Recovery: RBE No.64/2024 – Waiver of Recovery-Excess payment
No.2024/F(E)II/6/3, dated 15.07.2024
Sub: Waiver of recovery of excess payment made to Government employees – General Instructions – Reg.
Ref: D/o Expenditure’s OM No.01(14)2016-E.II(A) (Part-III), dated 01.04.2024.
1. The undersigned is directed to refer to the following Instructions/ Guidelines on the above subject issued by DoP&T/ Department of Expenditure and, subsequently adopted/ circulated by Ministry of Railways (Railway Board):-
| S.N. | Details of OM of DoP&T/ Department of Expenditure | Corresponding letters of Ministry of Railways | Subject |
| (i) | DoP&T’s OM No.18/26/2011-Estt(Pay-I), dated 06.02.2014 | Board’s letter No.2016/F(E)II/6/3, dated 22.06.2016 (RBE No.72/2016) | Recovery of wrongful/ excess payment made to Government Servants. |
| (ii) | DoP&T’s OM No.18/03/2015-Estt(Pay-I), dated 02.03.2016 | Board’s letter No.2016/F(E)II/6/3, dated 22.06.2016 (RBE No.72/2016) | Recovery of wrongful/ excess payment made to Government Servants. |
| (iii) | DoP&T’s OM No.18/03/2015-Estt(Pay-I), dated 03.10.2022 | Board’s letter No.2022/F(E)II/6/3, dated 17.11.2022 (RBE No.154/2022) | Recovery of wrongful/ excess payment made to Government Servants. |
| (iv) | D/o Expenditure’s OM No.09(20)/2023-E.II(A), dated 01.06.2023 | Board’s letter No.2022/F(E)II/6/3, dated 24.07.2023 (RBE No.93/2023) | Waiver of recovery of excess payment made to Government Servants – General Instructions for Ministries/ Departments. |
2. In this regard, date of order for recovery of overpayment is a critical input for decision regarding waiver of such recovery. Therefore, such order for recovery of overpayment should be issued within one month from the date of detection of overpayment.
3. Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance vide their OM No.01(14)/2016-E.II(A)(Part-III), dated 01.04.2024, has directed that cases involving waiver of recovery of more than Rs.2,00,000/- (Rupees Two Lakh only) should be referred to Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance.
4. It has, therefore, been decided that Ministry of Railways (Railway Board) may waive recovery of overpayment upto Rs.2,00,000/- (Rupees two lakh only) in the case of each individual with the concurrence of Member Finance, Railway Board and approval of Chairman & CEO, Railway Board and the proposal(s) for waiver of recovery of amount greater than Rs.2,00,000/- (Rupees two lakh only) shall continue to be referred to the D/o Expenditure, Ministry of Finance with the concurrence of Member/Finance, Railway Board and approval of Chairman & CEO, Railway Board. All the proposal(s) have to be forwarded only with the concurrence of PFA and approval of General Manager.
5. The following guidelines may be adhered to while processing such cases:-
(i) Railways should examine all proposal(s) in terms of the Instructions/ Guidelines on recovery of wrongful/ excess payments made to Government Servants cited in Para 1 above.
(ii) Railways should verify that in cases of waiver, no serious negligence has taken place on the part of any Railway servant, which may call for disciplinary action by a higher authority.
(iii) In case the Railway is of the view that the loss is on account of a defect in existing rules or procedures, the same shall be brought to the notice of Ministry of Railways (Railway Board) for seeking amendment of such rules or procedures with justification.
(iv) The guidelines issued by DoP&T vide its O.M.18/03/2015-Estt. (Pay-I), dated 02.03.2016 (circulated vide Board’s letter no.2016/F(E)II/6/3, dated 22.06.2016 (RBE No.72/2016) shall be strictly adhered to while considering waiver of excess payment made to Railway servants. Each case of waiver should be concurred by Member/Finance, Railway Board and approved by Chairman & CEO, Railway Board.
(v) In cases where the waiver of recovery arises from a Court direction, Ministry of Railways (Railway Board)/Railways, wherever the authority lies, should satisfy themselves that there are appropriate justifications for not challenging such Court direction.
(vi) In case a recovery which is subsequently waived, is on account of incorrect interpretation of rules or procedures, Railways may review all similarly placed cases to check requirement of waiver of recovery in future cases. In case of incorrect interpretation of rules or procedures, Railways shall take appropriate measures to ensure that such lapses are corrected. If any inquiry has been made to fix the responsibility, the final report as well as action taken by the Ministry of Railways (Railway Board) may be kept on record.
(vii) In case an incorrect interpretation of rules or procedures (e.g., incorrect pay fixation) has remained un-detected over a long period of time, Railways may keep on record appropriate justification why such cases were not noticed during regular review, internal audit, etc.
6. In view of the above, all cases involving waiver of recovery may be forwarded to Ministry of Railways (Railway Board) with the concurrence of PFA and approval of General Manager along with a detailed note covering information on para 5 above along with the filled in checklist (Attached as Annexure).
Please acknowledge receipt.
ANNEXURE
Checklist for waiver of recovery
| S.No. | Item | Remarks |
| 1 | Name | |
| 2 | Designation | |
| 3 | Amount of waiver | |
| 4 | Reason for overpayment | |
| 5 | Date of Detection of Overpayment | |
| 6 | Date of issue of order of recovery | |
| 7 | Date of representation submitted by Officer/ Official mentioning financial hardship. | |
| 8 | Date of disposal of Representation and decision taken on the same. | |
| 9 | Category of exemption as per DoP&T’s OM dated 02.03.2016 (circulated vide Board’s letter no. 2016/F(E)II/6/3, dated 22.06.2016 (RBE No.72/2016) | |
| 10 | Relevant Rules under which pay fixation or allowance drawn resulted to overpayment. | |
| 11 | Whether the Railway is satisfied that loss does not disclose a defect in rules or procedure’s or there has not been any serious negligence on the part of any Railway servant which may call for, disciplinary action by a higher authority. | |
| 12 | Whether verification of Service Book have been done periodically. If yes, why such wrong fixation was not detected in such verification. | |
| 13 | Why such wrong fixation was not detected during internal audit. |
Download Railway Board Circular RBE No.64/2024
Forward reference ⇒ RBE No.