BACK56. Preparation of list of Government servants due for retirement
(1) Every Head of Department shall have a list prepared every six months, that is, on the 1st January, and the 1st July each year of all Government servants who are due to retire within the next 24 to 30 months of that date.
(2) A copy of every such list shall be supplied to the Accounts Officer concerned not later than the 31st January or the 31st July, as the case may be, of that year.
(3) In the cae of a Government servant retiring for reasons other than by way of superannuation, the Head of Office shall promptly inform the Accounts Officer concerned, as soon as the fact of such retirement becomes known to him.
(4) A copy of intimation sent by the Head of Office to the Accounts Officer under sub-rule (3) shall also be endorsed to the Directorate of Estates if the Government servant concerned is an allottee of Government accommodation.
57. Intimation to the Directorate of Estates regarding issue of "No Demand Certificate"
(1) The Head of Office shall write to the Directorate of Estates at least two years before the anticipated date of retirement of the Government servant who is in occupation of a Government accommodation, (hereinafter referred to as allottee) for the issue of a `No demand certificate' in respect of the period preceding eight months of the retirement of the allottee.
(2) On receipt of the intimation under sub-rule (1), the Directorate of Estates shall take further action as provided in Rule 72.
57. GOVERNMENT OF INDIA'S DECISIONS
(1) Issue of 'No Demand Certificate'. - 1. The existing procedure for the issue of "No Demand Certificate" by the Directorate of Estates had been incorporated in Rules 57 and 72 of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972. With a view to expediting the issue of `No Demand Certificate', the question of simplifying and rationalising the existing procedure was further examined and supplementary instructions were issued. Briefly, the Administrative Ministries/Departments concerned are required to furnish a list of Government servants in occupation of Government accommodation, along with applications from the individual, on the prescribed form, for issue of `No Demand Certificate', to the Directorate of Estates at least two years before the date of superannuation of the official concerned. Under the existing orders, the Directorate of Estates in its turn would issue an Advance `No Demand Certificate' to the Department concerned with a copy endorsed to the individual concerned eight months before the date of superannuation informing -
| (i) | the amount of licence fee due up to that period, i.e., eight months prior to the date of superannuation ; |
| (ii) | the monthly rate of recovery of licence fee for the rest of the service, i.e., eight months ; and |
| (iii) | the amount of licence fee recoverable for two months (now four months) period of retention allowed after retirement. |
2. On receipt of such an intimation from the Directorate of Estates, the Department concerned is responsible for the recovery of the amounts as indicated above. Thereafter, it is at liberty to finalise the pension account of the individual without any further certificate from the Directorate of Estates. After permissible period of retention, i.e., from the date of cancellation, the occupant is to be dealt with by the Directorate of Estates as if it were a private party. Thus, the Department concerned is no longer required to correspond with the Directorate of Estates about that individual for the period beyond the cancellation of allotment. This procedure has been brought to the notice of all Ministries/Departments, etc., again by the Directorate of Estates vide their OM No. 3/28/82-(P-I)/RCS, dated the 4th May, 1983 (copy reproduced below).
3. From the position explained above, it is very clear that after ensuring recoveries mentioned in para. 1, the Departments are at liberty to finalise the accounts of the retired Government servants. Besides, if the Directorate of Estates, for certain reasons, fails to inform the Department concerned about the dues eight months prior to his date of retirement, they are free to assume that nothing is due on account of rental dues in the books of the Directorate of Estates and they can finalise the pension papers of the individual concerned without waiting for any certificate from the Directorate of Estates, provided the Department had forwarded the application for No Demand Certificate two years in advance and had obtained an acknowledgement for the same.
4. It has been brought to the notice of this Department that most of the Ministries and their attached and subordinate offices do not adhere to these instructions and insist for a final "No Demand Certificate" from the Directorate of Estates to enable the retired Government servant to get back his withheld amount of the Retirement Gratuity. Scores of such retired Government servants visit the Directorate of Estates for this purpose which entails unavoidable work all round apart from harassment to the Government servants by their own Departments. It is, therefore, impressed on all the Ministries/Departments that the existing prescribed procedure should be strictly and scrupulously followed by all concerned so that the retiring and retired Government servants do not experience any hardship due to delays in the settlement of their pension cases.
[G.I., M.H.A., Dept. of Per. & A.R., O.M. No. 41/6/84-Pension Unit, dated the 18th July, 1984.]
COPY OF DIRECTORATE OF ESTATES, O.M. No. 3/28/82 (PI)/RCS, DATED THE 4TH MAY, 1983.
1. Attention is invited to the Directorate of Estates' Office Memo. No. 3/3/76-RCS, dated 23-6-1977, followed by another O.M. No. 3/28/81-RCS, dated 23-8-1982, according to which the Department concerned are required to furnish a list of Government servants along with application from the individuals, on the prescribed form for issue of No Demand Certificate to the Directorate of Estates at least 2 years before the date of superannuation of the officials in occupation of General Pool Accommodation.
2. The Directorate of Estates in its turn would issue an Advance No Demand Certificate to the Department concerned with a copy endorsed to the individual concerned 8 months before the date of superannuation informing the amount of licence fee due up to that period, i.e., 8 months prior to the date of superannuation besides the rate of monthly recovery of licence fee for the rate of the service, i.e., 8 months. The amount of licence fee recoverable for 2 (now 4) months period of retention allowed after retirement, is also to be intimated simultaneously. Thereafter the Departments are at liberty to finalise the pension account of the individual. The Department has to ensure full recovery of the amount shown as due in the advance "No Demand Certificate". At the time of sanctioning pension, PPO No. and the particulars of Treasury/Bank on which it is issued, is to be intimated to the Directorate of Estates along with the permanent residential address of the retiring officer. After the permissible period of retention, i.e., from the date of cancellation, the occupant is to be dealt with by the Directorate as if it were a private party. The Departments concerned are no longer required to correspond with Directorate of Estates about that individual for the period beyond the cancellation of allotment. However, it is seen that at the time of releasing the withheld amount of DCRG, many of the offices insist for another certificate from the Directorate of Estates on this account. As explained above, no such further certificate is normally required to be issued by the Directorate of Estates.
3. All the Ministries/Departments are requested to adhere to the time-schedule of informing the Directorate of Estates the date of superannuation of an allottee two years before his retirement and after the receipt of advance Final Demand Certificate issued by this Directorate, they should not normally ask for any further certificate on this account.
(2) Issue of `No Demand Certificate' in case of Interpool exchange of Government accommodation. - 1. Interpool exchange of the General Pool accommodation with Departmental or other Autonomous Bodies accommodation is occasionally made in certain cases so that an Officer occupying a particular quarter does not have to shift unnecessarily at a particular station. In such cases, the Department concerned is required to deposit the licence fee collected from the allottee with the Directorate of Estates. Sometimes the Department fails to deposit the licence fee even though they have actually recovered the same from the officer occupying the accommodation in question. The amount remains in arrears in some cases even after termination of interpool exchange. Meanwhile if the allottee retires, he is not issued the `No Demand Certificate' on the ground that some dues for the period of exchange have not been settled, not withstanding the fact that the allottee had paid the licence fee to the department. As a result the allottee suffers, because part of his gratuity is withheld pending issue of `No Demand Certificate'.
2. After due consideration it has been decided that the `No Demand Certificate' should not be withheld in respect of retired officer merely on the ground that some adjustment of dues between two organisations is pending for the period the quarter remained exchanged with departmental pool, provided there are no other dues to be recovered from the officer for other period and it has also been certified by the department concerned that the officer had actually paid the licence fee to the department, where he remained posted during the period the quarter was exchanged with department pool.
[G.I., Dir. of Estates, O.M. No. 12035 (18)/90-Pol. II, dated, the 5th November, 1990.]
(3) Directorate of Estates to be informed forthwith regarding retirement/death of occupants of quarters. - As per present practice, all the Ministries/Departments are required to intimate this Directorate about the transfer/retirement/death of a Government servant working under their administrative control to enable this Directorate to cancel the quarter, if any, in the name of that Government servant. However, it has been observed that this practice is not being followed scrupulously by most of the Ministries/Departments with the result that the Government servants who are transferred out of Delhi or retired, continue to retain Government accommodation unauthorisedly for considerably long periods. The Comptroller and Auditor-General in his report ending 31st March, 1989, have taken a serious view of the situation and have pointed out 734 such cases where there was delay in cancellation of quarters due to retirement/transfer/death of the Government servant.
It is, therefore, impressed upon all the Ministries/Departments once again to intimate this Directorate about the transfer of Government servants from one office to another or to outstation and about retirement or death of the Government servant immediately on the occurrence of such events to enable this Directorate to take further necessary action in respect of Government accommodation, if any, allotted to that Government servant.
[G.I., Dir. of Estates, O.M. No. 23011/4/89/Pol. III, dated the 28th December, 1990.]
58. Preparation of pension papers
Every Head of Office shall undertake the work of preparation of pension papers in Form 7 two years before the date on which a Government servant is due to retire on superannuation, or on the date on which he proceeds on leave preparatory to retirement, whichever is earlier.
59. Stages for the completion of pension papers
(1) The Head of Office shall divide the period of preparatory work of two years referred to in Rule 58 in the following three stages :-
| (a) | First Stage. - Verification of service : | |
| (i) | The Head of Office shall go through the service book of the Government servant and satisfy himself as to whether the certificates of verification for the entire service are recorded therein. | |
| (ii) | In respect of the unverified portion or portions of service, he shall arrange to verify the portion or portions of such service, as the case may be, with reference to pay bills, acquittance rolls or other relevant records and record necessary certificates in the service book. | |
| (iii) | If the service for any period is not capable of being verified in the manner specified in sub-clause (i) and sub-clause (ii), that period of service having been rendered by the Government servant in another office or Department, a reference shall be made to the Head of Office in which the Government servant is shown to have served during that period for the purpose of verification. | |
| (iv) | If any portion of service rendered by a Government servant is not capable of being verified in the manner specified in sub-clause (i), or sub-clause (ii), or sub-clause (iii), the Government servant shall be asked to file a written statement on plain paper stating that he had in fact rendered that period of service, and shall, at the foot of the statement, make and subscribe to a declaration as to the truth of that statement, and shall in support of such declaration produce all documentary evidence and furnish all information which is in his power to produce or furnish. | |
| (v) | The Head of Office shall, after taking into consideration the facts in the written statement and the evidence produced and the information furnished by that Government servant in support of the said period of service, admit that portion of service as having been rendered for the purpose of calculating the pension of that Government servant. | |
(b) |
Second Stage. - Making good omission in the service book. - |
|
| (i) | The Head of Office while scrutinizing the certificates of verification of service, shall also indentity if there are any other omissions, imperfections or deficiencies which have a direct bearing on the determination of emoluments and the service qualifying for pension. | |
| (ii) | Every effort shall be made to complete the verification of service, as in Clause (a) and to make good omissions, imperfections or deficiencies referred to in sub-clause (i) of this clause. Any omissions, imperfections or deficiencies including the portion of service shown as unverified in the service book which it has not been possible to verify in accordance with the procedure laid down in Clause (a) shall be ignored and service qualifying for pension shall be determined on the basis of the entries in the service book. | |
| (iii) | Calculation of average emoluments. - For the purpose of calculation of average emoluments, the Head of Office shall verify from the service book the correctness of the emoluments drawn or to be drawn during the last ten months of service. In order to ensure that the emoluments during the last ten months of service, have been correctly shown in the service book the Head of Office may verify the correctness of emoluments for the period of twenty-four months only preceding the date of retirement of a Government servant, and not for any period prior to that date. | |
1(c) |
Third Stage. - As soon as the second stage is completed and in any case not later than ten months prior to the date of retirement of the Government servant, the Head of Office shall take the following action :- |
|
| (i) | He shall furnish to the retiring Government servant a certificate regarding the length of qualifying service proposed to be admitted for purpose of pension and gratuity as also the emoluments and the average emoluments proposed to be reckoned with for retirement gratuity and pension. In case the certified service and emoluments as indicated by the Head of Office are not acceptable to him, he shall furnish to the Head of Office the reasons for non-acceptance, inter alia, supported by the relevant documents in support of his claim. | |
| (ii) | In case of any difficulty in determining the length of qualifying service on account of non-availability of service records, the retiring Government servant shall be asked to file a written statement of service as provided in Clause (ii) of sub-rule (1) and sub-rule (2) of Rule 64. | |
| (iii) | Forward to the retiring Government servant and Form 5 advising him to submit the same duly completed in all respects so as to reach the Head of Office not later than eight months prior to his date of retirement. | |
(2) Action under Clauses (a), (b) and (c) of sub-rule (1) shall be completed eight months prior to the date of retirement of the Government servant.
Footnote : 1. Substituted by G.I., Dept. of Pen. & P.W., Notification No. 38/84/89-P. & P.W. (F), date the 3rd September, 1993.
59. GOVERNMENT OF INDIA'S DECISIONS
| Staff dealing with pension matters to be trained properly in pension procedures |
| Periodical co-ordination meeting between Administrative Heads and Accounts Offices |
(1) Staff dealing with pension matters to be trained properly in pension procedures. - The Study Team has pointed out that staff responsible for processing pension cases were found to be not fully aware of the urgency of maintaining the time-schedule for obtaining and processing of pension papers. It was also found that staff dealing with pension had not undergone any training on the subject. The Ministries/Departments are advised to ensure that staff dealing with pension matters are trained properly in pension procedures and they should be sent for in-service training from time to time.
(2) Periodical co-ordination meeting between Administrative Heads and Accounts Offices. - The Study Team has highlighted the need for co-ordination and periodical meetings between Adminsitrative Head and Accounts office to sort out any shortcomings in the service record of retiring persons. Such meetings should be monitored at the highest level.
[G.I., Dept. of Pen. & P.W., O.M. No. 38/116/93-P. & P.W. (F), dated the 2nd May, 1994. - Paras. 6 and 8.]
60. Completion of pension papers
The Head of office shall complete Part I of Form 7 [ not later than six months of the date of retirement] of Government servant.
61. Forwarding of pension papers to Accounts Officer
(1) After complying with the requirement of Rules 59 and 60, the Head of Office shall forward to the Accounts Officer Form 5 and Form 7 duly completed with a covering letter in Form 8 along with service book of the Government servant duly completed, up-to-date, and any other documents relied upon for the verification of service.
(2) The Head of Office shall retain a copy of each of the Forms referred to in sub-rule (1) for his records.
(3) Where the payment is desired in another circle of accounting unit, the Head of Office shall send Form 7 in duplicate to the Accounts Officer.
(4) The papers referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be forwarded to the Accounts Officers not later than six months before the date of retirement of Government servant.
61. GOVERNMENT OF INDIA'S DECISIONS
(1) Pension Calculation Sheet to be given to Pensioner. - 1. Representations have been received from Pensioners' Associations about reforming the pension payment procedures. One of the suggestions made is that Pension Payment Order should contain a Pension Calculation Sheet detailing therein the period of service rendered, date and rate of last increment with scale of pay, etc.
2. The matter has been examined in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India and the Controller-General of Accounts and it is felt that there is need for the pensioner to be supplied with details leading to the computation of pension. With this end in view it is proposed that the Head of Office preparing the pension case of a Central Government employee should prepare in triplicate a certified calculation sheet, as in the pro forma attached (see revised format under Form 7), certify the sheet at the bottom and pass it on to the concerned PAO/Accounts Officer along with the pension case.
3. The PAO/Accounts Officer, while issuing the pensionary authorization, countersign the calculation sheet as certified by the Head of Office, retain one copy (out of the three received by him from the Head of Office) and forward one copy as countersigned by him to the pensioner, along with the intimation of his having sent the pension payment authority PPO to the AG/PAO, etc. The third copy of the certified calculation sheet as countersigned by the PAO/Accounts Officer of the Ministry/Department concerned, and the latter would record those calculation sheets as certified by the Head of Office and countersigned by the PAO/AO, in a guard file with a proper index.
4. Ministry of Agriculture, etc., are requested kindly to furnish the calculation sheet in the revised format to all pensioners simultaneously with the issue of the pension payment order by the respective Pay and Accounts Officers.
5. Formal amendments to the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, will be issued separately.
[G.I., Dept. of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare, O.M. No. 38/19/85-PU, dated the 2nd September, 1985 and corrigendum, dated the 7th February, 1986 and O.M. No. 38/24/91-P. & P.W. (F), dated the 22nd November, 1991.]
(2) Entitlement to family pension in the case of employees going on permanent absorption in PSU/Autonomous Bodies should be indicated in the pension calculation sheet. - In accordance with Decision (1) above, every retiring employee is required to be supplied with a pension calculation sheet inter alia indicating the amount of pension, gratuity and family pension. It has been decided that the entitlement to family pension in the case of employees going on permanent absorption in PSU/Autonomous Bodies should also be indicated in the said calculation sheet with an explanation that the benefit of family pension will be admissible in such case subject to -
| (a) | The employee seeking permanent absorption is not entitled to family pension benefit from the Public Sector Undertakings/Autonomous Bodies or under the Employees' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act. |
| (b) | Where the employee concerned is governed by the Family Pension Scheme under the Employees' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, he opts to be governed by the Family Pension Scheme of the Central Government after obtaining exemption from the provision of Employees' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act from the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner concerned. |
For this purpose, the format of the calculation sheet has been further amplified. A revised format (Form-7) is enclosed (Annexure). This calculation sheet should be got printed on fairly heavy paper to ensure its durability and entries therein should as far as possible be typed. In the event of the asborbees becoming eligible for the benefit of family pension under the Central Government rules, the pension calculation sheet can be relied upon by the members of the family for claiming family pension as and when the contingency for the same arises in future.
Ministry of Agriculture, etc., are requested kindly to bring these revised instructions to the notice of all Heads of Office/Pay and Accounts Offices under their administrative control. It is also requested that the pension calculation sheets may be supplied in all past cases of absorption in PSU/Autonomous Bodies (confined to details regarding entitlement to family pension) where the family pension has not so far already commenced.
In their application to the persons serving in the Indian Audit & Accounts Department, these orders issue in consultation with the Comptroller & Auditor-General of India.
[G.I, Dept. of P. & P.W., O.M. No. 29/4/91-P. & P.W. (F), dated the 13th January, 1993.]
ANNEXURE
CALCULATION SHEET
(Important document to be preserved carefully)
| No.................................... | Name of the Minsitry/Deptt./Office |
| .................................................... |
| 1. | Name of the Pensioner | |||
| 2. | Designation | |||
| 3. | Date of birth | |||
| 4. | Date of entry in the Govt. service | |||
| 5. | Date of retirement | |||
| 6. | Length of qualifying service reckoned for pension/gratuity (as indicated in PPO) |
|||
| 7. | Emoluments drawn during the last 10 months. |
|||
| 8. | (1) | Average emoluments for pension (as indicated in PPO) |
||
| (2) | Pension admissible Calculations to be shown as follows :- (Avg. Emo./2 ) x [Q.S. (in completed 6 monthly period not exceeding 66)/66] |
|||
| 8-A. | Whether opted for commutation of 100% pension in case of permanent absorption in PSU/AB [Deleted vide notification No. 4/42/91-P&PW(D) dated 25-6-1997] | |||
| 9. | (1) | Emoluments for gratuity (as indicated in PPO) | ||
| (2) | Retirement gratuity admissible Calculation to be shown as follows :- (Emoluments/4) x [Q.S. (in completed 6 months period not exceeding 66)] |
|||
| 10. | (1) | Emoluments for Family Pension (as indicated in PPO) |
||
| (2) | Family Pension admissible Calculations to be shown as follows :- |
|||
| *(a) | Ord. Family Pension : Pay last drawn x Prescribed %, subject to prescribed min. and max. | |||
| *(b) | Enhanced Family Pension : | |||
| Family Pension at ordinary rate as at (a) above x 2, subject to prescribed minimum and maximum as per Rule 54. | ||||
| *EXPLANATION : In case of permanent absorption in Public Sector Undertakings/Autonomous Bodies, whether the retiree opts for pro rata pension or commutation of 100% pension, the above-mentioned entitlement to family pension will be subject to the fulfilment of the following conditions, namely :- | ||||
| (a) | The employee seeking permanent absorption is not entitled to family pension benefit from the Public Sector Undertakings/Autonomous Bodies or under the Employees' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, and | |||
| (b) | Where the employee concerned is governed by the Family Pension Scheme under the Employees' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, he opts to be governed by the Family Pension Scheme of the Central Government after obtaining exemption from the provision of Employees' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act from the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner concerned. | |||
| 11. | PPO No......................................... | |||
| Head of Office | |||
| Place............................................. | |||
| Date.............................................. | |||
Countersigned |
|||
| Pay & Accounts Officer | |||
| Place............................................. | |||
| Date.............................................. | |||
62. Intimation to Accounts Officer regarding any event having bearing on pension
If, after the pension papers have been forwarded to the Accounts Officer within the period specified in sub-rule (4) of Rule 61, any event occurs which has a bearing on the amount of pension admissible, the fact shall be promptly reported to the Accounts Officer by the Head of Office.
63. Intimation of the particulars of Government dues to the Accounts Officer
(1) The Head of Office after ascertaining and assessing the Government dues as in Rule 71, shall furnish the particulars thereof to the Accounts Officer at least two months before the date of retirement of a Government servant so that the dues are recovered out of the gratuity before its payment is authorized.
(2) If, after the particulars of Government dues have been intimated to the Accounts Officer under sub-rule (1), any additional Government dues come to the notice of the Head of Office, such dues shall be promptly reported to the Accounts Officer.
(1) The various stages of action laid down in Rule 59 shall be strictly followed by the Head of Office. There may be an isolated case where, in spite of following the procedure laid down in Rule 59, it may not be possible for the Head of Office to forward the pension papers referred to in Rule 61 to the Accounts Officer within the period prescribed in sub-rule (4) of that rule or where the pension papers have been forwarded to the Accounts Officer within the prescribed period but the Accounts Officer may have returned the pension papers to the Head of Office for eliciting further information before issue of pension payment order and order for the payment of gratuity. If the Head of Office in such a case is of the opinion that the Government servant is likely to retire before his pension and gratuity or both can be finally assessed and settled in accordance with the provisions of these rules, he shall without delay, take steps to determine the qualifying years of service and the emoluments qualifying for pension after the most careful summary investigations that may be made. For this purpose, he shall -
| (i) | rely upon such information as may be available in the official records, and |
| (ii) | ask the retiring Government servant to file a written statement on plain paper stating the total length of qualifying service including details of emoluments drawn during the last ten months of service but excluding the breaks and other non-qualifying periods of service. |
(2) The Government servant while furnishing the statement as in Clause (ii) of sub-rule (1) shall, at the foot of the statement make and subscribe to a declaration as to the truth of the statement.
(3) The Head of Office shall thereafter determine the qualifying years of service and the emoluments qualifying for pension in accordance with the information available in the official records and the information obtained from the retiring Government servant under sub-rule (1). He shall, then determine the amount of provisional pension and the amount of provisional 1[retirement gratuity.]
(4) After the amount of pension and gratuity have been determined under sub-rule (3), the Head of Office shall take further action as follows :-
| (a) | He shall issue a sanction letter addressed to the Government servant endorsing a copy thereof to the Accounts Officer authorizing - | |
| (i) | 100 per cent of pension as determined under sub-rule (3) as provisional pension for a period not exceeding six months to be reckoned from the date of retirement of the Government servant ; and | |
| (ii) | 100 per cent of the gratuity as provisional gratuity as determined under sub-rule (3) withholding ten per cent of gratuity or one thousand rupees, whichever is less. | |
| (b) | He shall indicate in the sanction letter the amount recoverable from the gratuity under sub-rule (1) of Rule 63. After issue of the sanction letter he shall draw - | |
| (i) | the amount of provisional pension ; and | |
| (ii) | the amount of provisional gratuity after deducting there from the amount mentioned in sub-clause (ii) of Clause (a) and the dues, if any, mentioned in Rule 71. | |
in the same manner as pay and allowances of the establishment are drawn by him.
(5) The amount of provisional pension and gratuity payable under sub-rule (4) shall, if necessary, be revised on the completion of the detailed scrutiny of the records.
| 2(6) | (a) | The payment of provisional pension shall not continue beyond the period of six months from the date of retirement of the Government servant. If the amount of final pension and the amount of final gratuity had been determined by the Head of Office in consultation with the Accounts Officer before the expiry of the said period of six months, the Accounts Officer shall - | |
| (i) | issue the pension payment order, | ||
| (ii) | direct the Head of Office to draw and disburse the difference between the final amount of gratuity and the amount of provisional gratuity paid under sub-clause (ii) of Clause (b) of sub-rule (4) after adjusting the Government dues, if any, which may have come to notice after the payment of provisional gratuity. | ||
| (b) | If the amount of provisional pension disbursed to a Government servant under sub-rule (4) is, on its final assessment, found to be in excess of the final pension assessed by the Accounts Officer, it shall be open to the Accounts Officer to adjust the excess amount of pension out of gratuity withheld under sub-clause (ii) of Clause (a) of sub-rule (4) or recover the excess amount of pension in instalments by making short payments of the pension payable in future. | ||
| (c) | (i) | If the amount of provisional gratuity disbursed by the Head of Office under sub-rule (4) is larger than the amount finally assessed, the retired Government servant shall not be required to refund the excess amount actually disbursed to him. | |
| (ii) | The Head of Office shall ensure that chances of disbursing the amount of gratuity in excess of the amount finally assessed are minimized and the officials responsible for the excess payment shall be accountable for the over-payment. | ||
2(7) If the final amount of pension and gratuity have not been determined by the Head of Office in consultation with the Accounts Officer within a period of six months referred to in Clause (a) of sub-rule (6), the Accounts Officer shall treat the provisional pension and gratuity as final and issue pension payment order immediately on the expiry of the period of six months.
3(8) As soon as the pension payment order has been issued by the Accounts Officer under Clause (a) of sub-rule (6) or sub-rule (7), the Head of Office shall take steps to refund the amount of withheld gratuity under sub-clause (ii) of Clause (a) of sub-rule (4) to the retired Government servant after adjusting Government dues which may have come to notice after the payment of provisional gratuity under sub-clause (ii) of Clause (b) of sub-rule (4). If the Government servant was an allottee of Government accommodation, the withheld amount should be refunded on receipt of `No Demand Certificate' from the Directorate of Estates.
Footnote : 1.Substituted by G.I., Dept. of P. & P.W., Notification No. 2/18/87-P.
P.W. (PIC),
dated the 20th July, 1988, published in the Gazette of India as S.O. No. 2388, dated the
6th August, 1988.
2. Substituted by G.I., Dept. of P. & A.R., Notification No. 30/11/80-Pension Unit,
dated the 22nd October, 1981.
3. Inserted by G.I., Dept. of Per. & A.R., Notification No. 30/11/80-Pension Unit,
dated the 22nd October, 1981.
64. GOVERNMENT OF INDIA'S DECISIONS
(1) Issue of Last Pay Certificate. - The issue of a Last Pay Certificate should not be insisted upon before the payment of provisional pension. During the period of six months after retirement which has been provided for various purposes above, it should be possible for the Head of Office or other office concerned to issue the Last Pay Certificate to a Government servant. In cases in which the Last Pay Certificate has not been issued by the time the formal Pension/Gratuity Payment Orders are received (whether this happens prior to the retirement of the Government servant or after his retirement and after the grant of a provisional pension), the Gratuity Payment Order will in any case include a provision for withholding 10% of the gratuity or Rs. 1,000, whichever is less, pending the production of the Last Pay Certificate.
[G.I., M.F., O.M. No. F. 11 (3)-E. V (A)/76, dated the 28th February, 1976-Paragraph 9.]
(2) Adjustment of dues other than pertaining to Government accommodation. - In respect of other Government dues steps should be taken to ascertain or assess the outstanding dues when the processing of pension papers is taken up two years prior to the retirement date. As the next stage of the actual preparation of pension papers is reached only after a year and four months, there is ample time for ascertaining all kinds of Government dues. Once that stage is reached, i.e., eight months before the retirement of the Government servant, any further probing of records for recoveries due shall cover only a limited period, i.e., not more than two years before the date of retirement. It should thus be quite possible for the Head of Office, or the Office which is to issue the Pension Payment Order, as the case may be, to ascertain or assess all the dues particularly those pertaining to long-term advances such as house-building or conveyance advances, over-payment of pay and allowances, and such other dues, prior to the prescribed deadline for the issue of the Pension payment/ Gratuity payment orders or the Provisional pension/Gratuity order. The pension papers should clearly indicate the total amount of outstanding dues which should be recovered out of the retirement gratuity before authority for the payment of gratuity (whether final or provisional) is issued ; and if, after the pension papers have been transmitted to the office responsible for issuing the Pension Payment Order, additional recoveries to be made from the gratuity come to notice, the fact shall be promptly reported to that office. In a case where no major recoveries are due, but 10% of the gratuity or Rs. 1,000 has been withheld because there might be unassessed Government dues, or because gratuity has been provisionally paid or because last pay certificate has not been received, the with held amount automatically become payable on the expiry of the six months after retirement. The Head of Office (or the office issuing the pension and gratuity payment orders) shall indicate in the orders granting a provisional gratuity (or the final Gratuity Payment Order) itself the amount of gratuity withheld and add further that the withheld amount shall be released by the officer disbursing the pension without further instructions on the expiry of the period of six months from the date of retirement, unless instructions for the recovery of a specified sum or sums from the withheld amount are issued within the aforesaid period.
[G.I., M.F., O.M. No. F. 11 (3)-E. V (A).76, dated the 28th February, 1976, paragraph 10 (f).]
(3) Provisional pension to be paid by Head of Office in the absence of intimation from Accounts Officer. - 1. The CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 and the corresponding rules applicable to All India Services Officers, Armed Forces personnel and Railway employees provide for advance action to be taken by the Heads of Offices and the Audit/Accounts Officers to ensure that the amount of pension and gratuity due to a retired Government employee is assessed well in time and the Pension Payment Order issued not later than one month in advance of the date of retirement. In cases where pension and gratuity cannot be settled as contemplated above, the Rules provide for the payment of provisional pension and provisional gratuity [e.g., Rule 64 of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972]. If the Head of Office is of the opinion that the Government servant is likely to retire before his pension or gratuity or both can be finally assessed and settled in accordance with the relevant rules, he shall take expeditious steps to sanction up to 100 % of pension as provisional pension and up to 100 % of gratuity as provisional gratuity, in accordance with the rules.
2. Representations have been made to the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension that provisional pension and provisional gratuity are not being sanctioned by the Heads of Offices as provided for in the rules. This is causing a great deal of avoidable hardship to retiring employees.
3. Government have taken a serious view of these complaints that the provisions of the statutory rules are not being observed. Heads of Offices are advised to ensure that there is no occasion for complaints in future from the retiring employees and to follow the prescribed procedure in letter and spirit. Accountability in this regard will rest with the Head of the Office concerned.
4. If any Central Government employee, on retirement, is not sanctioned provisional pension and provisional gratuity, pending a final determination of his/her pension and issue of the Pension Payment Order, he/she may send a complaint to the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare for taking immediate action. The Government would like to ensure that retiring employees should on their retirement normally receive the final sanction of pensionary benefits. If delay in issuing a final Pension Payment Order is unavoidable, at least the benefits of provisional pension and provisional gratuity should be allowed as prescribed in the rules.
5. These instructions do no apply to cases falling under Rule 9 of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 and corresponding provisions in the rules applicable to All India Services Officers, Armed Forces Personnel and Railway employees, etc.
[G.I., Dept. of P. & P.W., O.M. No. 38/9/87-P. & P.W., dated the 23rd January, 1987.]
(4) Head of Office should ensure that retiring person gets his provisional pension in time. - Rule 64 stipulates that Head of Office is empowered to sanction provisional pension and gratuity for a period of six months to a retiring employee, if he is of the opinion that the Government servant is likely to retire before his pension and gratuity or both can be finally assessed. The Study Team has observed that this option has not been exercised at all in many cases and the retiring person could not get his pension in time due to one or the other objection. In this connection, attention is also invited to Decision (3) above, whereby Heads of Departments/Offices were made accountable for strict compliance of Government orders for issuing authorization of Pension and Gratuity, provisional or final, at the date of retirement on superannuation.
[G.I., Dept. of Pen. & P.W., O.M. No. 38/116/93-P. & P.W. (F), dated the 2nd May, 1994. - Para. 9]
(5) Clarification regarding non applicability of Rule 64 to the case of voluntary/invalid/compulsory retire.
"From a reading of the Rule 64 with Rules 58 and 59 of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, it is clear that Rule 64only deals with the cases of superannuation pension. Therefore, pension cases of voluntary retirement (Rule 48), invalid retirement (Rule 38) and compulsory retirement (Rule 40) are not covered by Rule 64 of the Pension Rules."
[Dept. of Posts, Letter No. 4-32/88-PEN, dated the 16th November, 1988.]
65. Authorization of pension and gratuity by the Accounts Officer
(1) (a) On receipt of pension papers referred to in Rule 61, the Accounts Officer shall apply the requisite checks, record the account enfacement in Part II of Form 7 and assess the amount of pension and gratuity and issue the pension payment order not later than one month in advance of the date of the retirement of the Government servant if the pension is payable in his circle of accounting unit.
(b) If the pension is payable in another circle of accounting unit, the Accounts Officer shall send the pension payment order along with a copy of Form 7 and the accounts enfacement to the Accounts Officer of that unit for arranging payment.
(2) The amount of gratuity as determined by the Accounts Officer under Clause (a) of sub-rule (1) shall be intimated to the Head of Office with the remarks that the amount of the gratuity may be drawn and disbursed by the Head of Office to the retired Government servant after adjusting the Government dues, if any, referred to in Rule 71.
(3) The amount of gratuity withheld under sub-rule (5) of Rule 72 shall be adjusted by the Head of Office against the outstanding licence fee intimated by the Directorate of Estates and the balance, if any, refunded to the retired Government servant.
65. GOVERNMENT OF INDIA'S DECISIONS
(1) Payment of Retirement benefits through demand draft to outstation payees. - Doubts have been expressed in certain quarters as to whether payments of retirement benefits can be arranged to retired Government servants by bank drafts, wherever necessary or only by cheques.
Attention in this connection is invited to Clause (d) of para. 1.12.1 of Civil Accounts Manual according to which payment by bank drafts to outstation payees by Pay and Accounts Offices is permissible in cases, inter alia, of individuals. The term `individuals' will cover cases or payment for retirement benefits to retirees, which are to be routed through the DDO [i.e., payments other than those of monthly pension).
The Pay and Accounts Offices can, therefore, arrange payment of retirement benefits (other than payments of monthly pension) to retired Government servants where the concerned DDOs are situated at a station different from the one where the concerned Pay and Accounts Office is located and also to such other retired employees who stay after retirement at a station other than that of their DDO/PAO.
[G.I., M.F., O.M. No. G. 19011/2/83/MF/CGA/CTR/1206, dated the 6th February, 1985.]
(2) Retirement benefits up to Rs. 10,000 can be paid through uncrossed cheque/demand draft. - According to paragraph 2 of O.M. No. G.19011/1/77-MF/CGA/5035, dated the 29th March, 1979 (not mentioned), payment of Retirement/Death Gratuity, withheld amount of Retirement/Death Gratuity will be made by cheque/demand draft to be drawn in favour of the pensioner. Such cheques/demand drafts being usually in excess of Rs. 250 are requested to be crossed and marked "Account Payee" in accordance with para. 1.8.1 of the Civil Accounts Manual.
It has been represented that most of the staff of industrial organizations like Government of India Mints, etc., are not having bank accounts. They consequently face difficulty in encashing the crossed cheque/demand draft. Keeping in view the hardship being faced by staff having no bank accounts, it has been decided that in cases where a retiring employee makes a specific request in writing for not crossing the cheque/demand draft in the above form, the amount of retirement gratuity/withheld amount of retirement gratuity, which does not exceed Rs. 10,000 may be paid by an "Open cheque" instead of by crossed and marked "Account Payee" cheque/draft, subject to the condition that the payment will be made only to the payee on identification, or to a person holding letter of authority from the payee whose signatures must be verified and after identifying the messenger as laid down in para. 1.8.1 of the Civil Accounts Manual.
In the case of death of a Government servant while in service or after retirement, but before receiving amount of retirement/death gratuity, the payment thereof, to the legal heir(s) will, however, invariably be made by crossed cheque/demand draft marked "Account payee" drawn in favor of the payee(s).
[G.I., M.F., O.M. No. G. 19011/1/77/MF/CGA/709, dated the 24th September, 1982.]
(3) Issue of Identity cards to pensioners at their cost
It has been decided that Identity Cards will be issued by various Ministries/Departments/offices to its retired/retiring employees and the expenditure on providing a laminated Identity Card will be borne by the pensioner. This Department has devised a format in which Identity Cards are to be issued to pensioners (specimen enclosed). It will be the responsibility of the concerned Ministry/Department to work out the expenditure that may be involved in issuing a laminated Identity Card to pensioner and the card may be issued at the request of the pensioner on cost recovery basis.
3. Ministry of Agriculture, etc., are requested to take urgent necessary action in this regard.
ENCLOSURE
FRONT
|
PENSIONER'S IDENTITY CARD
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF..............
No. Name Space for Residential Address: Photograph Telephone No. Blood Group Signature of card holder
Signature of Issuing Authority with seal
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REVERSE
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Date of birth/superannuation* Post held on Retirement/pay scale* Last pay/average emoluments* Qualifying service Pension Originally sanctioned P.P.O. No. and date
*In brackets |
(G.I., Deptt. of P&PW's O.M. No. 41/21/2000-P&PW(D) dated 16-11-2000)
(4) Commuted value of pension may be authorised to discussed through the Head of Office, in the cases of retirement on superannuation. [ please refer to Rule 15(3) of CCS (commutation of pension) Rules, 1981 ]