General

41. Rules and orders indicating the powers exercised by the Government in respect of expenditure from the revenues of the State, and those regulating the powers of the heads of departments and other subordinate authorities to sanction or incur expenditure on behalf of the Government, will be found in the book of Financial Powers, Volume I of the Handbook.

41-A. Under Treasury Rule 12, the term "withdrawal" with its cognate expressions as used in these rules refers to the withdrawal of funds from the Government Account for disbursements of, or on behalf of the State other than disbursements in the United Kingdom.

NOTE—For disbursements on behalf of the Central or other State Governments, see Treasury Rules 34 and 35 (Appendix II) and paragraph 85-A.

41-B. Under Treasury Rule 13, unless the Government in the Finance Department, after consultation with the Accountant General, otherwise directs in any case, moneys may not be withdrawn from the Government Account without the written permission of the Treasury Officer or of an officer of the Indian Audit Department authorized in this behalf by the Accountant General.

41-C. Under Treasury Rule 14, the Accountant General may permit withdrawal for any purpose authorized by the Government.

41-D. Under Treasury Rule 27, a Collector may, in circumstances of urgency, by an order in "writing authorize and require a Treasury Officer to make a payment, not being a payment of pension, without complying with the provisions of the Treasury Rules. In any such case the Collector shall at once forward a copy of his order and a statement of the circumstances requiring it to the Accountant General.

42. Under Treasury Rule 17, a Treasury Officer has no general authority to make payments on demands presented at the Treasury, his authority being strictly limited to the making of payments authorized by or under the Treasury Rules. If a demand of any kind is presented at a Treasury for a payment which is not authorised by or under these rules, or is not covered by a special order received from the Accountant General, the Treasury Officer shall decline payment for want of authority. A Treasury Officer has no authority to act under an order of the Government sanctioning a payment, unless the order is an express order to him to make the payment ; and even such special orders should, in the absence of urgency, be sent through the Accountant General.

NOTE—The rule in paragraph 42 does not authorize the Treasury Officer to refuse payment of bills which do not comply with such provisions of rules or orders, as those, requiring that sanctions to certain specified charges should be quoted on the bills, when the omission to comply with these provisions is due to the fact that the necessary sanction has not been obtained. The responsibility for incurring such unsanctioned charges rests with the drawing officer, and the Treasury Officer is not empowered to refuse the payment of such bills on the ground that the charges have not been sanctioned.

42-A. (Deleted).

42-B. (a) Subject to the provisions of the rules contained in this volume of the Handbook and in the Government Securities Manual, a Treasury Officer may under Treasury Rule 15, permit withdrawal for all or any of the following purposes, namely :

(i) To pay sums due from the Government to the drawing officer.

(ii) To provide the drawing officer with funds to meet claim likely to be presented against the Government in the immediate future by :—

(1) other Government servants, or

(2) private parties.

(iii) To enable the drawing officer to supply funds to another Government servant from which to meet similar claims.

(iv) To pay direct from the Treasury or from the Bank sums due by the Government to a private party.

(v) In the case of an officer or authority empowered to make investments of moneys standing in the Government account for the purpose of such investment. (See paragraps 22-B).

(vi) To pay sums to the drawing officer on account of permanent advance sanctioned to his office.

(vii) To pay sums on account of grants-in-aid, contributions, Scholarship; Stipends, etc.

NOTE—The term grants-in-aid, contributions, etc., includes such classes of expenditure as grants to local bodies, religious, charitable or educational institutions, contributions to public exhibitions and fairs, expenditure from the discretionary grants and compensations to Government servants, both Gazetted and non-gazetted, for accidental losses, etc.

(viii) To pay sums on accounts of loans and advances.

(b) Unless expressly authorised by the Accountant General a Treasury Officer shall not permit withdrawal for any purpose not specified in clause (a) of this rule.

42-C. Under Treasury Rule 18, a Treasury Officer shall not honour a claim which he considers to be disputable. He shall require the claimant to refer it to the Accountant General.

42-D. Under Treasury Rule 26, a Treasury Officer may correct an arithmetical inaccuracy or an obvious mistake in any bill presented to him for payment, but shall intimate to the drawing officer any correction which he makes.

42-E. The Treasury Officer is not permitted to undertake correspondence on behalf of Government servants in respect of claims which he may consider to be disputable.

42-F. Under Treasury Rule 19, a payment shall be made in the district in which the claim arises except in the cases provided by Treasury Rules 20 and 21 (see Appendix II) or in cases where the Government may by a general or special order otherwise direct (see also paragraph 98).

43. Under Treasury Rule 24, the Treasury Officer shall be responsible to the Accountant General for acceptance of the validity of a claim against which he has permitted withdrawal and for evidence that the payee has actually received the sum withdrawn. He is, therefore, required under Treasury Rule 25 to obtain sufficient information as to the nature of every payment he is making and shall not accept a voucher which does not formally present that information unless there are valid reasons which he shall record in writing for omitting to require it.

44. In view of the provisions of paragraph 43, above drawing officers as well as the Treasury Officers should pay careful attention to the rules regarding the completion of vouchers laid down in paragraph 47.

45. Under Treasury Rule 16, a Treasury Officer shall not except as provided in Treasury Rules 26 and 27 (paragraphs 41-D and 42-D) permit withdrawal for any purpose unless the claim for withdrawal is presented by such person and in such form, and has been satisfactorily submitted by the Treasury Officer to such checks, as the Government in the Finance Department after consultation with the Accountant General may prescribe.

45-A. (i) Under rule (16) (i) of the Treasury Rules, a person having a claim against the Government shall present his voucher at the Treasury duly receipted, and stamped where necessary, and unless otherwise specially provided, no such claim shall be paid unless the claim is first submitted to and the payment directed by the Treasury Officer.

(ii) Under rule 16 (ii) of the Treasury Rules, where Sub-Treasuries are specially permitted by the Government to cash certain classes of bills without reference to the Treasury Officer, the payment of such bills shall not, except under special arrangements and on particular occasions, be allowed at the district Treasury also.

(iii) Under rule 16 (iii) of the Treasury Rules, all bills and vouchers on which payment is made by the Treasury Officer or which are enfaced by him for payment at the Bank or a Sub-Treasury shall show to what head of account the payment is to be debited, how the amount of the payment is to be allocated between governments or departments and what amount, if any, pertains to the revenues of the Central Government.

45-B. In order that the Treasury may correctly classify payments as being debitable to the revenues of the State or the Central Government the words "State" or "Central" should be prominently noted on all bills, vouchers, or cheques. As an abreviation letter "S" or "C" may be used [see paragraph 47 (e)].

45-C. The Treasury Officer, before paying any bill of a covenanted civilian must see that the deductions on account of the Indian Civil Service Provident Fund have been made.

45-D. All cheques, bills, etc. preferable at a Treasury for payment, being non-negotiable instruments, can be endorsed only once in favour of the specific party to whom the money is to be paid :

Provided that—

(1) When the endorsement is made on a cheque or a bill in favour of a banker, a second endorsement can be made by the banker in favour of a messenger or an agent for collection only; and

(2) in the case of a contingent bill which has been endorsed in favour of a firm of suppliers under sub-paragraph (i) of paragraph 176-A, the firm can endorse to its banker or to a messenger for collection only, and the bank in turn endorse it to a messenger or agent for collection only. Thus, in all, three endorsements are permissible in such cases, provided that out of the three endorsement one is to the payee’s banker and one is to a messenger or agent for collection only.

(3) An agent may notwithstanding anything contained in the preceding provisions endorse the cheque of bill in favour of his messenger for the purpose or collecting the same.

Explanation—In this paragraph an agent means any bank acting as a collecting agency for and on behalf of the payee’s banker.

NOTE—Cheques drawn directly on the Bank without the intervention of the Treasury Officer are negotiable instruments and are not subject to the provisions of this paragraph.

45-E. (1) At places where the Treasury business is conducted by the Bank on behalf of the Government, all payments, with certain exceptions, are made at the Bank. Government Bank Drafts and cheques are presented direct at the Bank, but other vouchers or bills should first be presented at the Treasury.

(2) All bills, cheques and other documents passed by the Treasury Officers and by the office of the Accountant General for payment at the Bank, as well as Interest Payment Orders, etc. being non-negotiable instruments, warrant special precaution on the part of the Bank in the matter of identification of payees. All such claims have normally to be presented by the payee personally at the Bank and save as provided in paragraph 45-D, no endorsements are permissible. Where payment is desired to be made to an endorsee (other than a banker) or a messenger, the provisions of paragraph 176-A (2) should be strictly followed by the drawing officer. The Bank will not, however, disburse payments of such claims unless the Bank is satisfied about the identity of the person receiving payment. The Bank shall also verify before marking the payment that the signature of the drawing officer attesting the payees signature tallies with that on the bill as passed by the Treasury Officer.

(3) Cheques issued on the Bank at out-stations in final payment of the Central Provident Fund Deposit of a subscriber should always be sent to the Treasury Officer concerned for delivery to the payee after proper identification.

(4) Payments which have to be made at Sub-Treasuries may be arranged for by obtaining cash orders issued by the district Treasury. Between places where there is an office or branch or an agency of the Reserve Bank of India demand drafts are issued in lieu of cash orders.