Pension Rule No.33: Counting Of Pre-Retirement Civil (Including Railway) Service In The Case Of Re-Employed Railway Servant

33. Counting Of Pre-Retirement Civil (Including Railway) Service In The Case Of Re-Employed Railway Servant:-

(1) A railway servant who, having retired on compensation pension or invalid pension or compensation gratuity or invalid gratuity, is re-employed and appointed substantively to a service or a post to which these rules apply, may exercise his option either :—

(a)   To continue to draw the pension or retain the gratuity sanctioned for his earlier service, in which case his former service shall not be counted as qualifying service, or

(b)   To cease to draw his pension and refund—

(i)    Pension already drawn;

(ii)    The value received for commutation of part or a part of pension; and

(iii)   The amount of death-cum-retirement gratuity including service gratuity, if any,

and count the previous service as qualifying service :

Provided that —

(i)    The pension drawn prior to the date of re-employment shall not be required to be refunded;

(ii)    The element of pension which was ignored for fixation of his pay including the element of pension which was not taken into account for fixation of pay shall be refunded by him;

(iii)   The element of pension equivalent of gratuity including the element of commuted part of pension, if any, which was taken into account for fixation of his pay shall be set off against the amount of death-cum-retirement-gratuity and the commuted value of pension and the balance, if any, shall be refunded by him.

Explanation- In the proviso to this sub-rule, the expression Which Was Taken Into Account means, the amount of pension including the pension equivalent of gratuity by which pay of the railway servant was reduced on initial re-employment and the expression Which Was Not Taken Into Account shall be construed accordingly.

(2) (a) The authority issuing the order of substantive appointment to a railway service or post referred to in sub-rule (1) shall along with such order require in writing the railway servant to exercise his option under that sub-rule within three months of the date of issue of such order or if he is on leave on that date, within three months of his return from leave, whichever is later and also bring to his notice the provisions of clause (b) of that sub-rule.

(b)   If no option is exercised within the period referred to in clause (a), the railway servant shall be decided to have opted for clause (a) of sub-rule (1).

(3)   ln case of a railway servant, who opts or is deemed to have opted for clause (a) of sub-rule (1), ihe pension or gratuity admissible for his subsequent service shall be subject to the limitation that the ser-vice gratuity or the capital value of the pension and death-cum retirement gratuity, if any shall not be greater than the difference between the value of the pension and death-cum-retirement gratuity, if any, which would have been admissible to him at the time of his final retirement if the two periods of service were combined and the value of retirement benefits already granted to him for the previous service.

Note- The capital value of pension shall be calculated in accordance with the Table in the Appendix II under the Railway Service (Commutation of Pension) Rules 1993, as applicable at the time of the second or final retirement.

(4)   (a) A railway servant who opts for clause (b) of sub-rule (1) shall be required to refund the gratuity including death-cum-retirement gratuity, if any, received in respect of his earlier service, in monthly instalments not exceeding thirty-six in number, the first instalment beginning from the month following the month in which he exercised such option.

(b)   The right to count previous service as qualifying service shall not be revived until the whole amount has been refunded.

(5)   In the case where a railway servant who. Having elected to refund the gratuity,

dies before the entire amount is refunded, the unrefunded amount of gratuity shall be adjusted against the death-cum-retirement gratuity which may become payable to such deceased’s family.