CHAPTER XIX

GENERAL SYSTEM OF CONTROL OVER TREASURY

District Treasury

401. Under Treasury Rule 4(1), unless the Government, after consultation with the Accountant General, otherwise direct in any special case, there shall be a Treasury in every district. Each Treasury of the district shall be divided into two departments: a department of accounts, under the charge of an accountant and a cash department, under the charge of a Chief Cashier.

Charge of Treasuries

402. Under Treasury Rule 4(2), the Treasury shall be under the general charge of the Collector, who may entrust the immediate executive control to a Treasury Officer subordinate to him, but may not divest himself of administrative control. The Collector shall be responsible for the proper observance of the procedure prescribed by or under these rules and for the punctual submission of all returns required from the Treasury by the Government, the Board of Revenue, the Directorate of Treasuries and Accounts, the Directorate of Financial Statistics, the Accountant General and the Reserve Bank of India. Subject to the provisions of this rule, the respective responsibilities of the Collector and the Treasury Officer for business of the Treasury shall be such as may be defined in accordance with such rules as the Government in the Finance Department may approve, after consultation with the Accountant General. [See paragraphs 409—411 C.]

403. The District Officer should be particularly careful, when assuming or making over charge of a district, to see that the stock of stamps, opium, etc. is thoroughly verified (See Annexure I to Appendix XXI) and the certificate in Form no. 5–B, which is required from a relieving officer showing the state of the cash, stamps and opium balances, is invariably despatched to the Accountant General on the same day that the charge is transferred. (See paragraph 116 of Part I) :

(1) The procedure for verifying the cash balance by counting is explained in detail in rule 121 of the Central Treasury Rules.

(2) The relieving officer should check the totals shown in the cash and stock-books at the time of verification of cash and stock balances.

(3) The cheque books, receipt books, repayment order books and other such books should be counted and checked with the entries in the register of forms.

(4) Valuables kept for safe custody in the Treasury (See paragraphs 35—40 of Part I) should also be verified and compared with the register of valuables.

(5) Padlocks in use and stocked in the Treasury should be examined and the entries in the register of padlocks verified.

(6) A note of verification should be recorded in all cases on the stock and other registers.

NOTE—In the case of districts where there are two or more independent treasuries, the incoming District Officer may verify the balances at the head-quarters treasury; in respect of the outlying treasury/treasuries, he may accept the verification certificate by the Sub-Divisional Officer or other officer in-charge of the treasury/treasuries stationed there and incorporate it in the certificate to be sent to the Accountant General. Within one month of taking over charge of the district, the District Officer should himself verify the balances of the outlying treasury/treasuries and send a further report to the Accountant General.

404. No Indian Administrative Service Officer should be placed in charge of a district treasury except as a strictly temporary measure, pending the arrival of a Treasury Officer appointed to the post.

405. (1) The charge of the district treasury shall, as a rule, be entrusted to a member of the Uttar Pradesh Finance and Accounts Service. He shall devote himself exclusively to the treasury work.

NOTE —The above rule applies to the Additional Treasury Officer also.

(2) During the absence of the permanent Treasury Officer on duty or on leave, and also in the event of a Treasury Officer of the U. P. Finance and Accounts Service not being available, the charge of the treasury shall be entrusted to any of the Deputy Collectors as the District Officer may deem suitable. Charge of a treasury, if there is only one Treasury Officer who proceeds on casual leave for not more than three days, may be given to Treasury Head Clerk provided that no Deputy Collector is available.

(3) Frequent change of Treasury Officers is undesirable and should be avoided as far as possible.

406. (1) When assuming charge of the Treasury, the Treasury Officer should examine the accounts; verify the entire cash held in the Treasury including that in the currency chest, and the stock of stamps and opium; count the cheque books, receipt books, repayment order books and other such books; check the valuables kept for safe custody in the Treasury, verifying the entries in the register of forms and valuables; examine the treasury padlocks and compare the entries in the register of padlocks. The result of the verification should be noted on the stock and other registers; and a verification certificate of the cash balances in the currency chest forwarded to the Currency Officer in the manner and in the form prescribed in the Central Treasury Rules (See also Annexure I to Appendix XXI).

NOTES—(1) The totals shown in the cash and stock books should be checked at the time of the verification of balances.

(2) The outgoing Treasury Officer should be present throughout while the incoming Treasury Officer is carrying out the verification and checking as in this paragraph.

(2) A note should be recorded in the charge certificate showing the number of the copy of the Cypher Code handed over to the officer assuming the charge of the Treasury. (See paragraph 116B of Part I).

NOTE—The procedure for verification of cash is laid down in rule 121 of the Central Treasury Rules.

407. In order to ensure a better acquaintance with the system of treasury accounts and of the revenue accounts—

(i) an examination in treasury and local fund accounts and in departmental revenue accounts shall form a part of the test obligatory on all deputy collectors or other government servants at the departmental examinations according to both the lower and higher standards. The scope of the questions at the former will necessarily be somewhat elementary, but at the latter, the candidate should be required to exhibit a satisfactory general acquaintance with the whole system of accounts as prevailing in the State.

(ii) Deleted

(C.S. No. 80 dated 07.09.83)

[Vitta (Lekha)Anubhag File No.10(27)/1981]

408. District Officers are not to consider that by virtue of the foregoing arrangements for the immediate charge of treasuries, their own responsibility is in any sense diminished.

Responsibility of District and Treasury Officers

409. Detailed rules regulating the duties and responsibilities of District and Treasury Officers will be found in Appendix XX. Some of the important duties are described in the succeeding paragraphs.

410. The Accountant General directs his communications regarding treasury work either to the District Officer or to the Treasury Officer. As the officer in general charge of the Treasury, the District Officer is responsible for the security of the cash balance, stamps and opium, the immediate detection of any irregular practice on the part of the subordinates, the correctness of the returns and the punctuality of their submission and implicit obedience of the Treasury Officer to the instructions issued by the Accountant General.

411. District Officers should remember that when an irregularity of any kind is brought to their notice by the Accountant General, nothing but a report on their own knowledge, after personal investigation, can be considered satisfactory. It is not enough for them to pass on the explanation of a subordinate; reports prepared in this manner have more than once, by lulling suspicion, led to greater irregularity afterwards.

411A. (1) The District Officer is required to verify the District Treasury balance in person and sign the accounts to be rendered to the Accountant General and the Currency Officer, Kanpur, vide rule 45 of the Central Treasury Rules. He is however, authorized to depute another gazetted officer of the district staff, other than the Treasury Officer, to verify the balances and sign the monthly accounts when he finds it impossible to do so himself. He must, however, continue to perform this duty in person at least once in every six months as laid down in rule 45 of the Central Treasury Rules.

(2) If neither the District Officer nor any gazetted officer of the district staff, other than the Treasury Officer himself, is present at headquarters when the accounts are ready for signature, the cash balance may be verified and the accounts be signed by the Treasury Officer, but the absence of all other officers as above must be certified on the face of the accounts; and the cash balance should be verified by another officer and reported to the Accountant General as soon as any such other officer returns to headquarters.

(3) When the verification of the balance takes place on a date other than the first of a month, it should be reported to the Currency Officer, Kanpur in the usual form of cash balance report.

411B. If an embezzlement or loss of government money, stamps or opium should occur in the Treasury, it should be immediately reported to the Accountant General and to the Government through the Commissioner of the Division in accordance with the procedure prescribed in paragraph 82 of Part I. As soon as possible afterwards, a detailed report of the circumstances, specifying the nature and the extent of the loss and showing the errors or neglect of rules by which such loss was rendered possible, and the prospects of effecting a recovery, must also be sent, under the signatures of the District Officer, to the Accountant General in order to enable him to report the case for the information of the Government.

Responsibility of the Treasury Officer

411C. As the District Officer’s delegate and representative, the Treasury Officer is responsible primarily to the District Officer for the right discharge of his duty. The District Officer expects from the Treasury Officer a thorough observance of all prescribed treasury rules and strict attention to all the details of the daily routine of treasury work. The Treasury Officer is required to satisfy himself of the accuracy of every claim before authorizing payment, and must follow strictly the rules prescribed for his guidance, as he will be held personally responsible for all erroneous or irregular payments. He is jointly responsible with the District Officer for the safe custody of the cash, notes and other Government property; but in the event of any loss or embezzlement, if it be shown that the District Officer has taken every ordinary precaution and has neglected none of the particular duties imposed upon him by the rules and has not relaxed the sustained supervision and control over the working of the treasury business which the Government expect from him and that the loss or embezzlement has occurred solely through the carelessness or dishonesty of the Treasury Officer, the District Officer will not be held responsible. Similarly, the Treasury Officer will not be held responsible in the event of any loss or defalcation if he can show that he has strictly observed the rules prescribed for his guidance in each branch of his duties, and that he has enforced their observance on his subordinates. (See also paragraphs 41D, 42-45D, 98, 101 and 112 of Part I and Appendix XX)

Custody of moneys relating to or standing in the Government Account of the State

411D. (1) Under Treasury Rule 11 (1), the procedure for the safe custody of moneys in the hands of government servants, or held in a Treasury, shall be as prescribed by the Government in the Finance Department, after consultation with the Accountant General.

(2) Under Treasury Rule 11 (2), the Bank is responsible for the safe custody of government moneys deposited in the Bank

Transfer of moneys standing in the Government Account of the State

411E. Under Treasury Rule 30, the transfer of government moneys from one Treasury to another, and between the currency chest balance and treasury balance of a Treasury and between a Treasury and the Bank shall be governed by such instructions as may be issued in this behalf by the Government in the Finance Department after consultation with the Reserve Bank of India. The transfer of moneys from or to a Small Coin Depot to or from a Treasury under the control of the State Government shall be governed by instructions issued by the President in this behalf.

412. Detailed rules approved by the Government for dealing with the custody and remittance of treasure, are laid down in the Central Treasury Rules. These rules should be strictly followed, and no departure can be allowed without the previous sanction of the Government in the Finance Department.

413. (1) A remittance of treasure, as soon as it is despatched from or paid out of a Treasury, should be charged off in the cash-book (paragraph 444), and classified in the manner indicated in the Annexure to this Chapter. This rule does not apply to currency remittances (i.e., remittances from a Currency Officer or from another currency chest).

(2) Similarly, immediately on the arrival of a remittance, credit for the whole invoiced amount should be given in the cash-book, and the remittance classified in like manner; the place whence the remittance is received also being noted therein.

Custody of private funds in the Treasury

414. Private money, boxes or other articles belonging to government servants, private individuals, non-Government bodies or institutions shall not be accepted for cutody nor kept in the treasuries except in cases in which permission may have been specialy given by the rules in paragraphs 35 to 40 of Part I or by an order under those rules. Officers inspecting treasuries should give this matter special attention and bring to notice any infringement of this rule.

Chief Cashier’s Department

415. The Chief Cashier should maintain a simple cash-book (without subordinate registers) in which each receipt and payment is posted at the time of making it. The Chief Cashier will sign and immediately return to the accountant (after the necessary entry in his accounts ) all receipts for money recieved. He will stamp all payment vouchers "Paid" and retain them for delivery to the accounts departments when the books are compared

415A. The disbursement of pay and travelling allowance, etc. of the non-gazetted establishment of the district headquarters office and the safe custody of undisbursed amounts are a part of duties of the Chief Cashier.

The undisbursed balances of pay and travelling allowance, etc. should be included in the cash left with the Chief Cashier in the single lock, and shall thus be covered by the amount of security the Chief Cashier has furnished to Government. If in the first few days of the month, the balance is large and leads to an excess over the amount of security, the Treasury Officer should ask the Chief Cashier to keep the money in the double lock for safe custody. In order to maintain a proper check over these balances the Chief Cashier should maintain an account of daily disbursements in Form no. 43B. The daily balance struck in the register maintained in this Form should also be shown in the column "cash in hand" in Form no. 50A. [See Notes (i) to (iii) under paragraph 457].

416. When stamps or opium have been sold, the total sales should be entered before the cash-book is closed, and a memorandum should be prepared and forwarded to the accountant, so that the necessary entry may be made in the accounts.

416A. In the case of treasuries the cash business of which is conducted by the Bank, the Chief Cashier should maintain a cash-book in Form no 2 in Part I. In this book, he should enter all moneys received by him on account of sale-proceeds of stamps and opium and the amount of pension advances drawn from the Bank for payment of petty pensions under paragraph 530 A. Only the totals from sale-registers of stamps and opium, or other prescribed subsidiary registers should be entered in the cash-book. In the case of stamps, only the grand total of the sale-proceeds of stamps of all denominations should be entered. The entries regarding disbursements should in each case be filled up whether the moneys are disbursed in cash (in the case of pensions) or paid into the Bank. The opening and closing balances of amounts relating to pension advances should be shown separately from other amounts relating to sale-proceeds of stamps and opium, in respect of which the balances will be nil, if such amounts are remitted to the Bank in the evening everyday; otherwise, the balances in the hands of the Chief Cashier at the close of the day will be distinctly shown. The cash-book will be put up before the Treasury Officer everyday with the daily accounts which he will check very thoroughly and sign under his full dated signatures. As regards entries in the Cash Book, he will also initial each entry.

Receipts of money

417. In the case of Non-Banking Treasuries the momorandum (Chalan) in Form no. 13A with which money is presented to be paid in will be handed first to the accountant who, if it is in order in all respects, will sign it Next, the person making the payment will present it with the cash to the Chief Cashier, who will count and test the money, enter the amount in his own book, and sign the slip, which will again be taken to the accountant for entry in his cash-book and for the preparation of a formal receipt for his own or the Treasury Officer’s signature. Such a receipt only will be a proper acquittance. If more than one copy of memorandum is presented, the original copy may be made use of for the receipt given by the Treasury.

NOTES—(1) As provided in paragraph 31 B of Part I, the words "Central ‘ or "State" or letter "C" or "S" should be prominently marked at the top right-hand corner of all chalans, so that, the documents may readily be distinguished and items of receipt classified and credited in the accounts, accordingly.

(2) If a cheque on a bank is accepted in payment of dues of the Government under the rules, the receipt for the actual cheque only should be given but the formal receipt for payment should not be issued until the cheque has been cleared. See paragraph 25A of Part I.

(3) In the original copy of the treasury chalan and also in such other copies thereof as are required to be given to the tenderer of moneys as acknowledgement, the receiving Treasury should express the amount received both in figures and in words and in the other copies which are required for departmental use and do not at any stage come in the heads of the tenderer, the amount received may be stated in figures only with the usual receiving rubber stamps.

(4) The acknowledgement on the Treasury Chalan for moneys received may be signed by the authorized officer, under his full signature only on the original and such other copies as are required to be returned to the tenderer : the acknowledgement on other copies may be merely initialled by him.

418. All receipts should be signed by the accountant and the Treasury Officer except that receipts for sums less than Rs. 500 and those granted for the value of service postage stamps tendered in cash or by cheque whatever the amount (vide paragraph 31 of Part I and paragraph 421) may be signed only by the accountant. All receipts for cash should, however, be signed by the Chief Cashier also. Those for sums received by transfer in account, will not be signed by the Chief Cashier; and the District Officer will, by an office order designate the person who shall attach the second signature in the case of sums under Rs. 500.

419. The Public Works and some other departments send a remittance book with their payments to the Treasury and in it the treasury receipts should he given. The usual memorandum (or chalan) is required in addition to the remittance book for use in the Treasury.

420. When slips in duplicate are tendered with cash, the accountant may initial both and receiving both back signed by the Chief Cashier may complete his signature on the original copy and return it as a receipt to the person who makes the payment, first obtaining in the case of sums of Rs. 500 and upwards, the signature of the Treasury Officer.

421. Cash should not be received from government servants for supplies of service postage stamps which should be made only under paragraph 166 of Part I. Nor should any receipts be granted for such supplies except when payment is made therefore by a cheque drawn by a disbursing officer of the indenting department. A receipt should, however, be issued when service postage stamps are sold for cash to the public under the rules in the Stamp Manual. Whenever a receipt is granted, it should always be on machine-numbered Form no. 1A ( of paragraph 3 ( of Part I) and may be signed by the Treasury accountant instead of the Treasury Officer whatever the amount may be. In the case of Sub-Treasuries also, the receipts will be issued in Form no. 1A but they will be signed by the Sub Treasury Officer in all cases. The sale of service postage stamps to servants of local funds or to government servants in capacities connected with such funds is prohibited, vide paragraph 366 of part I

422. (Deleted)

423. The Public Works Department has also a special printed form of indent for service postage stamps for use when the value of stamps is paid by cheque. This form should be recorded in the Treasury and not signed by the Treasury Officer as a receipt.

424. (Deleted)

425. When money has been paid into a Treasury, the Treasury Officer should not sign a duplicate memorandum, or a copy thereof, on the allegation that the original has been lost (vide also paragraph 75 of Part I).

426. (Deleted)

427. (Deleted)

427-A. When money is paid by a private person into a Treasury located in the same place as the departmental officer concerned in the payment, the chalan should be initialed by the departmental officer to whose account the money is to be credited. Otherwise, the chalan should be tendered in triplicate; the departmental copy may be collected by the departmental officer from the Treasury.

Payment of money

428. (1) The bill or other voucher presented as a claim for money will be received and examined by the accountant and then laid before the Treasury Officer, who, if the claim is admissible, the authority good, the signature and counter-signature, where necessary, true and in order and the receipt a legal quittance, will sign the order for payment at foot of the voucher, taking care to adopt the precautions prescribed in paragraph 47 (c) of Part I and the points mentioned in Appendix XXIII. Care should be taken that all bills and vouchers passed for payment are paid the same day and that no payment is made except under the written order of the Treasury Officer.

(2) All bills and vouchers presented as a claim for money will be checked and entered in a Bill Passing Register (Warrant Register) by the Bill Passing Clerk. After being examined by the accountant, the bills (or vouchers) will be put up before the Treasury Officer along with the Warrant Register for being passed for payment, if in order. On being passed for payment, the bills would be entered in the register of payment and passed on to the Chief Cashier for disbursement; if the bills (or vouchers) are not found in order, they will be returned along with the objections in detail.

(3) If the payee fails to appear to take payment on the day the bill is presented and passed for payment, the payment order should be cancelled and necessary changes made in the accounts.

NOTES (1) Under paragraph 45B, of Part I, all government servants authorized to draw money from the Treasuries or the Bank are required to mark the words "Central" or "State" or letters "C" or "S" (according as the expenditure is debitable to the revenues of the Central or State Government) prominently at the top of the right-hand corner of all vouchers, cheques, bills, etc. so that the expenditure may be classified accordingly. Similarly, in respect of expenditure debitable to the State, they are also required to indicate at the top of the right-hand corner of all vouchers, cheques, bills, etc. whether these relate to Plan or Non-Plan expenditure. The Treasury Officer should see that these instructions are observed by the Drawing Officers.

(2) The procedure to be followed by Treasury Officers in dealing with demands not provided for by this rule is laid down in paragraph 42 of Pan 1.

(3) In order to ensure that the bills or other vouchers presented at the Treasury by the various Departmental Officers are not lost or they do not fall in the hands of unauthorized persons, the bills or vouchers presented must be acknowledged in the Treasury or a receipt granted to the presenter. Similarly, the Departmental Officers or their authorized representatives shall grant receipt when bills or other vouchers are returned by Treasury on the register of payment orders (Warrant Register). The procedure prescribed in this connection is given in Appendix XXIV and should be strictly followed by the Departmental Officers and in the Treasury.

429. A register shall be kept in each Treasury showing the names of all those gazetted officers whose pay is authorized by the Accountant General and who draw their pay from that Treasury. Each officer will be allotted a separate page in this register and details of pay-slips received from the Accountant General will be entered on the left-hand side of the page relating to the officer. All retrenchments ordered by the Accountant General, instructions about which are given in Note 4 under paragraph 81 of Part I, and recoveries, if any, due to be made from him on account of orders of a Court or in respect of loans and advances sanctioned to him will also likewise be noted on the same side of the page relating to the officer. When a pay bill is presented for payment, it should be checked with reference to the entries on this side of the page so that the sanctioned rate is not exceeded and all recoveries required to be made are invariably effected. If the claim is in order, the amount to be drawn and deductions to be made will be entered in the appropriate columns on the right-hand side of the page allotted to the officer concerned and put up to the Treasury Officer for being passed.

NOTE—Register of Pay-slips of gazetted officers shall be preserved in the Treasury for twelve years.

429-A. The specimen signature of gazetted officers should be sent to the Treasury Officer, duly attested by the relieved officer or the immediate superior officer in terms of paragraph 66 of Part I. In case the relieved officer has left before the relieving officer takes over charge, and there is no immediate superior officer, then the specimen signatures should be attested by any gazetted officer whose specimen signature is already with the Treasury Officer. These specimen signatures, as attested, should be pasted in the register maintained in terms of the above rule.

430. The Treasury Officer should take special care to see that receipt stamps are so defaced that they cannot be used again, and offer no temptation to the abstraction of vouchers for the sake of the stamps upon them. Several cases of the loss of vouchers have occurred owing to the neglect of this precaution.

431. No payment is to be made without the orders of the Accountant General to a Gazetted Officer whose pay is authorized by the Accountant General, on his transfer from another State or from another department or on his return from foreign service or on return from leave out of India.

(See paragraphs 41B - 42D and 42 - 42B of part I)

NOTE—(1) All Treasury Officers will be supplied with a copy of the specimen signatures of the different gazetted officers of the audit department, who are authorized to sign payment orders on bills and vouchers or to issue letters of authority for payments to be made at Treasuries. Before a Treasury Officer pays a bill on the authority of an order purporting to have been issued by the Accountant General, he should certify the signature on the order by comparison with the specimen signature and seals of the signing officer.

(2) The Accountant General, Central Revenues and of other States may, with the concurrence of another Accountant General, issue payment orders direct on selected Treasuries of that State outside their jurisdiction. The procedure prescribed in note (1) will be applicable in this case also.

432. Under paragraph 43 of Part I, the Treasury Officer has to satisfy not only himself, but also the audit department, that the claim is valid; and has further to prove that the payee has actually received the sum charged. Careful attention must, therefore, be given to the rules regarding the completion of vouchers, referred to in paragraph 47 of Part I. The Treasury Officer must have sufficient information as to the nature of every payment he is making, and is without excuse if he accepts a voucher which does not formally record that information.

1. Careful attention should be paid to the provisions of paragraphs 42C, 42E, 44, 45 and 48 of Part I.

2. When bills presented for payment contain obvious arithmetical mistakes or trifling mistakes which can easily be corrected, a Treasury Officer should not return such bills, but should correct them (see paragraph 421) of Part I) and pay the corrected amount of the bills. Similarly, where bills contain doubtful items, which can easily be eliminated, the Treasury or Sub-Treasury Officer should disallow the doubtful items and pay the remainder of the bill. In all cases, the corrections made and the reasons therefor should be intimated to the presenter of the bill and, if necessary, to the Accountant General (or the Treasury Officer in the case of payments made at a Sub-Treasury).

432-A. Under paragraph 41 D of Part I, 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 (Appendix II of Part I). In any such case, the Collector shall at once forward a copy of his order and a statement of the circumstances requiring it, and the Treasury Officer shall at once report the payment to the Accountant General. (See also Treasury Rule 27).

433. After the voucher has been completely entered in the accounts and the order to pay signed by the Treasury Officer, it should be passed on, together with the payee, to the Chief Cashier’s department, when the Chief Cashier will make the payment, punch the stamp, stamp the voucher "Paid," and retain it for delivery to the accounts department when the books are compared.

434. The Chief Cashier will enter the payment in his account which is a cash-book (without subordinate registers) in which each transaction is posted as it occurs.

1. When a payment is made "by transfer," that is, by entry of the amount in the accounts as received under the same head of receipt, no payment of cash takes place and the items will not find a place in the Chief Cashier’s cash book, nor should the voucher be stamped "paid" by him.

N.B. Cheques received in payment of value of service stamps should, however, be entered in the Chief Cashier’s cash-book on both sides.

2. When a payment is to be made by transfer to a head of revenue or receipt for which a register is maintained (say, for example, Land Revenue), the payment order should indicate the major and detailed heads affected, and should run—"Pay Rs. by transfer to credit of Land Revenue. Fixed collections."

3. When the entries in the accounts are complete, the voucher should be stamped by the accountant "Paid by transfer."

435. Under paragraph 16 of Part I, the term "treasury" includes a Sub-Treasury. The procedure in regard to the receipt, custody and payment of money at district treasuries is, therefore, generally applicable to Sub-Treasuries also, save that, with the exception of the cases enumerated in Appendix II to the Sub-Treasury Manual or such other exceptions as are allowed by Government separately, no bill may be paid at a Sub-Treasury without being first submitted to, and payment directed by, the District Treasury Officer. (See paragraphs 45-A and 45-E)

All receipts for money paid in at a Sub-Treasury should be signed by the Sub-Treasury Officer as the rule in paragraph 31-C of Part I authorizing the accountant and the Chief Cashier to sign receipts for sums less than Rs. 500 is not applicable to Sub-Treasuries.

NOTES—(1) Service postage stamps may be issued direct from Sub-Treasuries on the presentation of the bills without the bills being first passed by the District Treasury Office. See paragraph 166 of Part I.

(2) In the case of the Mussoorie Sub-Treasury, the Treasury accountant is authorized, as a special case, to sign all receipts, chalans up to Rs. 500.

436. Government servants of certain departments are authorized to obtain funds from Sub-Treasuries by means of cheques: Any extension of the system will require the sanction of the District Officer which will be subject to the consent of the Currency Officer. While giving his consent, the Currency Officer shall consider whether it will cause extra expense, direct or indirect, by the locking up of funds in Sub-Treasuries, or any radical change in the character of these offices, which are collecting depots and not disbursing treasuries.

Cheques and Letters of Credit

437. Cheque books for use on Treasuries and the Bank are obtained by certain drawing officers from the District Treasury concerned, vide paragraph 54 of Part I. Stocks of books required for this purpose will be kept by the Treasury officer, supplies being obtained annually from the Accountant General. Cheque books should on receipt be examined carefully and the number of forms in each book should be counted. Similarly, they should be examined again when issued to disbursing officers, and care should be taken to see that they are acknowledged by the latter promptly.

NOTE—This rule also applies to departmental receipt books, Form no. 1 referred to in paragraph 26 of Part I.

438. (1) When a cheque is presented, care should be taken to ascertain, by examination of its printed number, that it really was taken from the book notified as in use by the government servant who is said to have signed it. The instructions given in paragraphs 53-59 and 62-66 of Part I should be specially borne in mind.

(2) Cheques crossed in accordance with the provisions of Chapter XIV of the Negotiable Instruments Act, should be honoured when presented at the Treasury.

(1) If the payee is unknown at the Treasury, the Treasury Officer should make any inquiries he thinks necessary and should specially consider the date, serial number and amount of the cheque as well as hand-writing, and, if suspicion arise, he may defer payment until he has referred to the drawer.

(2) Pass-books sent to the Treasury to be written up should ordinarily be returned to the drawing officer the same day.

439. Every payment made on the authority of any letter of credit must without fail be noted against it at the time of passing the payment, under the Treasury Officer’s initials, either on the reverse of the letter of credit or in a similar other form. A note of payment must thus be kept and a balance struck each time a cheque is paid.

NOTE—The instructions in this paragraph do not apply to letters of credit opened at Banking Treasuries.

440. The Treasury Officer must bear in mind that the letter of credit shows the maximum amount he has authority to pay or the government servant credited has authority to ask for, and any further payment is made at the Treasury Officer’s risk: he should, therefore, be careful so to record the progressive total of his payments that there may be no risk of overpayment.

NOTE—A letter of credit is only an authority to honour drafts and payment can only be made on cheques or drafts drawn against it. A government servant in whose favour a letter of credit had been issued on a Treasury where Government business used to be conducted by a branch of the State Bank of India drew a cheque in his own favour for the whole amount and opened a separate drawing account; this procedure was most irregular, and the Treasury Officer should have reported to the Accountant General as soon as circumstances caused him to suspect the irregularity, as the entry in the bank’s account or the voucher attached to it should have caused him to do the same day.

441. When the Bank conducts the duties of a Government treasury, the letter of credit may be passed on to the Bank, if the departmental officer requires funds only at headquarters; but if he requires funds both at the headquarters and at a Sub-Treasury, the Treasury Officer will retain the letter of credit and will provide funds at the Sub-Treasury, advising the Bank of the amount to be placed to the credit of the departmental officer at the headquarters.

NOTE—Cheques issued against letters of credit/Assignment may be encashed at the Bank direct, that is, without the intervention of the Treasury Officer.

442. Letters of credit lapse at the close of the financial year in which they were issued; a cheque drawn before, but paid after, the end of the year will be taken against the letter of credit of the year in which it was drawn. If this causes overdrawal of the credit the excess will be treated as an overdrawal, and the attention of the authorities concerned should be drawn to the irregularity.

443. (Deleted)

Entry in Accounts

444. (1) Every item received or paid must be entered at once in some register subsidiary to the cash-book and numbered in a consecutive monthly series for each register.

(2) Form no. 43 is that prescribed for the cash-book which should be maintained in two separate parts-one for receipts and the other for expenditure. (See also paragraph 454 and the note thereunder).

(3) All departmental receipts for which separate returns are submitted will be recorded in separate registers in Form no. 46. From these registers, daily totals will pass into the cash-book.

(4) All departmental payments will likewise be recorded in separate registers in Form no. 47 according to the various classes of payments; from these registers daily totals will pass into the cash-book.

(5) For deposit and bill transactions and for some other transactions, special register forms are prescribed as laid down in the following chapters —

NOTE—The words "separate register" do not necessarily imply a separate volume. It is often convenient to include several registers within the same volume, a set of continuous pages being set aside for each.

1. In the case of receipts remitted by postal money orders, and adjusted by book transfer, entries in the subsidiary register concerned may be made daily in lump under each detailed head of account, provided that they are entered in sufficient detail in the departmental register and that daily returns are submitted to the Treasury.

2. The net cash payment only should be entered in the list of payments though all deductions must be detailed in the bill ; there must not be a gross debit with a per contra credit, even when a sum is being recovered under the orders of the Accountant General. The following are the exceptions to this rule of net debits :

(i) In the case of income-tax deducted from bills for interest on Government securities and from the pay, establishment, and pension bills, the gross amount of the bills be charged and income-tax deductions credited to the head "021—Taxes on Income other than Corporation Tax" in the case of Central Pension Bills and "858-Suspense Account under State Account" in the case of other Bills.

(ii) In the case of local funds, the gross amount of a voucher will be charged and the deductions credited.

(iii) When a deposit is subject to abatement, the full sum must be charged, and the sum abated brought to credit.

(iv) In the case of bills containing deductions on account of the rent of Government buildings (including electric installations, water supply, etc.) borne on the books of the Public Works Department, the gross amount will be charged and the recoveries credited to the public works revenue or capital head concerned as noted in the divisional officer’s demand (Form no. 3). (See paragraph 107-A).

(v) In the case of Trust Interest Payment Orders issued by the Bank, the net cash payments only should be entered in the list of payments.

(vi) When it is desired that either the whole or part of the amount of a bill should be remitted to a person or persons by Postal Money Order, the gross amount of the bill will be charged and the deduction on account of the money order and the amount of commission due thereon credited direct to the Post Office.

Deductions and Recoveries on account of Premia on Postal Life Insurance Fund

444-A. In the case of premia on Postal Life Insurance fund deducted from pay or pension bills, the gross amount of the bills should be charged and the deductions accounted for by per contra credit to the detailed heads of account indicated by the Accountant General in the instructions contained in the treasury Manual. Cash payments into the Treasury on this account should be credited under the detailed head "Recoveries from other sources". All recoveries on account of postal premia whether from bills or in cash tendered through a chalan, should invariably be supported by Schedules of Postal Life Insurance Fund (Treasury Form no. 106). A consolidated schedule of deductions for each department as well as for recoveries in cash should be prepared at the Treasury in the form and in the manner prescribed by the Accountant General in the Treasury Manual. The total amount of each schedule should be carried to the appropriate detailed head under "Premia on Postal Life Insurance Fund" in the Cash Account. (See paragraph 445).

Note—Deductions on account of Postal Life Insurance Premia from pay bills should be accounted for in one register with separate columns for each section instead of the present practice of maintaining separate registers for each section.

Deductions from Cheques

444B In the case of deductions from payments relating to such Departments the payments of which are made by cheques issued by departmental drawing and disbursing officers, the disbursing officers should issue a consolidated cheque for the deductions made from the pay bills of gazetted and non-gazetted establishments, detailing the amounts creditable to income-tax and Postal Life Insurance Fund. respectively. The cheque will also be accompanied by a consolidated schedule (vide paragraph 444.\ above) for Postal Life Insurance deductions. The schedules of income-tax should be sent to the Accountant General by the disbursing officers. The amount of the cheque will be paid by the Treasury by debit to respective remittance heads (to be shown in Form 72) and credited in the State Section of accounts under separate Suspense Heads "TDS—Suspense" subordinate to the head "858-Suspense Account" as per instructions given in Appendix XXX. Similarly, in case of items relating to Postal Life Insurance, the amounts deducted will be credited to the head "858—Suspense Account—Cash Settlement Account—Posts and Telegraphs". The amount of the consolidated schedule of Postal Life Insurance should be shown under the appropriate head in the cash account and the schedule transmitted to the Accountant General.

445 (1) From the cash book and the registers subsidiary thereto the entries will be made in the cash account and list of payments which are sent to the Accountant General on the fifth day of the following month and in the schedules which are sent in support of these documents.

(2) The cash account and list of payments will be prepared in Form nos. 48 and 49 respectively, in which heads of receipts and payments will be printed in the order prescribed by the Accountant General. The form and number of schedules will be determined by the Accountant General according to local convenience subject to the observance of the following general principles :

(i) There should be separate schedules of the receipts and expenditure for each major head of account. All revenue receipts and service payments should appear in one or other of these schedules. Receipts on account of a department for which descriptive major heads are not opened on the receipt side should be included in the schedule for the relevant major head.

NOTES—(1) In the case of small departments or of major heads under which the transactions are few, two or more such departments or major heads may, at the discretion of the Accountant General, be treated as relating to a single department.

(2) Where a separate schedule has been prescribed, by the Accountant General, it should invariable be prepared, even it there be no transactions in the treasury accounts under the head concerned during the period in respect of which the schedule is prepared. In such cases the schedule will show the transaction as "nil".

(ii) Miscellaneous items of receipts and recoveries of service payments will be shown with full particulars in the receipt schedules of the department by or at the instance of which the money is presented at the Treasuries.

(iii) Advances of pay, travelling allowances, etc. to government servants and recoveries of such advances should be included in the schedule of the department to which the government servants concerned belong.

(iv) Payments relating to personal claims of gazetted government servants should be shown in a separate column in the schedule and such payment schedules should be submitted in duplicate. To facilitate posting, the form and size of the payment schedule and those of the subsidiary register of payments at the Treasury should be one and the same, so that the payments may be recorded simultaneously in both documents by carbon process, two sheets being used as the schedule and the third as the subsidiary payment register. As an alternative to the procedure prescribed above, payments relating to the personal claims of gazetted government servants may be entered in a separate covering list, the total of which should be brought forward as a single item in the relevant schedule of payments.

(v) The vouchers for refund of revenue should be entered in a separate subsidiary schedule for each department, and the total of this schedule should be entered as a distinct item in the relevant schedule of payments. As an alternative to this procedure, the refunds of revenue may be shown in a separate column in the payment schedule of the department or major head concerned.

(vi) Ordinarily, each schedule of payments should be in two parts, viz. the first Schedule incorporating accounts from the first of the month to the tenth of the month and the second Schedule incorporating accounts from the eleventh of the month to the last working day of the month. The total of the first schedule of payments which is sent to the Accountant General on the 13th of the month, should be added below, and added to the total of the second schedule of payments, so that the grand total in the latter may agree with the entry in the list of payments.

(3) The entries from the cash-book and registers subsidiary thereto into the cash account, lists of payments and accompanying schedules will be made in accordance with the following orders :

(i) Those transactions which, under the orders in force, have to be recorded in full in any one of these documents should be entered therein on the date on which they appear in the cash-book or on following day, provided that the transmission of the cash account and lists of payments on the due dates is not thereby retarded.

(ii) The lump entries appearing in the cash amount, lists of payments and accompanying schedules must be made therein in time to permit of the completion of those returns and their submission to the Accountant General on the due dates.

Separate Accounts for the Central and State Transactions

445A. (1) The cash in State Treasuries and Sub-Treasuries is the property of the State Government and the transactions of the Central Government arising in State Treasuries and Sub-Treasuries are treated in the first instance as operations upon the State balances, the necessary adjustments being made later on by the Accountant General. For the purpose of these adjustments, the accounts of the Central Government transactions are to be kept separate from those of the State Government at all Treasuries and Sub-Treasuries.

(2) At places where cash business of the Treasury is conducted by the Bank, the State and Central Government have their own separate accounts with the Bank and the transactions as they originate, are, in such cases, taken against the balances of the Government concerned at the Bank. The accounts of these transactions are to be kept separate at the Treasury as well.

(3) The cash account, list of payments, the subsidiary registers in Treasuries and initial accounts in Sub-Treasuries should all be prepared separately for transactions of the Central and the State Governments. The accounts of the State Government include the transactions of other State Governments also which are taken against the balances of the State Government both at the banking and the non-banking Treasuries. The necessary adjustments are made by the Accountant General in the accounts maintained by him.

(4) To ensure maintenance of separate accounts of the Central and State Governments, all Drawing Officers are directed to note the classification, "Central’’ or "State" on all chalans, bills, cheques, etc. presented at the Treasuries or the Bank in addition to the note of classification usually made on them so that the transactions may be taken correctly against the accounts of the respective Governments (see paragraphs 417 and 428). The Treasury Officer should see that these instructions are complied with by the Drawing Officer.

445B. (Deleted).

445C. The detailed procedure for preparation and compilation of accounts of the Central and State Governments separately in Treasuries, the cash business of which is conducted by the Bank, will be found in Chapter XX.

445D. Under paragraph 445A, all transactions of the Government including those on behalf of the Central Government and other State Governments occurring at non-banking Treasuries and Sub-Treasuries should be taken in the first instance against the cash balance of this State, the necessary adjustments being made by the Accountant General in his accounts. To enable him to do so, the Treasury Officer should forward to the Accountant General (Book Department) on the close of the accounts for 7th, 14th, 21st and the last day of each month (or if it is a holiday, on the previous open day) a statement in the following Form showing the receipts and disbursement on behalf of the Central Government only. No vouchers will accompany the statement but on the strength of the statement, the Accountant General will arrange with the Central Accounts Office of the Reserve Bank for the necessary adjustments to be made between the balances of the Central and State Governments.

FORM

Memorandum of Credit/Debits on account of transactions of the Central Government at Treasury for the month of ..........19

445E. The transactions relating to the Central Government and the transactions of the State Government (including transactions relating to other State Governments) should be posted in separate subsidiary registers of receipts and payments of the Central and State Governments respectively. The daily totals from these registers should be carried to the relevant items in the cash-book of the Central or the State Government, as the case may be. At the close of each month, the Treasury Officer should prepare separate cash accounts and lists of payments for the transactions of the Central and State Governments and submit them to the Accountant General separately packed with relevant Central or State schedules, etc. addressed to the Accountant General (Book Department). The duplicate copy of the receipt and payment schedules together with the vouchers should be sent addressed to the Accountant General (Department concerned).

The first schedule of payments despatched to the Accountant General up to the 13th of the month should likewise be prepared separately for the Central and the State Governments.

445F. The separate monthly accounts rendered to the Accountant General in respect of transactions of the Central Government and in respect of those taken against the balances of the State should be supported by requisite schedules, vouchers, etc., and with a closing abstract as laid down in paragraph 461.

NOTE—The heads of account which will appear in the Cash Account and List of Payments of the Central and State Governments will be found in the Treasury Manual.

445G. Deductions from bills and vouchers pertaining to the Central Government should be accounted for as laid down in paragraphs 444 and 444A.

445H. The credits on account of the Central Government both in the Treasury and the Sub-Treasuries subordinate to it, should be included in the monthly accounts and the statements referred to in paragraphs 445D-F above. For this purpose, it is necessary that a separate record of the deductions made from bills and vouchers which affect both the Central and the State Governments’ accounts (e. g. a pay bill debitable to the revenues of the State containing deductions on account of income·tax, postal life insurance, etc. creditable to the Central Government) should be maintained at the Treasuries in the manner indicated below :

1. Two separate check registers in Form no. 49A should be maintained in each Treasury, one for the bills relating to the Central Government and the other for the bills of the State Government. The deductions made from the bills should be noted in the separate columns "State Government" and "Central Government" according as the deductions are creditable to the State or the Central Government. This will enable the Treasury Officer to check the gross amount of the bills as noted in column 3 of the register with the net cash payments plus the deductions (column 6 plus columns 4 and 5 of the register).

2. The entries will be made by the Head Accountant of the Treasury, provided the register is submitted to the Treasury Officer for his signature each time an entry is made.

3. Vouchers of items debitable to the Central Government by transfer credit to State will be classified "Central" and posted in the central register in the column "State" and vice versa.

4. Items as per column 4 of the State register will be taken to the cash-book of state receipts under the appropriate heads of accounts. When the daily agreement of cash-book figures with the corresponding figures in the bank list or Chief Cashier’s cash-book is effected, the total of the items in this column will be deducted both from the receipts and payments sides of the cash-book.

5. The total of items of column 5 of the State register will be taken to the cash-book of State payments as a deduct entry against the head, "886–Adjusting Account between Central and State Governments-Adjustments by transfer." Simultaneously, the items will be taken to the cash-book of Central receipts under the appropriate heads of accounts by a deduct entry under the head "886-Adjusting Account between Central and State Governments-Adjustments by transfer".

6. The total of items in column 4 of Central register will be taken to the cash book of Central Payments as a deduct entry against the head, "886-Adjusting Account between Central and State Governments Adjustments by transfer." At the same time, the items will be posted in the cash-book of State receipts under the appropriate heads of accounts by deduct entry against the head, "886–Adjusting Account between Central and State Governments–Adjustments by transfer".

7. The items in column 5 of the Central register will be posted in the cash-book of Central receipts under the appropriate heads of Accounts. (See also the second sentence of rule 4 above).

8. An abstract for posting in the subsidiary registers should be prepared daily and recorded on this register at the end of each day’s transactions.

9. The net amount of the difference between the total of column 4 of the check register of transfers for Central transactions and that of column 5 in the register of State transactions will only be posted against the new sub-head, "Adjustments by Transfer" on the receipt or the payment side in the Central and on the payment or receipt side of the State Accounts. (See paragraphs 461 and 505 F). For instance, taking that the following transactions appear in the check registers:

The amount to be shown against the head, "Adjustments by transfer" will be the difference between the totals of columns 4 and 5 of the two check registers (State and Central, viz. Rs. 10,471.50).

The amount of Rs. 10,471.50 will appear in the (Central) cash account and in the (State) list of payments as a minus entry against the head, "Adjustments by transfer (—) 10,471.50." This amount of Rs. 10,471.50 will also consequently appear in closing abstracts of Central as well as State Accounts, in the Central account as a minus receipt and in the State as a minus disbursement against the head, "Adjustments by transfer" (See paragraph 461).

NOTE—The above procedure may be followed both at the banking and non-banking treasuries.

446. The vouchers pertaining to each schedule should be numbered consecutively in a monthly series as they are entered therein, and should, when received back from the Chief Cashier after the closing of the day’s accounts, be arranged in their numerical order, and kept in that order under lock and key till despatched.

Sub-Treasuries

446A. Under Treasury Rule 5, if the requirements of the public business make necessary the establishment of one or more Sub-Treasuries under a District Treasury, the arrangements for the administration thereof and for the proper conduct of business therein, shall be such as may be prescribed by the Government in the Finance Department after consultation with the Accountant General. The daily accounts of receipts and payments of moneys at a Sub-Treasury must be included in the accounts of the District Treasury.

*Sub-Treasury Accounts

447. Under paragraph 446-A above, a daily sheet (supported by vouchers) reporting the receipts, payments, and the balance of the day should be submitted by each Sub-Treasury to the District Treasury Officer. On the day of the receipt of the daily sheet from the Sub-Treasury, the receipts and payments shown therein should be posted (after careful examination) into the accounts of the District Treasury in the same way as if they had taken place at the headquarters. But, they do not pass into the Chief Cashier’s cash-book (paragraph 415).

NOTES—(1) If a Treasury Officer owing to the volume of Sub-Treasury transactions finds it difficult to scrutinize each ands every Sub-Treasury voucher, he may at his discretian leave over the work to the accountant, a percentage check not less than 20 per cent, being effected by him. All vouchers checked by the Treasury Officer himself must be initialed by him as a okten of the fact that he has exercised the check.

(2) For special reasons, an exception is made in the case of the Naini Tal Treasury where on the first two working day of every month, the transaction of the Sub-Treasuries need not be incorporated in the account of the Headquarters Treasury on the day on which the daily sheet is received; Sub-Treasury accounts received on those days will be included in the account of the Headquarters Treasury on the next day and before the close of the first week of every month. Further, the daily accounts of the Sub-Treasuries in the Naini Tal and Garhwal District, will be incorporated in the account of the Headquarters Treasury on alternate days.

*See paragraph 435

(3) The exception mentioned in note 2 above also applies to Ranikhet Treasury in respect of Sub-Treasury accounts received at headquarters on the first two working days and on the tenth of every month. Sub-Treasury accounts received on the first two working days of the month will be included in the accounts of the Headquarters Treasury on the earliest convenient day and before the close of the first week of every month, and those received on the tenth within three days of their receipt.

(4) For special reasons, an exception is made in the case of the Hamirpur Treasury where the accounts of the Sub-Treasury may be incorporated into the accounts of the District Treasury on the following day during the monsoon.

(5) For special reasons, an exception is made in the case of the Almora Sub-Treasury which may send to the Sadar Treasury its vouchers and chalans in support of pension payments once at the end of each month and not with its siahas which are submitted daily to the Sadar Treasury.

(6) The various departmental copies of chalans (where there is such a provision) of the deposited amount received with the daily siaha (Amount) of Sub-Treasury should be made available to the concerned departmental officers soon after the daily treasury account is prepared.

448. Remittances of cash between the District Treasury and any of its Sub-Treasuries otherwise than through currency and transfers between Currency and Treasury made under rule 679 of the Central Treasury Rules are not to be entered in the cash-book of the District Treasury, either as payments when the remittance is made, or as receipts when received. They will necessarily appear as payments and receipts in the cash-books and daily sheets of the Sub-Treasuries concerned, but will be excluded in posting the district accounts, in which they will thus remain part of the balance. A complete check over these remittances is obtained by means of the accountant’s balance-sheets.

(See paragraphs 411-E, 412, 413 and 457—

NOTE—If, however, there is a branch or agency of the Bank at either end doing the work of the District or of the Sub-Treasury, the remittances and transfers should be treated as local cash remittances and debits for remittances sent and credits for remittances received, also the corresponding credits and debits in the Sub-Treasury daily sheets should appear in the cash-book of the District Treasury as well as in the cash accounts and lists of payments.

449. Payments are generally made at Sub-Treasuries on cash orders issued by the District Treasury (See also paragraph 45-A of Part I).

449-A. When a cash order is issued, the Treasury Officer shall assign a serial number to the order and enter the amount and other particulars in the register prescribed in paragraph 549. An advice in Form57-A shall then be sent by first post to the Sub-Treasury drawn upon and the cash order handed to the person tendering the money or the bill against which the order is issued.

450. The method of adjustment of cash order is explained in paragraph 549.

451. Cash orders outstanding for more than three months should be held as lapsed and should be stopped, the charges they represent being cancelled and adjusted. If payment is subsequently claimed, the claimant should forward the lapsed cash order to the Treasury Officer who will arrange for the payment, a note being made against the entry concerned in Form 57 so as to prevent a second repayment. The adjustment in the accounts of the amounts of lapsed cash orders will be made by the Accountant General.

452. A statement of lapsed cash orders should be submitted with the monthly cash accounts specifying (1) in the case of cash orders issued for service payments, the number and date of the vouchers in which the charges were originally drawn, and the name of the government servant by whom they were drawn, and (2) in the case of cash orders issued on behalf of a municipality, the number and date of the cheques. The total amount of cash orders included in the monthly statement should be deducted from the closing balance in the plus and minus memorandum and a note made in the ledger (Form no. 57) against items included in the statement that they have been reported to the Accountant General for adjustment as lapsed.

Closing for the Day

453. The process of closing accounts for the day is explained in the following rules.

454. The daily total of each register will be entered in the cash-book, which will then be totalled, and the balance memorandum at the top of the accountant’s balance-sheet (Form No. 50) will then be drawn up. To the account balance thus brought out the additions and deductions indicated in the form will be applied so as to bring out the cash balance at the District Treasury.

Separate cash-books will be maintained by the Treasury Officer for Central and State transactions, the figures relating to the total receipts and total payments of these cash books should be drawn in the accountant’s daily balance-sheet (Form no. 50) in the following manner:

It will not be necessary for the Chief Cashier to maintain separate cash-books for Central and State transactions as he is concerned only with the correctness of the cash balance which is entirely State account.

455. Meantime, the Chief Cashier will also sum both sides of his cash-book and draw up his balance memorandum in the form of the Chief Cashier’s daily balance-sheet prescribed in the Central Treasury Rules.

456. If the results shown in the two balance-sheets agree, the Treasury Officer should sign the two cash-books and the two balance-sheets. He should first satisfy himself of the correctness and good order of all these documents and should give special attention to the reconcilement of the account balance of the district with that actually in the Headquarters Treasury; the latter excludes the balance in Sub-Treasuries or under remittance within the district which the former includes.

1. The following is a memorandum of some of more important parts of the verification. The Treasury Officer should—

(1) Compare each entry of a payment in register with the payment order (paragraph 429), ticking off each voucher as it is passed. (This will not be necessary if the Treasury Officer adopts the alternative plan of having the account entry presented to him for initials at the same time that he signs the order of payment).

(2) Examine at least two of the totallings on each side of the two cash-books for Central and State transactions, marking the total as "Exd."

(3) See that the totallings are correctly carried from register to cash-book, initalling the totals as he thus compares them.

N. B.—This must be done, in the case of receipt registers, even when the total for the day is blank; but it is not necessary to initial blank payment registers. In the case of banking treasuries, it is not necessary for the Treasury Officer to initial the receipt register when the total for the day is blank as the actual transactions of receipts occur at the Bank and the Treasury cash-book is taken from the Bank’s daily account. If the number of blank receipt registers is great, the following plan may be adopted. Such registers as are only rarely required for entry may be bound in a single volume and kept under the Treasury Officer’s own lock. When the volume is required for an entry, he should give out the register for the purpose and he should receive it back at the time of signing the daily accounts, carefully seeing in doing so that all new entries in it are correctly carried to the cash-book, and initialing them accordingly. It is obviously necessary to guard against fraud or mistake of omitting to bring an entry from these registers upon the cash-book; and this precaution is not complete if the Treasury Officer examines only those registers from which an entry is made upon the cash-book.

(4) Have the totalling of the cash-book verified by himself or some principal subordinate officer, other than the accountant, who should initial it as correct.

(5) See twice every week that all vouchers are properly arranged— paragraph 446.

NOTE—(i) The provisions of the above paragraph as well as those of paragraphs 457-A and 457-B apply to banking treasuries also.

NOTE—(ii) Cash in the hands of the Chief Cashier will include also the balances in the Chief Cashier’s register of deposits into the single lock (Form no. 81) and the amount of undisbursed pay and travelling allowance, etc. of the District Headquarters non-gazetted establishment, and should be shown in the register in Form no. 50-A separately from the single lock balance. The column ‘Cash in hand’ in the register in From no. 50-A may for the purpose be divided into three sub-columns, viz. ‘single lock balance’, ‘Balance of the Chief Cashier’s register of deposits into single lock’ and ‘Undisbursed pay and travelling allowance, etc., of the District headquarters non-gazetted establishment’, (See paragraph 415-A and the note below paragraph 457-B).

NOTE—(iii) The Chief Cashier should keep an account of daily disbursements of pay and travelling allowance, etc. in Form no. 43-B and place it before the Treasury Officer along with the register in Form 50-A.

NOTE—(iv) This will not include the amount of pay and travelling allowance, etc. of gazetted officers which the Chief Cashier may be keeping in his private account and with which Government are not concerned.

NOTE—(v) Deposits of moneys or funds which do not form part of Government balances with the Chief Cashier for inclusion in his register of deposits into the single lock (Form no. 81) should be permitted by District Officers very sparingly where it is not feasible to deposit them in the Post Office Savings Bank or any other bank. Instances of funds and of the nature of moneys which may be deposited with the Chief Cashier are the flood and famine relief fund opened under the patronage of Government or other similar subscription that may be collected through official or semiofficial agencies.

NOTE—Chief Cashier’s register of deposits into the single lock should be maintained in Form no. 81. The daily balance struck in the register maintained in this Form should also be shown in the column ‘cash in hand’ in Form no. 50-A.

458. The Treasury Officer should also satisfy himself that no uncurrent coins are left in charge of the Chief Cashier and that no more small coins are so left than are actually required for current use.

459. He should always be careful to sign the Chief Cashier’s balance-sheet on the evening of the day itself to which it refers, but the signature and comparison of the accountant’s books need not the made till the following morning unless the office is to be closed for two or more days. The accountant’s balance-sheet must not be signed until it has been carefully agreed with the Chief Cashier’s.

(1) The intention of the above rule is that ordinarily the Chief Cashier’s balance-sheet should be compared and agreed with that of the accountant before closing the Treasury for the day and it is only when pressure of work renders this impossible that the comparison should be postponed till the following morning. When this is necessitated, the certificate over the Treasury Officer’s signature at foot of the Chief Cashier’s balance-sheet should be altered in manuscript by cancelling the words "agreed with the accountant’s daily balance-sheet" and before the Form is signed by the Treasury Officer, which it must be before the close of the day. An additional certificate will then be added and signed by the Treasury Officer on the following morning, viz. "agreed with the accountant’s daily balance-sheet". For the 31st March and first few days of April, it will be necessary for the accountant to prepare a separate rough balance-sheet on each of these days for comparison with that of the Chief Cashier, as the completion of the accountant’s balance-sheet for the 31st March has to await the receipt of the Sub-Treasury accounts (See paragraph 460).

(2) In the accountant’s balance-sheet, there is not one figure which the Treasury Officer has not ample means of verifying; the opening entries agree with the closing ones of the preceding day; the receipt and charge are taken from the cash-book; the amounts shown as Sub-Treasury balance can be ascertained in a few moments from the daily sheets of Sub-Treasuries and any change made since the previous day in the amount under remittance within the district must be supported by an entry in the Sub-Treasury sheets or in the Chief Cashiers’ cash-book. The balance in the District Treasury is shown in the Chief Cashier’s balance-sheet and in that part of it which is under joint locks, no change can be made without the active intervention of the Treasury Officer himself.

(3) Under note 2 to paragraph 475, the daily account of the Bank carrying on the business of a government Treasury may, with the concurrence of the Accountant General, be submitted to the Treasury Officer on the morning of the day following that to which it refers. In such cases, the signatures and the comparison of the accountant’s books may be made on the following morning instead of on the morning of the day on which the Bank’s account is received; provided that the pressure of work renders it necessary as to postpone it.

459-A. The entries in the registers relating to all transactions affecting cash, stamp, and opium balances and other stock held in the joint custody of the Treasury Officer and the Chief Cashier (including the cash chests ant valuables of other departments and local offices), should be signed both by the Treasury Officer and the Chief Cashier (or his agent). In cases where a balance is struck, it will be sufficient if the entry relating to the balance is so signed. This rule applies to the non-banking as well as the banking treasuries.

Closing for the Month

460. As it is absolutely necessary that the figures given in the different receipts, accounts and returns exchanged with other departments should exactly agree with those shown in the Treasury accounts, the monthly accounts of all Sub-Treasuries up to the last working date should be incorporated in the accounts of Headquarters Treasury in the same month. The day-to-day transactions of every Sub-Treasury should be incorporated in the accounts of the Headquarters Treasury on the day on which daily sheet is received.

NOTE 1—For special reasons, an exception is made in the case of Naini Tal Treasury. The accounts of the Sub-Treasuries in that district may be incorporated into the accounts of the District Treasury on the working day following their receipt. The District Magistrate should watch that the transactions are incorporated invariably before the close of the first week of every month. If the last day of the first week is a holiday, the Sub-Treasury accounts should be incorporated in the Treasury accounts on the preceding day.

NOTE 2—The exception mentioned in Note 1 above also applies to Ranikhet Treasury in respect of Sub-Treasury accounts received at headquarters on the first two working days and on the tenth of every month. Sub-Treasury accounts received on the first two working days of the month will be included in the accounts of the Headquarters Treasury on the earliest convenient day and before the close of the first week of every month, and those received on the tenth within three days of their receipt.

NOTE 3—For special reasons, an exception is made in the case of the Hamirpur Treasury where the accounts of the Sub-Treasuries may be incorporated into the accounts of the District Treasury on the following day during monsoons.

NOTE 4—For special reasons, an exception is made in the case of the Almora Sub-Treasury which may send to the Sadar Treasury its vouchers and chalans in support of pension payments once at the end of each month and not with its siahas which are submitted daily to the Sadar Treasury.

461. In addition to the usual daily closing, the total of the registers should be carried into the cash account in the case of receipts, and into the list of payments in case of payments; the cash account should be closed with a closing abstract as illustrated by the entries indicated below :

Central Accounts

State Accounts

Receipts

Disbursements

NOTE (1)—In the case of treasuries cash business of which is conducted by the Bank, the rules laid down in Chapter XX will be followed.

NOTE (2)—The amount to be shown against the head "Adjustments by transfer" is to be taken from columns 4 and 5 of the check registers of transfer payments, Central and State (See paragraph 445-H) respectively, e.g. taking that the following transactions appear in check registers :

The amount to be shown against the head "Adjustments by transfer" will be the difference between the totals of columns 4 and 5 of the two check registers (State and Central) viz. Rs. 10,471.50. The amount will be shown as a minus receipt in the Central closing abstract and as a minus disbursement in the State closing abstract.

NOTE (3)—The Treasury Officer has no difficulty in applying an effective check upon the cash account when it is laid before him. Its opening and closing balance are not deductions from accounts, but are statements of fact certified by the District Officer to have been verified by actual enumeration of coins. Does the difference between the receipts as shown in this cash-book and the amount shown in the list of payments account for the difference between these facts ? Do the entries from the registers agree with the totals of the details of these books ? If, at any time, the Treasury Officer be unable to compare all, at least he may compare the entries in the plus and minus memoranda of deposits, stamps, etc. with the entries in the accounts, e.g, the plus and minus memorandum shows a reduction in the stock of judicial stamps to the value of Rs. 5,000: if the credit in account be less, where is the receipt from another Treasury for stamps supplied ?

461-A. The entire cash balance held in the Treasury (including the currency chest balances) as it stood on the last working day of the month should be verified, by actual count, on the first working day of the following month, by the District Officer personally or, in his absence, by some other gazetted officer as laid down in paragraph 411 B. The detailed procedure for verifying the cash balance and preparing the cash balance report will be found in the Central Treasury Rules.

NOTE (1) –In the case of Sub-Treasury balances, the entire cash balance of the Sub-Treasury (including cash held in the currency chest) shall be verified by actual count by the officer in charge of the Sub-Treasury and the certificates of verification submitted along with the daily sheet in accordance with rules contained in Chapter LXXII of the Revenue Manual and the Central Treasury Rules.

NOTE—(2) Any amount found surplus either in treasury balances or currency chests in non-banking treasuries and sub-treasuries should be brought to account under the relevant major head.

Accounts and Returns to the Accountant General

462. The cash account, the list of payments, and the various schedules, which have already been prepared from day to day, and vouchers supporting them, should be despatched to the Accountant General, on the fifth day of the following month; the first schedules of payments with vouchers should already have been despatched vide paragraph 445 (2) (vi).

Any avoidable delay on the part of any District Officer in the despatch of his accounts will be viewed by the Government with severe displeasure.

1. The returns due for despatch on a holiday may be sent one day (but not more than one day) late.

2. The vouchers pertaining to each schedule of account be numbered in a separate series, and kept under lock and key in the order of payment till they are despatched; before despatch of the list of payments and schedules, the Treasury Officer should, by inspection, satisfy himself that the required vouchers are all attached. He will find it profitable at intervals during the month to take up a schedule and see that all its vouchers are present and in proper order. As no payment can be made without a voucher, there can be no excuse for the absence of any unless it be that for a specific remittance.

3. The bills for the pay and allowances of a gazetted officer who is about to retire or to proceed on leave out of India should be submitted to the Accountant General, for special audit, on the date of payment or as soon afterwards as his intention becomes known to the Treasury Officer.

463. The cash–balance report for the last day of the month prepared in the manner indicated in the Central Treasury Rules should be sent to the Currency Officer, Kanpur on the due date.

NOTE—District Officers should pay special attention to the rules in the Central Treasury Rules regarding the verification and certification of the monthly cash balance and to the signing of the monthly cash account.

464. In addition to the returns referred to in paragraphs 462 and 463, plus and minus memoranda must be submitted with the monthly account showing the transactions on account of deposit (paragraph 555), of local funds (paragraph 721) of each kind of stamps (general, adhesive, bill, court-fee, postage stamps) and of excise opium. The deductions from balance should tally with the corresponding entries of receipt in the accounts (except as regards postage stamps advanced to heads of departmental telegraph offices and stamps sent to other Treasuries or sub-depots), and the closing balances should be certified as agreeing with the various stock registers and accounts maintained in the Treasury memoranda may also, with advantage, be required of the outstanding balances of any class of advances which the District Officer has authority to make (e. g. land improvement advances). For all these, the same form may be used, showing in vertical columns (1) Name of fund or stock, (2) Balance from last month, (3) Additions to balance this month, (4) Total (5) Deductions from balance, (6) Balance at end of month.

NOTE—(1) The plus and minus memoranda should be submitted in such separate parts as may be determined by the Accountant General. Those relating to particular departments should be furnished, wherever this is possible, on the reverse of the receipt schedules concerned.

NOTE—(2) No difference should exist between the closing balance of one month and the opening balance of the next; any addition to, or deduction from, balance should be made by a special entry to be explained by a foot-note.

NOTE—(3) At the time of certifying the plus and minus memorandum of stamps, the Treasury Officer should tally the closing balance in the memorandum with those in the double lock register after actually referring to the relevant registers in accordance with the procedure laid down in note to paragraph 217 of the Stamp Manual, and in token of such verification every month, the Treasury Officer should record the fact in the double lock register.

465. Notices should be posted up conspicuously in the office of the hour at which the Treasury closes for receipt and payment of money, which should be at least an hour before the end of the day’s work in order to give time for closing and agreeing the accounts.

NOTE—If any rule or order requires that the Treasury on any day be kept open till a named hour, the accounts cannot, of course, be closed till after that time, but should then be closed and agreed in the usual manner before any one leaves office.

466. Treasury Officers should themselves see that notices which they are required to exhibit, under standing orders or other instructions received from time to time, such as those regarding the encashment of currency notes, the supply of small silver coin, nickel and copper, are exhibited conspicuously in places which the public enters freely and that no favouritism is shown in the conveniences which the Treasury can offer.

Treasury Inspection

467. Each District Treasury will be inspected by a gazetted government servant of the audit department once every year.

468. A brief report of each inspection will be drawn up and sent to the District Officer concerned. The report will be in two parts, one relating to currency, resource and public debt matters and the other dealing with other points. The Accountant General will also send a copy of the first part of the report to Currency Officer, Kanpur. The District Officer will pass such orders as he considers necessary on the report and send a copy of the orders to the Accountant General and a copy of the orders on the first part to the Currency Officer. The Currency Officer will forward his copy of the report and the orders thereon to the Accountant General indicating whether, so far as matters dealt with by the Reserve Bank are concerned, the action taken is adequate or whether any further action is required. The Accountant General may refer to the Commissioner of the Division any matter brought to notice in the report which he considers should receive attention by the Commissioner or in respect of which he considers that the action taken by the District Officer is inadequate. He should report to the Government all important irregularities and points which are not settled by reference to the Commissioner.

The general result of the inspections and the final orders passed thereon both in regard to Parts I and II will be summarised by the Accountant General and included in his Annual Review on the working of Treasuries.

469. Under Treasury Rule 4(5), no portion of the responsibility for the proper management and working of Treasuries shall devolve upon the officers of the Indian Audit Department. The inspection of Treasuries by officers of the Indian Audit Department shall not relieve the Collector of his responsibilities for management and inspection.

469-A (1) Each District Treasury should be inspected by the Commissioner of the Division and the District officer once in two years during the rainy season. The District Officer’s inspection should be so timed that a copy of his inspection note is available to the Commissioner when he comes to inspect the Treasury. Appendix XXI contains list of questions for the guidance of inspecting officers. List I contains questions which should be answered by the Commissioner, while as many as possible of the questions in List II should be answered by the District Officer. The inspecting officer is at liberty to extend his inspection to other points out mentioned in the two lists. Copies of the inspection notes with a memorandum showing the action taken on them should be forwarded (in the case of an inspection by the District Officer through the Commissioner) to the Finance Department of the Government and the Accountant General for information.

(2) Each District Treasury should also be inspected by Director, Treasuries and Accounts, or the officers of the Directorate, Treasuries and Accounts, authorised by him in this behalf, twice every financial year. One of the inspections should be detailed one and after prior intimation to the Treasury Officer. The other inspection should be made as a surprise visit on any working day. Copies of the inspection notes should be sent to the Treasury Officer, District Officer and the Government in the Finance Department. A memorandum showing the action taken on them should be forwarded by the Treasury Officer through the District Officer to the Director, Treasuries and accounts who, in turn, would invite attention of the Government in the Finance Department towards matters which deserve attention of the Government or towards important irregularities noticed during the inspection, if necessary.

(3) Each Sub-Treasury in the district should be inspected by the Treasury Officer twice every financial year. One of the inspections should be a detailed inspection and may be done either on a working day or a holiday. The staff of the Sub-Treasury should be duly informed of the date of inspection in this case. The other inspection should be made as a surprise visit which must be done on a working day. Inspection notes should be submitted to the District Officer who should see that the inspections of the Sub-Treasuries are carried out regularly by the Treasury Officer and that inspection notes are submitted to him for necessary orders. The District Officers should make enquiries about this at the time of their inspections of the Treasury and the Sub-Treasuries.

NOTE—A general inspection of the Sub-Treasuries may also be made by the Sub-Divisional Officers and the District Officers during their winter tour.

ANNEXURE

(See paragraph 413)

Instructions for the classification of remittance of treasure

In this connection, the following points should carefully be observed :

(i) The actual dates of currency chest transactions as reported to Currency Officer, Kanpur should be correctly noted in the schedules.

(ii) Each single transaction (whether cash or currency) should be shown separately and not mixed up with any other transactions.

(iii) The transactions relating to "Deficiency found in remittance" which are often included in the cash remittance schedule) should not be shown in these schedules, but in the schedules for "Miscellaneous Debt and Remittances."

(iv) The advance copies of cash remittance schedules, both Receipt and Second list of payments (Central and State), should be sent in a separate cover (marked for Accountant General, D. H. Department) punctually on the first of every month. If there be no transaction a "nil" schedule should invariably be furnished.