Determination and authorisation of the amount of gratuity: Chapter VI – CCS (Payment of Gratuity under NPS) Rules, 2021

 Determination and authorization of the amount of gratuity: Chapter VI – CCS (Payment of Gratuity under NPS) Rules, 2021

CHAPTER VI
DETERMINATION AND AUTHORISATION OF THE AMOUNT OF GRATUITY

34. Preparation of papers for payment of gratuity. – Every Head of Office shall undertake the work of preparation of papers for grant of gratuity in Form 6 one year before the date on which a Government servant is due to retire on superannuation, or on the date on which he proceeds on leave preparatory to retirement, whichever is earlier.

35. Intimation to the directorate of estates regarding issue of ‘No Demand Certificate’.- (1) The Head of Office shall write to the Directorate of Estates at least one year before the anticipated date of retirement of the Government servant who was or is in occupation of a Government accommodation (hereinafter referred to as allottee) for issuing a `No demand certificate’ in respect of the period preceding eight months of the retirement of the allottee in accordance with rule 22 of the Central Civil Services ( Implementation of National Pension System) Rules, 2021.

36. Stages for the completion of papers for payment of gratuity on superannuation. – (1) The Head of Office shall divide the period of preparatory work of one year referred to in rule 34 in the following three stages, namely:–

(a) First Stage. – Verification of service.- (i) The Head of Office shall go through the service book of the Government servant and satisfy himself as to whether the certificates of verification for the service subsequent to the service verified under rule 21 are recorded therein.

(ii) In respect of the unverified portion or portions of service, he shall verify the portion or portions of such service, as the case may be, based on pay bills, acquittance rolls or other relevant records such as last pay certificate, pay slip for month of April which shows verification of service for the previous financial year and record necessary certificates in the service book.

(iii) Where the service for any period is not capable of being verified in the manner specified in sub-clause (i) and sub-clause (ii), that period of service having been rendered by the Government servant in another office or Department, the Head of Office under which the Government servant is at present serving shall refer the said period of service to the Head of Office in which the Government servant is shown to have served during that period for the purpose of verification.

(iv) On receipt of communication referred to in sub-clause (iii), the Head of Office in that office or Department shall verify the portion or portions of such service, in the manner as specified in sub-clause (ii), and send necessary certificates to the referring Head of Office within two months from the date of receipt of such a reference:

Provided that in case a period of service is incapable of being verified, it shall be brought to the notice of the referring Head of Office simultaneously.

(v) Where no response is received within the time period referred to in the sub-clause (iv), such period or periods shall be deemed to qualify for gratuity.

(vi) Where at any time, it is found that the Head of Office and other concerned authorities had failed to communicate any non-qualifying period of service, the Secretary of the administrative Ministry or Department shall fix responsibility for such non-communication.

(vii) The process specified in sub-clauses (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v) shall be completed eight months before the date of superannuation of the Government servant.

(viii) Where any portion of service rendered by a Government servant is not capable of being verified in the manner specified in sub-clause (i) or sub-clause (ii) or sub-clause (iii) or sub-clause (iv) or sub-clause (v), the Government servant shall be asked to file a written statement on plain paper within a month, stating that he had in fact rendered service for that period, and shall, at the foot of the statement, make and subscribe to a declaration as to the truth of that statement.

(ix) The Head of Office shall, after taking into consideration the facts in the written statement referred to in sub- clause (viii) admit that portion of service as having been rendered for the purpose of calculating the gratuity of that Government servant.

(x) Where a Government servant is found to have given any incorrect information willfully, which makes him or her entitled to any benefits which he or she is not otherwise entitled to, it shall be construed as a grave misconduct.

(b) Second Stage. – Making good an omission in the service book. – (i) The Head of Office while scrutinising 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 gratuity.

(ii) Every effort shall be made to complete the verification of service, as specified in clause (a) and to make good the omissions, imperfections or deficiencies referred to in sub-clause (i).

(iii) Any omission, imperfection or deficiency which is incapable of being made good and the periods of service about which the Government servant has submitted no statement and the portion of service shown as unverified in the service book which it has not been possible to verify in accordance with the procedure laid down in clause (a) shall be ignored and service qualifying for gratuity shall be determined on the basis of the entries in the service book.

(iv) For the purpose of calculation of average emoluments, the Head of Office shall verify from the service book the correctness of the emoluments drawn or to be drawn during the last ten months of service.

(v) In order to ensure that the emoluments during the last ten months of service have been correctly shown in the service book, the Head of Office may verify the correctness of emoluments only for the period of twenty-four months preceding the date of retirement of a Government servant, and not for any period prior to that date.

(c) Third Stage. – As soon as the second stage is completed, but not later than eight months prior to the date of retirement of the Government servant, the Head of Office shall, –

(i) furnish to the retiring Government servant a certificate regarding the length of qualifying service proposed to be admitted for the purpose of gratuity and also the emoluments and the average emoluments proposed to be reckoned for retirement gratuity.

(ii) direct the retiring Government servant to furnish to the Head of Office the reasons for non-acceptance, supported by the relevant documents in support of his claim within two months if the certified service and emoluments as indicated by the Head of Office are not acceptable to him.

37. Completion of Part I of Form 6 . – In cases under sub-rule (1) of rule 36, the Head of Office shall complete Part I of Form 6 not later than four months before the date of retirement of a Government servant and in cases where Government servant retiring for reasons other than superannuation, the Head of Office shall complete Part I of Form 6 within two months after retirement of a Government servant.

38. Forwarding of Form 6 and Form 7 papers for payment of gratuity to Accounts Officer. – (1) After complying with the requirement of rule 36 and rule 37, the Head of Office shall forward Form 6 duly completed with a covering letter in Form 7 along with service book of the Government servant duly completed, up to date, and any other documents relied upon for the verification of service to the Accounts Officer .

(2) The Head of Office shall retain a copy of Form 6 and Form 7 for his record.

(3) The Forms referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be forwarded to the Accounts Officer not later than four months before the date of superannuation of a Government servant and in cases other than retirement on superannuation not later than two months after the date of retirement of Government servant.

39. Intimation to Accounts Officer regarding any event having bearing on gratuity. – Where after the Forms for payment of gratuity have been forwarded to the Accounts Officer, any event occurs which has a bearing on the amount of gratuity admissible, the fact shall be promptly reported to the Accounts Officer by the Head of Office.

40. Intimation of the particulars of government dues to the Accounts Officer.-(1) The Head of Office shall, after ascertaining and assessing the Government dues referred to in rule 45, furnish the particulars thereof to the Accounts Officer in Form 7.

(2) Where after the particulars of Government dues have been intimated to the Accounts Officer under sub-rule (1), any additional Government dues come to the notice of the Head of Office, such dues shall be promptly reported to the Accounts Officer.

41. Provisional gratuity for reasons other than Departmental or Judicial proceedings. – (1) Where in spite of following the procedure laid down in rule 36, it is not possible for the Head of Office to forward the Forms for gratuity to the Accounts Officer within the period specified in sub-rule (3) of rule 38 or where the Forms for payment of gratuity have been forwarded to the Accounts Officer within the period so specified but the Accounts Officer may have returned the Forms to the Head of Office for eliciting further information before issuing order for the payment of gratuity and the Government servant is likely to retire before his gratuity can be finally assessed and settled in accordance with the provisions of these rules, the Head of Office shall rely upon such information as may be available in the official records, and without delay, determine the amount of provisional retirement gratuity.

(2) In a case of retirement otherwise than on superannuation, the Head of Office shall sanction provisional retirement gratuity within two months till final assessment of retirement gratuity .

(3) Where the amount of gratuity cannot be determined for reasons other than the Departmental or Judicial proceedings, the Head of Office shall, –

(a) issue a letter of sanction addressed to the Accounts Officer endorsing a copy thereof to the Government servant authorising hundred per cent. of the gratuity as provisional gratuity and withholding of ten per cent. of gratuity;

(b) specify in the letter of sanction the amount recoverable from the gratuity under sub-rule (1) of rule 40 and after issuing the letter of sanction referred to in clause (a), the Head of Office shall draw the amount of provisional gratuity after deducting therefrom the amount specified in of clause (a) and the dues, if any, specified in rule 45, in the same manner as pay and allowances of the establishment are drawn by him.

(4) The amount of gratuity payable under sub-rule (2) or sub-rule (3) shall, if necessary, be revised on the completion of the detailed scrutiny of the records.

(5) (a) If the amount of final gratuity had been determined by the Head of Office in consultation with the Accounts Officer before the expiry of six months from the date of retirement of a Government servant, the Accounts Officer shall direct the Head of Office to draw and disburse the difference between the final amount of gratuity and the amount of provisional gratuity paid under of clause (b) of sub-rule (3) after adjusting the Government dues, if any, which may have come to notice after the payment of provisional gratuity.

(b)(i) Where the amount of provisional gratuity disbursed by the Head of Office under sub-rule (3) is more than the amount finally assessed, the retired Government servant shall not be required to refund the excess amount actually disbursed to him.

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

(6) Where the final amount of gratuity have not been determined by the Head of Office in consultation with the Accounts Officer within a period of six months referred to in clause (a) of sub-rule (5), the Accounts Officer shall treat the provisional gratuity as final and issue authority order immediately on the expiry of the period of six months.

(7) On issue of authority order by the Accounts Officer under clause (a) of sub-rule (5) or sub-rule (6), the Head of Office shall release the amount of withheld gratuity under clause (a) of sub-rule (3) to the retired Government servant after adjusting Government dues which may have come to notice after the payment of provisional gratuity under of clause (b) of sub-rule (3).

(8) Where a Government servant is or was an allottee of Government accommodation, the withheld amount shall be paid on receipt of `No Demand Certificate’ from the Directorate of Estates.

42. Authorisation of gratuity by the accounts officer.- (1) (a) On receipt of Forms for payment of gratuity referred to in rule 38, the Accounts Officer shall apply the requisite checks, record the account enfacement in Part II of Form 6 and assess the amount of gratuity and issue authority letter not later than one month in advance of the date of the retirement of a Government servant on attaining the age of superannuation.

(b) In the cases of retirement otherwise than on attaining the age of superannuation, the Accounts Officer shall apply the requisite checks, complete Part II of Form 6, assess the amount of gratuity, assess dues and issue the authority letter within three months of the date of receipt of Forms for payment of gratuity from the Head of Office.

(2) The amount of gratuity as determined by the Accounts Officer under clause (a) of sub-rule (1) shall be intimated to the Head of Office with the remarks that the amount of the gratuity may be drawn by preferring a bill to the Pay and Accounts Officer and disbursed by the Head of Office to the retired Government servant after adjusting the Government dues, if any, referred to in rule 45.

(3) The amount of gratuity withheld under sub-rule (5) of rule 46 shall be adjusted by the Head of Office against the outstanding licence fee intimated by the Directorate of Estates and the balance, if any, refunded to the retired Government servant.

43. Government servants on deputation.- (1) In the case of Government servant who retires while on deputation to another Central Government Department, action to authorise gratuity in accordance with the provisions of this rule shall be taken by the Head of Office of the borrowing Department.

(2) In the case of a Government servant who retires from service, while on deputation to a State Government or while on foreign service, action to authorise gratuity in accordance with the provisions of this rule shall be taken by the Head of Office or the Cadre authority which sanctioned deputation to the State Government or to foreign service.

44. Interest on delayed payment of gratuity.- (1) In all cases where the payment of gratuity has been authorised later than the date when its payment becomes due, including the cases of retirement otherwise than on superannuation, and it is clearly established that the delay in payment was attributable to administrative reasons or lapses, interest shall be paid at the rate and manner applicable to Public Provident Fund amount in accordance with the instructions issued from time to time:

Provided that the delay in payment was not caused on account of failure on the part of the Government servant to comply with the procedure laid down by the Government for processing his papers for payment of gratuity.

(2) Every case of delayed payment of gratuity shall be considered by the Secretary of the Ministry or the Department in respect of its employees and the employees of its attached and subordinate offices and where the Secretary of the Ministry or the Department is satisfied that the delay in the payment of gratuity was caused on account of administrative reasons or lapse, the Secretary of the concerned Ministry or the Department shall sanction payment of interest.

(3) The concerned Ministry or the Department shall issue Presidential sanction for the payment of interest after the Secretary has sanctioned the payment of interest under sub-rule (2).

(4) In all cases where the payment of interest has been sanctioned by the Secretary of the concerned Ministry or the Department, such Ministry or the Department shall fix the responsibility and take disciplinary action against the Government servant or servants who are found responsible for the delay in the payment of gratuity on account of administrative lapses.

Explanation. – (1) Where the payment of retirement gratuity has been delayed beyond three months from the date of retirement on superannuation, an interest at the rate applicable to Public Provident Fund deposits from time to time shall be paid.

(2) The delay in payment of gratuity and payment of interest therefor shall be determined in the following manner, namely:-

(i) In case of Government servants against whom disciplinary or judicial proceedings are pending on the date of retirement and in which gratuity is withheld till the conclusion of the proceedings as per rule 5,-

(a) where the Government servant is exonerated of all charges and the gratuity is paid on the conclusion of such proceedings, in such case, where the payment of gratuity has been authorised after three months from the date of his retirement, interest at the rate applicable to Public Provident Fund deposits from time to time may be allowed beyond the period of three months from the date of retirement;

(b) where the disciplinary or judicial proceedings are dropped on account of the death of the Government servant during the pendency of disciplinary or judicial proceedings, in such cases, where payment of gratuity has been authorized after three months from the date of death, interest at the rate applicable to Public Provident Fund deposits from time to time may be allowed for the period of delay beyond three months from the date of death;

(c) where the Government servant is not fully exonerated on the conclusion of disciplinary or judicial proceedings and where the competent authority decides to allow payment of gratuity, in such cases, where the payment of gratuity is authorsed after three months from the date of issue of orders by the competent authority for payment of gratuity, in such cases, interest at the rate applicable to Public Provident Fund deposits from time to time may be allowed for the period of delay beyond three months from the date of issue of the above-mentioned orders by the competent authority.

(ii) On retirement other than on superannuation.- Such cases of retirement shall be either under clause (j) or clause (k) of rule 56 of the Fundamental Rules, 1922 or rules 12, 13, 16, 17 or 18 of the Central Civil Services (Implementation of National Pension System) Rules, 2021 and in such cases, where the payment of gratuity is delayed beyond six months from the date of retirement, interest at the rate applicable to Public Provident Fund deposits from time to time shall be paid for the period of delay beyond six months from the date of retirement.

(iii) On death of the Government servant while in service.- Where the payment of death gratuity is delayed beyond six months from the date of death, interest at the rate applicable to Public Provident Fund deposits from time to time shall be paid for the period of delay beyond six months from the date of death and if in any case the payment of death gratuity is held up on account of more than one claimant staking his claim to the same, such cases shall not automatically qualify for payment of interest in terms of these orders and these shall be decided in consultation with the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare.

(iv) Where the amount of gratuity already paid is enhanced on account of revision of emoluments or change in the policy relating to gratuity from a date prior to the date of retirement of the Government servant concerned and where the payment of difference of gratuity is delayed beyond a period of three months from the date of issue of the orders revising the emoluments or change in the rules, interest at the rate applicable to Public Provident Fund deposits from time to time may be allowed for the delay beyond the period of three months from the date of issue of the orders revising of emoluments or change in rules.

(v) Where the Government servant is permanently absorbed in a Public Sector Undertaking or an autonomous body otherwise than on en masse transfer on conversion of Government department or a part thereof into Public Sector Undertaking or autonomous body, and where the payment of gratuity has been delayed beyond six months from the date of such absorption, the interest at the rate applicable to Public Provident Fund deposits from time to time may be allowed for the period of delay beyond six months from the date of such permanent absorption in Public Sector Undertakings or autonomous body.

45. 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 a Government servant 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 servant, shall be adjusted against the amount of the retirement gratuity becoming payable.

Explanation.- (1) For the purpose or this rule, the expression `Government dues’ includes, – (a) dues pertaining to Government accommodation including arrears of licence fee as well as damages for the occupation of the Government accommodation beyond the permissible period after the date of retirement of the allottee, if any ;

(b) dues other than those pertaining to Government accommodation, namely, balance of house building or conveyance or any other advance, overpayment of pay and allowances or leave salary and arrears of income tax deductible at source under the Income Tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961). Explanation.- (2) Only the Government dues as referred to in Explanation (1) shall be adjusted against the amount of retirement gratuity payable to the retired Government servant and any other dues which are not Government dues in terms of the said Explanation (1) shall not be recoverable from the amount of retirement gratuity.

46. Adjustment and recovery of dues pertaining to Government accommodation.- (1) The Directorate of Estates on receipt of intimation from the Head of Office under sub-rule (1) of rule 22 of the Central Civil Services (Implementation of National Pension System) Rules, 2021 regarding the issue of No Demand Certificate shall scrutinise its records and inform the Head of Office within two months, if any licence fee was recoverable from him in respect of the period prior to eight months of his retirement and if no intimation in regard to recovery of outstanding licence fee is received by the Head of Office by the stipulated date, it shall be presumed that no licence fee was recoverable from the allottee in respect of the period preceding eight months of his retirement and no gratuity shall be withheld.

(2) The Head of Office shall ensure that licence 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 Directorate of Estates intimates the amount of licence fee recoverable in respect of the period mentioned in sub-rule (1), the Head of Office shall ensure that outstanding licence 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 authorised.

(4) The Directorate of Estates shall also inform the Head of Office the amount of licence fee for the retention of Government accommodation for the permissible period beyond the date of retirement of the allottee and the Head of Office shall adjust the amount of that licence fee from the amount of the gratuity together with the unrecovered licence fee, if any, mentioned in sub-rule (3).

(5) Where in any particular case, it is not possible for the Directorate of Estates to determine the outstanding licence fee, that Directorate shall inform the Head of Office that ten per cent. of the gratuity may be withheld pending receipt of further information.

(6) The recovery of licence fee (where it is not possible for the Directorate of Estates to determine the outstanding license fee) as well as damages (for occupation of the Government accommodation beyond the permissible period after the date of retirement of allottee) shall be the responsibility of the Directorate of Estates and the withheld amount of gratuity under sub-rule (5), the retiring Government employee, who are in occupation of Government accommodation, shall be paid immediately on production of ‘No Demand Certificate’ from the Directorate of Estates after actual vacation of the Government accommodation;

(7) The Directorate of Estates shall ensure that No Demand Certificate shall be given to the Government employee within a period of fourteen days from the actual date of vacation of the Government accommodation and the allottee shall be entitled to payment of interest (at the rate applicable to Public Provident Fund deposit determined from time to time by the Government of India) on the excess withheld amount of gratuity which is required to be refunded, after adjusting the arrears of license fee and damages, if any, payable by the allottee and the interest shall be payable by the Directorate of Estate through the concerned Accounts Officer of the Government Employee from the actual date of vacation of the Government accommodation up to the date of refund of excess withheld amount of gratuity;

(8) On account of license fee or damages remaining unpaid after adjustment from the withheld amount of gratuity mentioned under sub-rule (5), may be ordered to be recovered by the Directorate of Estates through the concerned Accounts Officer from the dearness relief without the consent of the pensioners and in such cases no dearness relief shall be disbursed until full recovery of such dues has been made.