Railway Pension Rules : Chapter-VIII Authority Competent To Sanction Amounts Of Pension And Gratuity

Pension Rule No.89: Authority Competent To Sanction Pensionary Benefits

(1)  The pensionary benefits and commutation of pension shall be sanctioned and recoveries there from ordered by the concerned authority, specified below, namely:-

(a)   The General Manager in the case of a railway servant who is employed under the administrative control of a General Manager;

(b)   The Head of the Department or Office or Project, in the case of a railway servant who is employed in a Department or Office of Project directly under the control of the Railway Board;

(c)   The Secretary, Railway Board in the case of a railway servant not above the rank of a Section Officer who is employed in the Office of the Railway Board;

The Railway Board in the case of a Head of Department or Office or Project directly under the control of the Railway Board, and a General Manager and an Officer above the rank of a Section Officer who is employed in the Railway Board.

(2)   The power to sanction or pass order by the officers referred in to clauses (a) and (b) of sub-rule (1) may be delegated to the Heads of Departments or Divisional Railway Managers, as the case may be, or in the case of non-gazetted railway servant to a Divisional Officer and such power of the Secretary, Railway Board referred to in clause (c) of sub-rule (1) may be exercised by the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Railways in the case of Officers not above the rank of Section Officers, and by a Deputy Secretary to whom powers may be delegated in this behalf by the Railway Board in the case of non-gazetted railway servant of the Railway Board’s Office. In the case of non-gazetted staff employed in the Research, Designs and Standards Organization, the powers of the Director General, Research, Designs and Standard Organization may be delegated to the Deputy Director General, Research, Designs and Standard Organization.

Pension Rule No.90: Revision Of Pension After Sanction

(1)   Subject to the provisions of rules 8 and 9 pension once sanctioned after final assessment shall not be revised to the disadvantage of the railway servant unless such revision becomes necessary on account of detection of a clerical error subsequently:

Provided that no revision of pension to the disadvantage of the pensioner shall be ordered by the Head of Office without the concurrence of the Railway Board if the clerical error is detected after a period of two years from the date of sanction of pension.

(1-A)The question whether the revision has become necessary on account of a clerical error or not shall be decided by the Railway Board.

[Authority: RBE No.70/2016, No.2015/F(E)III/1(1)/4, 17.06.2016]

 (2) For the purpose of sub-rule (1), the retired railway servant concerned shall be served with a notice by the Head of Office requiring him to refund the excess payment of pension within a period of two months from the date of receipt of notice by him.

(3)   In case the railway servant fails to comply with the notice, the Head of Office shall, by order in writing, direct that such excess payment shall be adjusted in installments by short payments of pension in future, in one or more installments, as the Head of Office may direct.

Pension Rule No.91: Provisional Pension For Reasons Other Than Departmental Or Judicial Proceedings

(1)   Where in spite of following the procedure laid down in rule 79, it is not possible for the Head of Office to forward the pension papers referred to in rule 81 to the Accounts Officer within the period specified in sub-rule (4) of that rule or where the pension papers have been forwarded to the Accounts Officer within the specified period but the Accounts Officer may have returned the pension papers to the Head of Office for eliciting further information before issuing pension payment order and order for the payment of gratuity and the Government servant is likely to retire before his pension and gratuity or both 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 pension and the amount of provisional retirement gratuity.

(2)   On receipt of Form 8, in a case of retirement otherwise than on superannuation, the Head of Office shall sanction provisional pension and also provisional retirement gratuity till issue of Pension Payment Order.

(3)   Where the amount of pension and 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 railway servant endorsing a copy thereof to the Accounts Officer authorizing –

(i)  100 per cent of pension as provisional pension for a period not exceeding six months to be reckoned from the date of retirement of the railway servant; and

(ii) 100 per cent. of the gratuity as provisional gratuity withholding that part of gratuity as provided in these rules.

(b)   Specify in the letter of sanction the amount recoverable from the gratuity under sub-rule (1) of rule 83 and after issuing the letter of sanction referred to in clause (a), the Head of Office shall draw –

(i) The amount of provisional pension; and

(ii) The amount of provisional gratuity after deducting therefrom the amount specified in sub-clause (ii) of clause (a) and the dues, if any, specified in rule 15, in the same manner as pay and allowances of the establishment are drawn by him.

(4)   The amount of provisional pension and 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)   The payment of provisional pension shall not continue beyond the period of six months from the date of retirement of a railway servant or from the date of submission of Form 8 by the railway servant, whichever is later, and if the amount of final pension and the amount of final gratuity had been determined by the Head of Office in consultation with the Accounts Officer before the expiry of said period of six months, the Accounts Officer shall –

(i) Issue the pension payment order and,

(ii) 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 sub-clause (ii) of clause (b) of sub-rule (3) after adjusting the Government or Railway dues, if any, which may have come to notice after the payment of provisional gratuity.

(b)   If the amount of provisional pension disbursed to a railway servant under sub-rule (3) is, on its final assessment, found to be in excess of the final pension assessed by the Accounts Officer, it shall be open to the Accounts Officer to adjust the excess amount of pension out of gratuity withheld under sub-clause (ii) of clause (a) sub-rule (3) or recover the excess amount of pension in installments by making short payments of the pension payable in future.

(c)   (i) If the amount of provisional gratuity disbursed by the Head of Office under sub-rule (3) is more than the amount finally assessed, the retired railway 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 minimized and the officials responsible for the excess payment shall be accountable for the over- payment.

(6)   If the final amount of pension and gratuity has 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 pension and gratuity as final and issue pension payment order immediately on the expiry of the period of six months.

(7)   As soon as the pension payment order has been issued 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 sub-clause (ii) of clause (a) of sub-rule (3) to the retired railway servant after adjusting Government or Railway dues which may have come to notice after the payment of provisional gratuity under sub-clause (ii) of clause (b) of sub-rule (3).

(8)   If a railway servant is or was an allottee of Government or Railway accommodation, the withheld amount should be paid on receipt of No Demand Certificate from the Directorate of Estates or on vacation of Railway accommodation, as the case may be.

[Authority: RBE No.70/2016, No.2015/F(E)III/1(1)/4, 17.06.2016]