this behalf.
(2)
Nothing contained in this rule shall affect the
validity of any order, instruction or direction contained in any authorised
departmental regulation except insofar as such order, instruction or direction
is inconsistent with or repugnant to any distinct provision contained in these
rules.
17. Instructions for rounding
off transactions in Government
accounts.-
The instructions are contained in Appendix No. II.
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