BHUBANESWAR: Officers in the rank of additional secretary and above or equivalent, and heads of departments are now entitled to use independent vehicles while pool vehicles have been reserved for under-secretary, deputy and joint secretaries, as per a fresh circular issued by the Finance department.
The state government on Tuesday overhauled the existing guidelines on the use of vehicles including hiring of private vehicles for official use. Monthly hiring charges have been enhanced with fresh eligibility criteria, and transparent procurement norms for all state government offices.
According to the office memorandum, the new rates replace those set in 2019. The monthly hiring charges for vehicles used by apex-level officers and ministers have been revised from Rs 42,000 to Rs 50,400. For principal secretaries and secretaries, the hiring rate now stands at Rs 36,000 instead of Rs 30,000 earlier.
Similarly, for special secretaries, additional secretaries and directors, the hiring charge has been revised from Rs 26,000 to Rs 31,200 and for collectors and SPs it is Rs 44,400 in place of Rs 37,000. District and range-level offices can now hire vehicles at Rs 24,000 per month, up from Rs 20,000. Blocks and tehsils will pay up to Rs 37,200 instead of Rs 31,000.
The memorandum said, only those HoDs who do not have an earmarked vehicle and have to perform extensive tours will be allowed to hire a vehicle on par with collectors/SPs on case-to-case basis with prior concurrence of the Finance department.
The revised norms, however, limit usage of vehicles to 2,500 km per month for HoDs and higher officers, and 2,000 km for others.