General Provident Fund
The Accountant General (A&E) maintains the individual GPF accounts of nearly 3.7 Lakh employees of
the Kerala State Government, High Court Judges and All India Service
Officials working in Kerala as per the rules and procedures contained
in the GPF (K) Rules 1964 and AIS (PF) Rules 1955 respectively. The State Gevernment have introduced Provident Fund Scheme for the Part Time Contingent Employeess (KPTCE PF) with effect from 17.03.2005; the maintenance of the fund is entrusted with the Accountant General(A&E). Admission to the Fund started in November 2007. The Provident Fund Group in the Office is headed by an IA & AS Officer in the rank of Deputy Accountant General. |
Constitution of the Fund |
The GPF for full time employees is constituted with effect from 1st April 1964. The GPF for Part-time contingent employees (KPTCEPF) is constituted with effect from 17.03.2005. |
The Funds are maintained in Indian Rupees. |
Conditions for Eligibility |
The following categories of staff of the Govt.of Kerala are eligible to join the Fund: |
v All permanent employees of any pensionable service |
v All
probationers in any service who will be made full members of the
service on due completion of their period of probation. |
v All temporary, acting and officiating members of any service on completion of one year’s service. |
v All part-time contingent employees of any service on completion of one year’s service. |
Temporary,
acting and officiating members who have not completed one year’s
service can also be admitted to the Fund if they apply for it in
writing. |
Nominations |
A
subscriber has to file a nomination in the prescribed form at the
time of joining the Fund. If the subscriber has a family at the time of
filing the nomination, the nomination cannot be in favour of any
person(s) other than the member(s) of his family. The nomination
made by a subscriber who is not married shall become in valid on his
getting married. If a subscriber nominates more than one person, he has
to specify in the nomination the amount of share payable to each of
the nominees in such a manner as to cover the whole of the amount that
may stand to his credit in the Fund at any time. The
responsibility of scrutiny, acceptance and safe custody of the
nominations filed by Non-Gazetted Officers vests with Head of Office
whereas the nominations of Gazetted subscribers are kept by the
Accountant General. In the case of the promotees from Non-Gazetted
service, Heads of Offices have to transfer the nomination to the
Accountant General only on their substantive promotion to Gazetted
cadre. A subscriber can cancel a nomination by sending a notice in
writing to the Head of Office/Accountant General along with a fresh
nomination. |
Admission to the GPF |
The
Head of Office has to send a statement showing particulars of
Government servants as in the Revised Application Form prescribed in
Govt.Circular No.21/2007/Fin dated 28.03.2007 (Form available in the
site under downloads) to the Accountant General (A&E) for
admission to the Fund. The GPF account number is allotted to each
subscriber by the Accountant General with a ‘Prefix’ indicating the
department of the subscriber in the case of full-time employees. The
Account Number once allotted will be operative till quitting service
despite change of Department/District. In the case of part-time Contingent Employees, the prefix will be "CNT" with no Department prefix. The receipt of Applications for Admission to GPF and allotment of account numbers have been centralised. Therefore, all applications for admission to GPF and allotment of account numbers are to be forwarded to the Office of the Accountant General (A&E), Kerala, PB No.5607,MG Road, Thiruvananthapuram 695 039. |
The
Drawing and Disbursing Officers in the State Government prepare the
staff pay bills along with GPF recovery schedules in respect of the
subscribers to the Fund under their payment control and submit the
same to the Treasury Officers for payment. After making payment the
Treasury Officer forward the vouchers along with the Schedule of
Payment to the Accountant General. Likewise, the bills preferred by
the Gazetted Officers are also forwarded to the Accountant
General. From the GPF schedules attached with the salary vouchers and
GPF payment vouchers the Accountant General posts the
remittances/withdrawals into the accounts of the subscribers concerned. |
The
account maintained in respect of a subscriber shows the particulars
of subscriptions, refunds, dearness allowance and pay revision arrears
credited to the Fund, interest allowed and withdrawals made there
from during the year. |
Rate of Subscription |
The
amount of subscription is fixed by the subscriber himself. However,
it cannot be less than 6% of the basic pay and not more than the basic
pay in the case of full-time employees and it can not be less than 3%
of the emoluments and not more than the emoluments in the case of
part-time contingent employees. The minimum subscription is determined
on the basic pay drawn on 31st March of the preceding
financial year. The rate of subscription can be reduced once and
enhanced twice during the course of a financial year. |
Conditions for Subscription |
The subscriber shall subscribe monthly to the Fund, except during: |
1. Period of suspension. |
2. Last three months of service before retirement. |
A
subscriber on reinstatement after a period of suspension is allowed
to pay in lump or in installments any sum not exceeding the maximum
amount of arrear subscriptions permissible for that period. A
subscriber may at his option choose not to subscribe during leave
without allowances or leave on half-pay. A subscriber may stop
subscribing to the Fund at any time during the last one year of
service immediately preceding the date of his retirement. |
Interest on the Fund |
Interest
at such rate as prescribed from time to time by the Government of
India and adopted by Government of Kerala is credited to the
subscribers’ account on the last day of every financial year. |
The rate of interest for the year 2007-08 is 8 per cent. |
Advances from the Fund
|
I. Temporary Advance |
A
temporary advance is granted to a subscriber from the amount standing
to his credit in the Fund by the departmental officers for specified
purposes. The advance can be drawn to the extent of the monetary
limits prescribed in the delegation of financial powers of the
respective departments subject to a maximum of 75% of the balance at
credit or (3a-b)/4 (a = balance at credit, b = amount of consolidated
advance outstanding) whichever is less. In the case of part-time
contingent employees, it shall not be in excess of 16 months' pay or
half the amount at credit of the subscriber in the fund, whichever is
less. The sanctions for temporary advances are noted in the
subscribers’ accounts. |
Temporary advance is to be applied in Form B. |
Conditions for Sanction of Temporary Advance |
ü At least a gap of six months between the drawal of two temporary advances |
ü At least four months gap between a temporary advance and non-refundable advance taken for the same purpose |
ü Not to be sanctioned during the last three months of service. |
ü Not to be sanctioned in the month in which the subscriber proceeds on leave preparatory to retirement. |
ü Not to be sanctioned after a subscriber elects not to subscribe to the Fund. |
ü Not to be sanctioned during leave without allowances if he is not subscribing to the Fund during that period. |
Recovery of Temporary Advance |
1.
The advances are recoverable from the subscriber in such number of
equal monthly installments as the sanctioning authority may direct,
but such number shall not be less than 12 unless the subscriber so
elects or not more than 36. In the case of part-time contingent
employees, the number of instalments in normal cases shall not be less
than 15 unless the subscriber so elects for not more than 30. |
2.
When there is an advance running and a second advance is sanctioned,
the balance of the previous advance not recovered shall be added to
the advance so sanctioned and the subsequent installments for recovery
of advances shall be fixed with reference to the consolidated amount. |
3. The recovery shall commence with the issue of pay for the month following the month in which the advance was drawn. |
4. A subscriber may at his option repay two or more instalments in a month. |
II . Non-Refundable Advance |
The
Head of Department is competent to sanction non-refundable advance up
to 75% of the balance at credit. The quantum of NRA that can be
sanctioned by various other administrative authorities is specified in
the relevant delegation of financial powers of the respective
departments. |
Non-Refundable Advance is to be applied in Form B1. |
Conditions for Sanction of Non-Refundable Advances |
ü It
may be sanctioned at any time for specified purposes after completion
of 10 years of service (including broken periods of service, leave
without allowances (LWA), suspension, military and war service which
are reckoned for the purpose of pension, pensionable service under
Government of India/other State Governments/aided educational
institutions if the PF deposits and interest thereon during the service
have been transferred and credited to the Fund) or within 10 years
of the date of retirement. |
ü It
may not be sanctioned (i) during the last three months of service
(ii) after exercising option under Rule 30 (c) which permits the
subscriber to close the account before retirement (iii) after submitting
the closure application. |
ü Only one withdrawal may be allowed for the same purpose. |
ü When
another withdrawal is sanctioned for the purpose of treatment of the
same person within a period of six months of the previous withdrawal,
it should be specified in the sanction that the treatment is for the
illness on a different occasion. |
ü Advances for education can be permitted for each year for different children. |
ü When
both husband and wife are subscribers to the Fund, withdrawal can
bemade for the education, marriage of the same child by both. |
ü When
an advance for marriage is sanctioned, the date of marriage is to be
specified. (Amount cannot be drawn before three months of the date of
marriage). |
ü Advance for marriage can be allowed for a second or subsequent marriage of son/daughter. |
ü Advance is allowed for the marriage of a female relative dependent of the subscriber if he has no daughter. |
ü Advance
for construction of house even permitted for repayment of loan taken
for house building from Co-operative Societies or similar agencies. |
ü Advance can be drawn during the period of suspension also. |
NRA to Employees on Deputation/Foreign Service |
Sanction - Gazetted Officers and Non Gazetted Officers |
By the competent authority of the office in which he was attached at the time of proceeding on foreign service/deputation |
Payment - Gazetted Officers |
If
on deputation within the State, nearest treasury officer will be
authorized by the Accountant General to pay the amount to the
subscriber. A copy of the authorization will be endorsed to the
Gazetted Officer who should present the bill at the treasury. If
deputation is outside the State, Accountant General of that state will
be authorized to arrange payment. |
Payment - Non Gazetted Officer |
The
Head of Office to which he was attached at the time of proceeding on
deputation/foreign service will draw the amount and make payment where
the deputation is within or outside the State. |
v Temporary
Advance can be converted to non-refundable advance and this will be
treated as non-refundable advance. Subject to the condition that
another NRA/TA should not be granted for the same purpose within a
period of six/four months from the date of authorization of the
conversion. |
v The sanction
for a temporary advance or non-refundable advance will remain
operative for a period of three months only and shall be deemed to
have lapsed thereafter unless specifically renewed. |
FINAL WITHDRAWAL (CLOSURE) |
(i) Final
withdrawal of accumulation in the Fund is permitted whesubscriber
quits the service (on retirement, dismissal, resignation, compulsory
retirement, removal etc.). |
(ii) In case of death while in service. |
How to Apply for Closure? |
(a) Application for closure has to be filed in Form E. |
(b)
The application duly filled in and signed by the
subscriber/claimant(s) is to be given to the department for forwarding
the same to the Accountant General along with requisite documents by
the Head of Office. |
Conditions for Closure |
1. Subscription and refund discontinued during the last three months of service (Rule 10). |
2.
A subscriber may at any time during the last one year of service opt
to close the account by giving option under Rule 30 (c), i.e., after
stopping subscription. |
Manner of Payment |
The
Accounts Officer closes the account after verifying the ledger
accounts and issue an authority for payment of the
amount. Authorizations are forwarded to the Drawing and Disbursing
Officers concerned in respect of the Non-Gazetted Officers and direct to
the Gazetted Officers. Gazetted Officers can choose any
Treasury. The Fund accumulation payable to the subscriber shall be
paid to the person(s) on whom the right to receive the amount is
conferred by means of a nomination as per rules, if the said
subscriber dies while in service or before receiving the fund
accumulation after retirement. If the subscriber dies while in service
and where there is no nomination, the amount will be paid to the
eligible family members on the basis of Departmental Enquiry
Certificate in equal shares. |
· GPF (K) Rules do not permit payment of interest beyond the date of authorization by the Accountant General. |
·
Interest is allowed upto the end of the month previous to
the month in which authorization for payment of PF balance is
issued, if the closure application is received by the
Department/Accountant General within a period of one year. If the
application is not submitted within one year of quitting
service/death, interest is admissible only upto a period of one year
from the crucial date necessitating the closure of the account. |
·
As per Government of Kerala Circular No.29/87/Fin.
dated 24-4-1987, arrears of dearness allowance shall not be
deposited to the Fund of a subscriber who had opted not to subscribe to
the Fund as per 3rd proviso to Rule 10. Such deposits if any will be treated as unauthorized and no interest will be allowed. |
Annual Accounts Statement (Credit Card) |
After
the close of each financial year, the Accountant General sends to
each subscriber an Annual Accounts Statement showing the opening
balance as on the 1stApril of the year, the total amount deposited and withdrawn during the year, amount of interest credited as on 31st March
of the year and the closing balance on that date. Subscribers have to
satisfy themselves as to the correctness of the Credit Cards and
errors should be brought to the notice of the Accountant General
within three months of receipt of the same. |
Missing Credits |
At
times, schedules/vouchers are not received from the Treasuries for
various reasons and as a result some of the
subscriptions/refunds/arrears/withdrawals do not get posted in the
account. These missing credits/debits can be located and included in the
subscriber’s account after proper verification of the accounts
rendered to this Office by the drawing and disbursing
officers/treasuries subject to furnishing the following details duly
certified by the Drawing and Disbursing Officers in the case of
Non-Gazetted subscribers and by the Treasury Officers in the case of
Gazetted subscribers. |
· Name of the Subscriber |
· GPF Account number |
· Name of the DDO under whom serving |
· Amount of subscription/refund/withdrawal |
· Salary month for which details are being furnished |
· Head of Account (up to Detailed Head) under which salary was drawn |
· Treasury/Sub Treasury where the salary was drawn |
· Treasury voucher number/challan number |
· Totals of the schedule amount enclosed in the particular voucher as noted on the abstract in case of credit. |
· Date of payment of the voucher/remittance of the amount in the case of challan remittance |
· Total amount of the GPF payment voucher (in the case of advances) |
General Provident Fund Help Desk |
A
Special Cell - General Provident Fund Help Desk - has been opened in
the Office of the Accountant General (A&E), Thiruvananthapuram, to
attend to the grievances of the subscribers. The difficulties of the
subscribers are attended to on priority basis by the officials at the
Help Desk. The subscribers are free to contact the Help Desk on all
working days from 10.00 AM to 1 PM and 2.00 PM to 5.00 PM. Subscribers
may contact the Reception to approach the Help Desk. The Help Desk
functions under the supervision of the Deputy Accountant General
(Funds). |
Enquiries on GPF matters can also be made by calling in |
0471 2525650, 0471 2330311 – Extn. 650 |
All enquires relating to GPF may be addressed to: |
Senior Accounts Officer, |
‘GPF Help Desk’ |
Office of the Accountant General (A&E), |
Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram – 695 039 |
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