2 days ago
Citing irregularities, Haryana bans GPF advance in last 6 months of service before retirement
The Haryana Government Tuesday directed all administrative secretaries that officers and employees should not be granted approval for General Provident Fund (GPF) advance during the last six months of their service before retirement.
Officials said the instructions have been issued to 'prevent irregularities in procedures related to GPF'.
In a letter, Anurag Rastogi, Chief Secretary, said, 'Details of any advance or withdrawal sanctioned within 12 months before the date of retirement must be mandatorily recorded in the prescribed forms and duly certified by the Administrative Department'.
'If in any exceptional case an advance is sanctioned after the final payment case has been forwarded to the office of the Principal Accountant General, such sanction must be immediately communicated through official email or other formal means so that necessary adjustment can be made in the payment,' said Rastogi, who also holds the charge of Additional Chief Secretary (Finance Department).
Citing reasons for the decision, Rastogi said the Finance Department has noticed that some administrative departments and Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs) have been 'sanctioning recoverable or non-recoverable advances even after sending the GPF final payment cases to the office of the Principal Accountant General (Accounts & Entitlement)'.
'It has also been observed that in many cases, mandatory details regarding advances or withdrawals—especially those relating to the 12 months before retirement—are either not filled properly in PF-09 and PF-10 forms linked with GPF final payment, or are not certified by the Administrative Department'.
The Haryana Finance Department said such 'lapses increase the risk of errors in payment and excess disbursement, which can cause financial loss' to the state government.
The letter added, 'Submission of GPF final payment cases is done only through the Online Diary Management System (ODMS), whereas advances and withdrawals are processed on the Government's E-Billing Portal (T&A)/NIC. Since there is no data integration between these two portals, and some DDOs are not following the prescribed instructions, this problem is occurring repeatedly'.
The Haryana Government instructed all treasury officers and DDOs to ensure strict compliance with the order.
