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Model Guidelines to prepare the Case by Principal Accountant General (A&E), Punjab, Chandigarh

Preface:

Of late it has been observed that some of the pension cases of the Punjab Government employees were not being submitted correctly by the Drawing and Disbursing Officers/Pension Sanctioning Authorities to this office as a result such cases were returned to them with observations pointing out discrepancies. This causes delay in finalization of the pension cases and the concerned employees are not able to get their pensionary benefits on the date of retirement resulting into financial hardship as well as mental agony to them.

In order to overcome this problem, a need was felt by this office to prepare some guidelines for the Drawing and Disbursing Officers/Pension Sanctioning Authorities regarding preparation and submission of pension cases. Accordingly, Model Guidelines were prepared and sent to the Punjab Government (Department of Finance) on 30.5.2003 for their perusal & acceptance/approval. The necessary approval was conveyed to this office by the Govt. of Punjab, Deptt. Of Finance vide their letter dated 17.01.2005 and these Model Guidelines have been sent to the Director Pension & Welfare of Pensioners, Punjab, Chandigarh for further circulation amongst the Departments of the State Government for compliance.

These Model Guidelines mainly consist of the Rules & Regulations contained in the Punjab CSR Vol. I & II and other instructions issued by the Punjab Government from time to time. A checklist, showing ‘Dos’ and ‘Don’ts’ for Pension Sanctioning Authorities, has also been added to this booklet relating to preparation of a pension case. This also contains a chapter on “Citizen Charter”.

Suggestions, for making this booklet more useful are welcome.

Message:

The retirement day is an eventful day in the life of a Government employee and he/she expects that the pensionary benefits may be paid to him/her in due time.

This booklet “Model Guidelines” for processing a pension case will facilitate the Pension Sanctioning Authorities to prepare the pension cases well in time and complete in all respects as a result of which the pensioners will get their pensionary benefits in due time.

In addition the pensioners can get their grievances redressed through Grievances Redressal Cell or by meeting the Deputy Accountant General (Pension) and Accountant General.

A. Processing the Pension Case of Retiring Govt. Employees.

Preparation of List of Govt. Employees due for Retirement:

As per Rule 9.1 of C.S.R. Vol. II, every Head of Department shall get a list prepared every quarter, that is, on the 1st of January, 1st of April, 1st of July and 1st of October, each year of all Government employees, who are due to retire within the next 24 to 30 months in the following proforma, namely:

(2) A copy of every such list shall be supplied to the Drawing and Disbursing Officer concerned, the Accountant General (Audit), Punjab, the Principal Accountant General (Accounts and Entitlement), Punjab and the Director of Pensions and Welfare of Pensioners immediately after its preparation, but not later than the last day of January, April, July and October, as the case maybe, of that year.

(3) In the case of a Government employee retiring for reasons other than by way of superannuation, the Head of Office shall promptly inform the Drawing and Disbursing Officer concerned, as soon as the fact of such retirement becomes known to him.

(4) A copy of the intimation sent by the Head of Office to the Drawing and Disbursing Officer under sub-rule (3) of Rule 9.1 shall also be endorsed to the Accounts Officer Rents and the concerned office of the Department of Public Works, Punjab if the concerned Government employee is an allottee of Government accommodation.

Explanation:An allottee shall mean a Government employee, who has been allotted Government accommodation at any time during his service. (Rule 9.1)

Intimation to the Accounts Officer Rents & the concerned office of the Department of Public Works, Punjab, regarding issue of “NO DEMAND CERTIFICATE”:

(1) As per Rule 9.2, the Head of Office shall write to the Accounts Officer Rents and the concerned office of the Department of Public Works at least two years before the anticipated date of retirement of the Government Employee who is an allottee for the issue of a “No Demand Certificate” in respect of the period preceding eight months of the retirement of the allottee.

(2) On receipt of the intimation, the Accounts Officer Rents and the concerned office of the Department of Public Works shall take further action as provided in rule 9.17.

3. Preparation of Pension Papers:

Every Head of Office shall undertake the work of preparation of pension papers in form PEN 1 two years before the date on which a Government employee is due to retire on superannuation, or on the date on which he proceeds on leave preparatory to retirement, whichever is earlier. (Rule 9.3)

4. Stages for the completion of Pension Papers:

(1) The Head of Office shall divide the period of preparatory work of two years referred to in rule 9.3 in the following 3 stages:

(a) First Stage:

• The Head of Office shall go through the service book of the Government employee and satisfy as to whether the certificates of verification for the entire service are recorded therein.
• If the service for any period can not be verified in the manner specified in sub-clauses (i) and (ii) of Rule 9.4 that period of service having been rendered by the Government employee in another office, a reference shall be made to the Head of Office in which the Government employee is shown to have served during that period for the purpose of verification.
• If any portion of service rendered by a Government employee is not capable of being verified in the manner specified in sub-clauses(i) to (iii) of Rule 9.4 the Government employee shall be asked to file an affidavit on a plain paper to the effect that he had actually rendered service during that period. He shall also be asked to produce all relevant documents and furnish all information which is in his possession to produce or furnish in support of such declaration.
• The Head of Office shall after taking into consideration the facts mentioned in the affidavit and the documents produced and the information furnished in support thereof, admit the portion of service referred to in sub-clause(iv) of Rule 9.4 having been rendered for the purpose of calculating the pension of the Government employee.
• In respect of unverified portion or portions of service, he shall arrange to verify the portion/portions of such service, as the case maybe, with reference to pay bills, acquittance Rolls or other relevant records and shall record necessary certificate in service book.

(b) Second Stage:

• The Head of Office while scrutinizing the certificates of verification of service, shall also identify if there are any other omissions, imperfections or deficiencies which have a direct bearing on the determination of emoluments and the service qualifying for pension.
• Every effort shall be made to complete the verification of service in the manner specified in clause (a) Supra and to make good omissions, imperfections or deficiencies referred to in sub-clause (i). Any omission, imperfection or deficiency including the portion of service shown as unverified in the service book which it has not been possible to verify in the manner specified in clause(a) shall be ignored and service qualifying for pension shall be determined on the basis of the entries in the service book.
• The Head of Office shall verify from the service book the correctness of the emoluments drawn during the last ten months of service. In order to ensure that the emoluments drawn during the last ten months of service have been correctly shown in the service book, the Head of office may verify the correctness of emoluments for the period of twenty four months preceding the date of retirement of a Government employee, and not for any period prior to that date.

(c) Third Stage:

• The Head of Office shall obtain the necessary particulars in form PEN. 15 from the Government employee 8 months before the date of his retirement.
• Action under clauses (a),(b) and (c) of sub-rule(1) shall be completed eight months prior to the date of retirement of the Government employee. (Rule 9.4).

5. Completion of Pension Papers:

The Head of Office shall complete Part I of form PEN. 1 not later than six months before the date of retirement of the Government employee. (Rule9.5)

6. Forwarding of Pension Papers to the Accountant General Punjab:

• After complying with the requirements of rule 9.4 and 9.5 the Head of Office shall forward to the Accountant General, Punjab form PEN. 15-A, along with service book of the Government employee duly completed and any other document relied upon for the verification of service.
• The Head of Office shall retain a copy of each of the forms referred to in sub-rule (1) for his records.
• Where the payment is desired in another Circle of Account, the Head of Office shall send form PEN. 1 in duplicate to the Accountant General, Punjab.
• The documents referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be forwarded to the Accountant General, Punjab not later than six months before the date of retirement of the Government employee (Rule 9.6).

7. To intimate the Accountant General, Punjab regarding any event having bearing on Pension:

If, after the pension paper have been forwarded to the Accountant-General, Punjab within the period specified in sub-rule(4) of rule 9.6 any event occurs which has a bearing on the amount of pension admissible, the same shall be promptly reported to the Accountant General, Punjab by the Head of Office. (Rule 9.7).

8. Intimation of the particulars of Govt. dues to the Accountant General, Punjab:

• The Head of Office shall after ascertaining and assessing the Government dues as mentioned in rule 9.16 shall furnish the particulars thereof the Accountant-General, Punjab at least two months before the date of retirement of the Government employee so that the dues are recovered out of the gratuity before its payment is authorized.
• If, after particulars of Government dues have been intimated to the Accountant General, Punjab under sub-rule(1), any additional Government dues come to the notice of the Head of Office, such dues shall be promptly reported to the Accountant General, Punjab. (Rule 9.8).

9. Provisional Pension:

(1) The various stages of action laid down in rule 9.4 shall be strictly followed by the Head of Office. There may be an isolated case where, in spite of following the procedure laid down in rule 9.4., it may not be possible for the Head of Office to forward the pension papers referred to in rule 9.6 to the Accountant General, Punjab within the period prescribed in sub-rule(4) of that rule, or where the pension papers have been forwarded to the Accountant General, Punjab, within the prescribed period but the Accountant General, Punjab has returned them to the Head of Office for eliciting further information before issue of pension payment order and order for the payment of gratuity and if the Head of Office in such a case is of opinion that the Government employee is likely to retire before his pension or gratuity or both, can be finally assessed and settled in accordance with the provisions of these rules, he shall without delay, take steps to determine the qualifying years of service and the emoluments qualifying for pension after making the summary investigation carefully. For this purpose, he shall:-

• Rely upon such information as may be available in the official records ; and
• Ask the retiring Government employee to file an affidavit on plain paper stating the total length of qualifying service including details of emoluments drawn during the last ten months of service but excluding the breaks and other non-qualifying periods of service.

(2) The Head of Office shall thereafter determine the qualifying years of service and the emoluments qualifying for pension in accordance with the information available in the official records and the information obtained from the retiring Government employee under sub-rule (1). He shall then, determine the amount of pension and the amount of death-cum-retirement gratuity.

(3) After the amount of pension and gratuity have been determined under sub-rule (2), the Head of Office shall take further action as follows:

(a) He shall issue a sanction letter addressed to the employee endorsing a copy thereof to the Accountant-General, Punjab authorizing:-

• 100 percent pension as determined under sub-rule (2) as provisional pension; and
• 100 percent of gratuity as determined under sub-rule (2) as provisional gratuity withholding ten cent of gratuity or one thousand rupees, whichever is less.

(b) He shall indicate in the sanction letter the amount recoverable from the gratuity under sub-rule(1) of rule 9.8. After issue of the sanction letter he shall draw:-

• The amount of provisional pension; and
• The amount of provisional gratuity after deducting there from the amount mentioned in sub-clause(ii) of clause(a) and the dues, if any, mentioned in rule 9.16 in the same manner as pay and allowances of the establishment are drawn by him.

(4) The amount of provisional pension and gratuity payable under sub-rule(3) shall, if necessary, be revised on the completion of the detailed scrutiny of the records.

(5) (a)The payment of provisional pension shall not be made beyond a period of six months from the date of retirement of the Government employee. If the amount of final pension and amount of final gratuity have been determined by the Head of Office in consultation with the Accountant General, Punjab before the expiry of the said period of six months, the Accountant General, Punjab shall issue the pension payment order and order for the payment of gratuity accordingly, after adjusting the outstanding Government dues, if any, and provisional payments already made.

(b) If the final amount of pension and gratuity have not been determined by the Head of Office in consultation with the Accountant General, Punjab within the period of six months referred to in clause (a), the Accountant General, Punjab shall treat the provisional pension and gratuity as final and shall issue pension payment order and order for the payment of gratuity accordingly, immediately on expiry of the said period of six months.

(c) The payment of the amount withheld from the gratuity shall be authorized after deducting there from the amount, if any, outstanding against the Government employee which may have come to the notice of the Head of Office after the authorization of provisional gratuity.

(6) (a) If the amount of provisional pension disbursed to a Government employee under sub-rule (3) on its final assessment under sub-rule (4), is found to be in excess of the final pension assessed by the Accountant General, Punjab, it shall be open to the Accountant General, Punjab to adjust the excess amount of pension in the gratuity withheld under sub clause (ii) of clause (a) of sub-rule (3) of Rule 9.9 or recover the excess amount of pension in installments by making short payments of pension payable in future.

(b) The Head of Office shall ensure that chances of disbursing the amount of gratuity in excess of the amount finally assessed are minimised and officials responsible for the excess payments shall be accountable for the over-payment.

10. Authorization of Pension and Gratuity by the Accountant General, Punjab:

(1) On receipt of pension papers referred to in rule 9.6 the Accountant General, Punjab shall apply the requisite checks, record the account enfacement in form PEN. 1 and assess the amount of pension and gratuity and issue the pension payment order not later than one month in advance of the date of retirement of the Government employee.

(2) The amount of gratuity as determined by the Accountant General, Punjab under sub-rule(1) shall be intimated to the Head of Office with the remarks that the amount of the gratuity may be drawn and disbursed by the Head of office to the retired Government employee after adjusting the Government dues, if any, referred to in rule 9.16.

(3) The amount of gratuity withheld under sub-rule(5) of rule 9.17 shall be adjusted by the Head of Office against the outstanding amount of license fee intimated by the Accounts Officer, Rents or other concerned officer of the Department of Public Works, Punjab and the balance, if any, shall be refunded to the retired Government employee. (Rule 9.10)

11. Payment of Provisional Pension and Gratuity through “money order”

If the provisional pension or gratuity or both sanctioned under sub-rule(3) of rule 9.9 is desired to be paid by the pensioner through money order or bank draft the same shall be remitted to him through money order or bank draft at his cost. (Rule 9.11)

12. Government Employee on Deputation:

(1) In the case of a Government employee who retires while on deputation or on transfer to another Government Department, action to authorize pension and gratuity shall be taken by the Head of office of the borrowing Department.

(2) In the case of a Government employee who retires from service, while on deputation to another State Government or Central Government or while on foreign service, action to authorize pension and gratuity shall be taken by the Head of Office of the Cadre authority which sanctioned the deputation or foreign service. (Rule 9.12)

13. Interest on Delayed Payment of Gratuity:

(1) If the payment of gratuity has been authorized after three months from the date when its payment became due, and it is clearly established that the delay in payment was due to administrative lapse, then an interest at the rate of five per cent per annum on the amount of gratuity shall be paid to the Government employee in respect of the period beyond three months:
Provided that the delay in the payment was not caused on account of failure on the part of the Government employee to comply with the procedure laid down as above.

(2) Every case of delayed payment of gratuity shall, suo moto, be considered by the Administrative Department or the Department, as the case may be and where the Administrative Department is satisfied that the delay in the payment of gratuity was caused on account of administrative lapse, the Administrative Department shall make a recommendation to the Department of Finance, Punjab for the payment of interest.

(3) If the recommendation of the Administrative Department made under sub-rule(2) is accepted by the Department of Finance Punjab the Administrative department concerned shall issue sanction for the payment of interest.

(4) In all cases where the payment of interest has been authorized with concurrence of the Department of Finance, Punjab, the Administrative Department concerned shall fix the responsibility and take disciplinary action against the Government employee or employees concerned, who are found responsible for the delay in the payment of gratuity.

(5) If as a result of Government’s decision taken subsequent to the retirement of a Government employee, the amount of gratuity already paid on his retirement, is enhanced on account of:
(a) grant of emoluments higher than the emoluments on which gratuity, already paid, was determined, or,
(b) liberalization in the provisions of these rules from a date prior to the date of retirement of the Government employees concerned, no interest on the arrears of gratuity shall be paid. (Rule 9.13)

14. Provisional Pension where Departmental or Judicial Proceedings may be Pending:

(1) (a) In respect of Government employee referred to in clause(c) of rule 2.2,of Pb CSR Vol. II, the Head of Office shall authorize the provisional pension equal to the maximum pension which would have been admissible on the basis of qualifying service up to the date of retirement of the Government employee or if he was under suspension on the date of retirement, up to the date immediately preceding the date on which he was placed under suspension.

(b) No gratuity shall be paid to the Government employee until the conclusion of the departmental or judicial proceedings and issue of final order thereon, provided that where departmental proceedings have been instituted under rule 10 of the Punjab Civil Services (Punishment and Appeal) Rules, for imposing any of the penalties specified in clauses (i), (ii) and (iv) of rule 5 of the said Rules, the payment of gratuity shall be authorized to be paid to the Government employee.

(2) Payment of provisional pension made under sub-rule (1) shall be adjusted against final retirement benefits sanctioned to such Government employee upon conclusion of such proceedings but no recovery shall be made where the pension finally sanctioned is less then the provisional pension or the pension is reduced or withheld either permanently or for a specified period. (Rule 9.14)

15. Revision of Pension after authorization:

(1) Subject to the provisions of rules 2.1 and 2.2 of Pb. CSR Vol. II pension once authorised, after final assessment, shall not be revised to the disadvantage of the Government employee unless such revision becomes necessary on account of detection of a clerical error subsequently. Provided no revision of pension to the disadvantage of the pensioner shall be ordered by the Head of Office or by the Accountant General, Punjab, without the concurrence of the Department of Finance, if the clerical error is detected after a period of two years from the date of authorization of pension.

(2) For the purpose of sub-rule (1), the retired Government employee shall be served with a notice by the Head of Office requiring him to refund the excess payment of pension within a period of two months from the date of receipt of notice by him.

(3) In case Government employee fails to comply with the notice, the Head of Office shall, by an order in writing, direct that such excess payment, shall be adjusted in installments by making short payments of pension in future, in one or more instalments, as the Head of Office, may direct. (Rule 9.15) (Note: An undertaking in triplicate shall be obtained from the applicant, who is to receive pension from the Government of Punjab, along with his application for the grant of pension, to the effect that he, or in the case of his death his heirs will refund the amount of any pensionary or any other benefit paid to him erroneously or in excess of that due to him, and a copy of the undertaking so obtained will be retained each by the pension sanctioning authority and the Accountant General(Accounts and Entitlement) Punjab and one copy thereof will be forwarded to the Distt. Treasury officer concerned along with the pension payment order).

16. Recovery and adjustment of Government dues:

(1) It shall be the duty of the Head of Office to ascertain and assess Government dues payable by Government employee due for retirement.

(2) The Government dues as ascertained and assessed by the Head of Office which remain outstanding till the date of retirement of the Government employee shall be adjusted against the amount of the death-cum-retirement gratuity becoming payable.

(3) The expression ‘Government dues’ includes-
(a) Dues pertaining to Government accommodation including arrears of license fee, if any;
(b) Dues other than those pertaining to Government accommodation, namely balance of house building advance or conveyance advance or any other advance, over-payment of pay and allowances or leave salary and arrears of income tax deductable at source under the Income Tax Act. (Rule 9.16)

17. Adjustment and recovery of dues pertaining to Govt. accommodation.

(1) The Accounts Officer (Rents) or other concerned officer of the Department of Public Works, Punjab, on receipt of intimation from the Head of Office under sub-rule (1) of rule 9.2 (1), regarding the issue of ‘No Demand Certificate’, shall scrutinize its records and inform the Head of Office, eight months before the date of retirement of the allottee, if any license fee was recoverable from him in respect of the period prior to eight months of his retirement. If no intimation in regard to recovery of outstanding license fee is received by the Head of Office by the stipulated date, it shall be presumed that no license fee was recoverable from the allottee in respect of the period preceding eight months of his retirement.

(2) The Head of office shall ensure that license fee for the next eight months, that is up to the date of retirement of the allottee, is recovered every month, from the pay and allowances of the allottee.

(3) Where the Accounts Officer (Rents) or other concerned officer of the Department of Public Works, Punjab, intimates the amount of license fee recoverable in respect of the period mentioned in sub-rule (1), the Head of the office shall ensure that outstanding license fee is recovered in installments from the current pay and allowances of the allottee and where the entire amount is not recovered from the pay and allowances ,the balance shall be recovered out of the gratuity before its payment is authorized.

(4) The Accounts Officer (Rents) or other concerned officer of the Department of Public Works, Punjab, shall also inform the Head of the Office, the amount of license fee for the retention of Government accommodation for the permissible period of two months beyond the date of retirement of the allottee. The Head of Office shall adjust the amount of that license fee in the amount of the gratuity together with the un-recovered licence fee, if any, mentioned in sub-rule (3).

(5) If in any particular case, it is not possible for the Accounts Officer (Rents), or other concerned officer of the Department of Public Works, Punjab, to determine the outstanding license fee, he shall inform the Head of Office that ten per cent of the gratuity or one thousand rupees, whichever is less, may be withheld pending receipt of further information.

(6) The recovery of license fee for the occupation of the Government accommodation beyond the permissible period of two months after the date of retirement of the allottee, shall be the responsibility of the Accounts officer (Rents) or other concerned officer of the Department of Public Works, Punjab. Note: For the purpose of this rule, the, license fee shall also include any other charges payable by the allottee for any damage or loss caused by him to the accommodation or its fittings. (Rule 9.17)

18. Adjustment and recovery of dues other than dues pertaining to Govt. accommodation.

(1) For the dues other than the dues pertaining to occupation of Government accommodation, as referred to in clause (b) of sub rule(3) of rule 9.16, the Head of Office shall take steps to assess the dues two years before the date on which a Government employee is due to retire on superannuation, or the date on which he proceeds on leave preparatory to retirement, whichever is earlier.

(2) The assessment of Government dues referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be completed by the Head of Office eight months prior to the date of the retirement of the Government employee.

(3) The dues as assessed under sub-rule (2) including those dues which come to notice subsequently and which remain outstanding till the date of retirement of the Government employee, shall be adjusted against the amount of death-cum-retirement gratuity becoming payable to the Government employee on his retirement. (Rule 9.18).

19. Date of retirement to be notified.

When a Government employee retires from service,

(a) A notification in the Official Gazette in the case of Gazetted Government employee, and,

(b) An office order in the case of non-gazetted government employee, shall be issued, specifying the date of retirement within a week of such date and a copy of every such notification or office order, as the case may be, shall be forwarded immediately to the Accountant General, Punjab, provided that where a notification in the Official Gazette or an office order, as the case may be, regarding the grant of leave preparatory to retirement to a Government employee is issued, a further notification or office order that the Government employee has actually retired on the expiry of such leave shall not be necessary unless the leave is curtailed and the retirement is for any reason ante-dated or postponed. (Rule 9.19).

B. Processing a Family Pension case of Govt. Employee who died while in service

1. Time-Table for the work:

(1) As soon as the Head of Office receives intimation regarding death of a gazetted or non-gazetted Government employee while in service, he shall initiate immediate action for obtaining claims for family pension and death-cum-retirement gratuity from the beneficiary or beneficiaries.

(2) (i) The Head of Office shall go through the service book or service record of the deceased Government employee and satisfy himself as to whether annual certificates of verification of service for the entire service are recorded therein.

(ii) If there is any period of unverified service, the Head of Office shall accept the unverified portion of service as verified on the basis of valid entries in the service book or service record. For this purpose, the Head of Office may rely on any other relevant material to which he may have ready access. While accepting the unverified portion of service, the Head of Office shall ensure that service was continuous and was not forfeited on account of dismissal, removal or resignation from service.

(iii) (a) For the purpose of determination of emoluments for family pension and death-cum-retirement gratuity, the Head of Office shall normally confine the verification of correctness of emoluments for a maximum period of one year preceding the date of death of the Government employee.

(b) In case, the Government employee was on extraordinary leave on the date of death, the correctness of the emoluments for a maximum period of one year which he drew preceding the date of the commencement of the extraordinary leave shall be verified.

(iv) The process of determination of qualifying service and qualifying emoluments shall be completed within one month of the receipt of the intimation regarding the date of death of the Government employee and the amount of family pension and death-cum-retirement gratuity be calculated accordingly. (Rule 6.25)

2. Determination of the amount of Family Pension & Gratuity where service records are incomplete:

If in any particular case the service book or service record has not been maintained properly despite the Government orders on the subject, and it is not possible for the Head of Office to accept the unverified portion of service book or service records, the Head of Office shall not proceed with the verification of the entire spell of service. The verification of service in such a case shall be confined to the following spells of service.

(A) For the purpose of Family Pension scheme 1964

Keeping in view the rules/instructions issued vide letter no.16\64\79-FR(6) dated 11th September, 1979, effective from 27th Jan, 1979,(embodied as para 13.74 A of Manual of Instructions, Finance Department, Government of Punjab-1984 Edition) and para 4.1 and 4.2 of the letter no.1\7\98-1FP3\8709dated 16th July,1998, verification of any qualifying service is not necessary before sanctioning family pension to the family of a Government employee who dies in service provided he/she had been medically examined and found fit for appointment under the Government.

(B) For the purpose of death-cum-retirement gratuity-

(i) If the deceased Government employee had, at the time of death, rendered more than five years qualifying service but not more than twelve years of qualifying service, and the spell of last five years service has been verified and accepted by the Head of Office, the amount of death-cum-retirement gratuity shall be equal to twelve times of the deceased Government employee’s emoluments as indicated in rule 6.16(A) read with Punjab Govt. letter no. 1\7\98\1FP3\8709 dated 16-7-98.Where the verified and accepted service is less than five years of qualifying service, the amount of death-cum-retirement gratuity shall be equal to twice or six times of his emoluments as indicated in clause(b) of sub-rule (2) of rule 6.16(A) read with Punjab Govt. letter no. 1\7\98-1FP3\8709 dated 16-7-1998.

(ii) If the deceased Government employee had rendered more than twelve years of service and the entire service is not capable of being verified and accepted, but the service for the last five years has been verified and accepted, under sub-clause (i), the family of the deceased Government employee shall be allowed, on provisional basis, the death-cum-retirement gratuity equal to twelve times of the emoluments. Final amount of the gratuity shall be determined by the Head of Office on the basis of the entire spell of service which may be verified and accepted by the Head of office within a period of six months from the date on which the authority for the payment of provisional gratuity was issued. The balance, if any, becoming payable as a result of determination of the final amount of death-cum-retirement gratuity shall then be authorized to the beneficiary or beneficiaries. (Rules 6.26 read with letter No.1\7\98\1FP3\8709 dated 16-7-1998).

3. Forwarding the papers to the Accountant General (A&E) Punjab:

(1) On receipt of claim or claims along with necessary documents mentioned in rule 6.18A the pension sanctioning authority will sanction family pension as in form PEN. 17 and send all these documents to the Accountant General, Punjab, with a covering letter along with the Government employee’s service book or service record duly completed, up-to-date, and any other documents relied upon for the verification of the service claimed in such a manner that they can be conveniently consulted. This shall be done not later than one month of the receipt of the claim by the Head of Office.

(2) The pension sanctioning authority shall draw the particular attention of the Accountant General, Punjab, regarding the details of Government dues outstanding against the deceased Government employee, namely:-

(a) Government dues as intimated and assessed in terms of Rule 6.30 and recoverable out of the gratuity before payment is authorized.

(b) Amount of gratuity to be held over partly for adjustment of government dues which have not been assessed so for and partly as margin for adjustment in the light of the final determination of the gratuity. (Rule 6.27).

4. Sanction, Drawal & Disburesment of provisional Family Pension & Gratuity:

(1) After the documents referred to in rule 6.27 have been sent to the Accountant-General, Punjab, the Head of Office shall draw provisional family pension, not exceeding the maximum family pension and hundred per cent of the gratuity as determined under clause(iv) of sub-rule(2) of rule 6.25 and clause(B) of rule 6.26. For this purpose, the Head of Office shall adopt the following procedure, namely,

(a) He shall issue a sanction letter in favour of the claimant or claimants endorsing copies thereof to the Accountant General, Punjab, indicating the amount of hundred per cent of provisional family pension and gratuity as determined.

(b) He shall indicate in the sanction letter the amount recoverable out of the gratuity in terms of sub-rule (2) of the rule 6.27.

(c) After issue of the sanction letter he shall draw:

•   The amount of provisional family pension, and
•   The amount of hundred per cent of the gratuity and deduct there from the dues mentioned in clause(b) in the same manner as pay and allowances of the establishment are drawn by him.

(2) The Head of Office shall disburse:

(a) The provisional family pension to the claimant on or after the first day of the month following the month in which the Government employee died.

(b) The amount of the death-cum-retirement gratuity to the claimant or claimants immediately after the same has been drawn under clause(B) of rule 6.26.

The payment of provisional family pension shall continue for a period of six months from the date following the date of death of the Government employee unless the period is extended by the Accountant General, Punjab, under the proviso to sub-rule(1) of rule 6.29.

(4) The Head of Office shall inform the Accountant General, Punjab:

(a) as soon as the gratuity has been paid to the claimant of claimants; and

(b) as soon as the provisional family pension has been paid for a period of six months or for the period extended under the proviso to sub-rule(1) of rule 6.29, as the case may be.

(5) If the claimant desires the payment of provisional family pension or of gratuity or of both through money order or bank draft, the same shall be remitted to him through money order or bank draft at his cost. (Rule 6.28)

5. Authorization of final pension and balance of the gratuity in respect of the deceased Government employee:

(1) On receipt of the documents referred to in rule 6.27, the Accountant General, Punjab, shall within a period of three months from the date of receipt of the documents, apply the requisite checks, and assess the amount of family pension and gratuity, and issue pension order and gratuity payment order, provided that if the Accountant General, Punjab, is, for any reason, unable to assess the amount of both the family pension and gratuity within the period aforesaid, he shall communicate the fact to the Head of Office to continue to disburse the provisional family pension to the claimant for such period as may be specified by the Accountant General, Punjab.

(2) (a) The payment of family pension shall be effective from the date following the date on which the payment of provisional family pension ceases.

(b) Arrears of family pension, if any, in respect of the period for which family pension was drawn and disbursed by the Head of Office shall also be authorized by the Accountant General, Punjab.

(3) (A) The Accountant General, Punjab, shall authorize the payment of balance of the gratuity after adjusting the amount, if any, outstanding against the deceased Government employee, provided that the release of the gratuity shall not be withheld on account of any delay in connection with, or for want of sanction of the competent authority required under rule 10.16(V) of the Punjab Financial Rules, Volume I, in respect of writing off of the loans, any part thereof, or interest accrued thereon which remains unpaid at the time of death of the Government employee concerned. The release of the gratuity shall, however, be withheld to the extent of unpaid loan and interest thereon if the case falls in any of the following categories:

(a) if the deceased Government employee is not survived by- (i) his wife or husband, as the case may be; or (ii) his sons, daughters, father, mother, minor brothers and sisters who are unemployed and were entirely dependent on the deceased Government employee as certified by the Deputy Commissioner concerned.

(b) if the amount of House Building Advance has been mis-utilised.

(B) The amount of gratuity withheld under clause(vi) of Sub-rule(1) of rule 6.30 shall be adjusted by the Accountant General, Punjab against the outstanding license fee mentioned in clause(ix) of sub rule(1) of the said rule and the balance, if any, refunded to the person or persons to whom the gratuity has been paid.

(4) The fact of the issue of the pension payment order and order for the payment of balance of gratuity shall be promptly reported to the Head of Office and the documents which are no longer required shall be returned to him.

(5) The Accountant General, Punjab, may authorize the payment of balance of gratuity even during the period of the currency of provisional family pension, provided that the amount of gratuity has been finally assessed and no recovery of Government dues is outstanding against the deceased Government employee.

(6) If the amount of provisional family pension as disbursed by the Head of Office is found to be in excess of the final family pension assessed by the Accountant-General, Punjab, it shall be open to the Accountant General, Punjab to adjust the amount of pension payable in future.

(7) (a) If the amount of gratuity disbursed by the Head of Office proves to be larger than the amount finally assessed by the Accountant General, Punjab, the beneficiary shall not be required to refund the excess.

(b) The Head of Office shall ensure that chances of disbursing the amount of gratuity in excess of the amount actually admissible shall be minimised and the official or officials responsible for the excess payment shall be accountable for the over payment. (Rule 6.29).

6. Adjustment of Government Dues.

(1) Dues pertaining to the Government accommodation

(i) If on the date of death, the Government employee was in occupation of Government accommodation which had been allotted to him, the Head of Office on receipt of intimation regarding the death of Government employee shall immediately write to the Accounts Officer or Assistant Accounts Officer (Rents) for the issue of ‘No Demand Certificate’ so that authorization of family pension and death-cum-retirement gratuity is not delayed. While addressing the Accounts Officer or Assistant Accounts Officer (Rents) for the issue of ‘No Demand Certificate’ the Head of the Office shall also send the following information in duplicate (one copy marked to Rent Wing and second to Allotment wing):

(a) Name of the deceased Government employee with designation;

(b) Particulars of the Government accommodation (House or Quarter No., type and locality)

(c) Date of death of a Government employee;

(d) Whether the Government employee was on leave at the time of his death and, if so, the period and nature of leave;

(e) Whether the Government employee was enjoying rent free accommodation;

(f) the period up to which license fee has been recovered from the pay and allowances of the deceased Government employee and the monthly rate of recovery and details of pay bill under which last recovery was made;

g) if the license fee has not been recovered up to the date of death and the family intends to retain Government accommodation for the permissible period of one year beyond the date of death of the Government employee, details of the:-

(aa) Period for which license fee still remains to be recovered.

(bb) The amount of license fee in respect of the period mentioned in sub-clauses (aa) above to be determined on the basis of the standard rent bill.

(cc) The amount of license fee for the retention of Government accommodation by the family of the deceased Government employee for the concessional period of one year beyond the date of death of Government employee to be determined on the basis of the standard rent bill.

(ii) The amount of licence fee mentioned in sub-clause(bb) and (cc) proposed to be recovered out of death-cum-retirement gratuity.

(iii) The Head of Office shall recover from the death-cum-retirement gratuity the amount of license fee as intimated by the Accounts Officer or Assistant Accounts Officer (Rents) under clause (i).

(iv) The recovery of license fee for the occupation of Government accommodation beyond the permissible period of one year shall be the responsibility of Accounts Officer or Assistant Accounts Officer (Rents).

(v) The Accounts Officer or Assistant Accounts Officer (Rents) shall scrutinize their records with a view to determine if the license fee other than the license fee referred to in clause (i) was outstanding against the deceased Government employee. If any outstanding recovery is found, the amount and period to which the recovery or recoveries relate shall be communicated to Head of Office within a period of 3 months of the receipt of intimation regarding the death of the Government employee under clause (i)(c).

(vi) Pending receipt of information under clause (v) the Head of Office shall withhold ten per cent of the death-cum-retirement gratuity or one thousand rupees, whichever is less.

(vii) If no intimation is received by the Head of Office within the period specified under clause(v) regarding the recovery of the license fee, it shall be presumed that nothing was recoverable from the deceased Government employee, and the withheld amount of gratuity shall be refunded to the person or persons to whom the amount of death-cum-retirement gratuity was paid.

(viii) If the Head of Office has received intimation from the Accounts Officer or Assistant Accounts Officer (Rents) under clause(v) regarding licence fee outstanding against the deceased Government employee, the Head of office shall verify from the acquittance rolls if the outstanding amount of license fee was recovered from the pay and allowances of the deceased Government employee. If as a result of verification it is revealed that the amount of license fee shown as outstanding by the Accounts Officer or Assistant Accounts Officer (Rents) had already been recovered, the Head of Office shall draw the attention of the Accounts Officer or Assistant Accounts Officer (Rents) to the pay bills, under which the necessary recovery of the license fee was made and takes steps to refund the withheld amount of the gratuity to the person or persons to whom the death-cum-retirement gratuity was paid.

(ix) If the outstanding amount of license fee was not recovered from the pay and allowances of the deceased Government employee, the outstanding amount shall be adjusted against the amount of the gratuity withheld under clause(vi) and the balance, if any, refunded to the person or persons to whom the amount of death-cum-retirement gratuity was paid.

(2) Dues other than those referred to in sub-rule(1)

On receiving an intimation regarding the death of the Government employee, the Head of Office shall take steps to ascertain, if any dues as referred to in rule 9.2A, excluding the dues pertaining to occupation of Government accommodation were recoverable from the deceased Government employee. Such ascertainable dues shall be recovered from the amount of death-cum-retirement gratuity becoming payable to the family of the deceased Government employee. (Rule 6.30)

Brief of Discrepancies commonly noticed during a Pension Case:

1) One or more forms/enclosures, as elaborated/enlisted separately herein, found enclosed.

2) Specified forms/documents required as enclosures in Pension case not found as duly filled in and/or signed/countersigned by Pention Sanctioning Authority/ competent authority.

3) Some period of service left un-verified.

4) Para below Sr. No.13 of Form No. 17 is generally left incomplete. Name of the person entitled to receive Family Pension must be filed in by the Head of the Office.

Role of the Government servant:

(1) Every Government servant is entitled to check his Service Book annually. It is in his own interest to ensure that his Service Book and leave accounts are maintained by the Government properly and to ensure that:

(a) An entry exists in the Service Book that the Govt. servant has been medically examined and found fit on initial appointment.

(b) The date of birth and the date of confirmation in a service or post is properly entered in the Service Book.

(c) Whether annual verification of his service every year has been done under proper attestation without any interruption.

(d) Whether, all annual increments have been noted in Service Book with pay fixation, if any.

(e) Whether each and every noting in the service book has been attested by the competent authority.

(f) Whether nominations submitted by him for GPF, DCRG, GIS etc. are accepted and attached in his S. Book. If any deficiency/lacuna is found on the above, it should at once, be brought to notice of the authorities for rectification.

(2) The Government servant who are due to retire within two years should check his whole service book and if any deficiencies are found, it should at once be brought to the notice of the authorities for rectification.

(3) The Govt. Servant should submit form Pen. 15 duly filled in with all enclosures as asked for in due time, as and when received from the authorities.

(4) All forms including that for commutation of pension should be filled in complete shape by the Government servant (due to retire) so that there is left no ambiguity which may cause undue delay in finalisation of his case.

(5) If any State Government employee on retirement is not sanctioned provisional pension and provisional gratuity, under rule 9.9 of Punjab CSR Vol.II, pending final determination of his/her pensionary benefits and issue of PPO, he/she may make a representation to the Director of Pensions and Welfare of Pensioners, Punjab, Sector 17, Chandigarh in terms of State Government, Finance Department letter No. 9/37/85-1/FP III/7776 dated 2-7-1987.