Issues related to House Rent Allowance : Views of Indian Audit & Accounts Department

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Issues related to House Rent Allowance : Views of Indian Audit & Accounts Department

2 . Issues related to Allowances : House Rent Allowance: The Commission recommends that HRA be paid at the rate of 24 percent, 16 percent and 8 percent of the new Basic Pay for Class X, Y and Z cities respectively. The Commission also recommends that the rate of HRA will be revised to 27 percent, 18 percent and 9 percent respectively when DA crosses 50 percent, and further revised to 30 percent, 20 percent and 10 percent when DA crosses 100 percent

Composite Transfer and Packing Grant (CTG) : The Commission recommended that CTG should be paid at the rate of 80 percent of last month basic’s pay. However, for transfer to and from the island territories of Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshadweep, CTG may continue to be paid at the rate of 100 percent of last month’s Basic Pay.

Reimbursement of staying accommodation charges: The commission made flowing recommendations:

Level Level Ceiling for Reimbursement (Rs.)
14 and Above 7500
12 and 13 4500
9 to 11 2250
6 to 8 750
5 and below 450

For levels 8 and below, the amount of claim (up to the ceiling) may be paid without production of vouchers against self-certified claim only. The self-certified claim should clearly indicate the period of stay, name of dwelling, etc. The ceiling for reimbursement will further rise by 25 percent whenever DA increases by 50 percent. Additionally, it is also provided that for stay in Class ‘X’ cities, the ceiling for all employees up to Level 8 would be Rs.1,000 per day, but it will only be in the form of reimbursement upon production of relevant vouchers.

Reimbursement of Travelling Charges: The Commission made flowing recommendations:

Level Level Ceiling for Reimbursement (Rs.)
14 and above AC Taxi Charges up to 50 Km
12 and 13 Non-AC Taxi charges up to 50 KM
9 to 11 Rs.338 Per day
6 to 8 Rs.225 Per day
5 and below Rs.113 Per day

Similar to Reimbursement of staying accommodation charges, for levels 8 and below, the claim (up to the ceiling) should be paid without production of vouchers against self certified claim only.

Family Planning Allowance:- The Pay Commission has recommended to abolish the Family Planning Allowances.

Views of Indian Audit and Accounts Department

In para 8.7.14, the Commission took note of the link between increase in HRA and increase in house rent after implementation of recommendations of 6th CPC. There was a sharp rise in the index from the first half of 2009, immediately following 6th CPC recommendations. There is likely to a similar rise in House Rent after implementation of recommendations of 7th CPC. Hence the existing percentage of House Rent may be retained at the rate of 30 percent, 20 percent and 10 percent of the new Basic Pay for Class X, Y and Z cities respectively

As the labour charges and cost of packing materials are continuously rising, the CTG may continue to be paid at the rate of 100 percent of last month’s Basic Pay.

The main objective of the Audit Department is to carry out Audit function which entails long periods of stay out of headquarters. Consequently, officials at pay level 5 to 11 have to visit small towns (at Block/Sub-division level). For such places, as per recommendations of the 7 th CPC, officials of pay level 8 and below will be entitled to the claim without production of vouchers (ie. against self-certified claim only), where as officials of the pay level 9 and above will have to produce vouchers for the similar claim.

To eradicate such anomalous situation, it is submitted that claims, as admissible upto pay level 8, may be paid without production of vouchers against self-certified claim to all pay level officials.

In the same analogy, as mentioned against reimbursement of staying accommodation charges above, it is submitted that claims, as admissible upto pay level 8, may be paid without production of vouchers against self-certified claim to all pay level officials.

This is an incentive for promoting small family norms and therefore, it needs to be continued

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