THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The acute financial crisis has forced the state government to impose unprecedented restrictions on treasury payments. The upper ceiling on treasury payments has been lowered further, from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 1 lakh.
The government, however, exempted all bills submitted until October 15 from the restrictions. Those bills will be cleared on a priority basis — without any ceiling — to clear the backlog.
A senior officer of the Department of Treasuries said restrictions were not applicable for around 60 types of payments. “Bill payments up to Rs 1 lakh will be paid without any delay. Bills for amounts higher than Rs 1 lakh are put in an electronic queue system and tokens are provided. They will be cleared as per the government’s direction."
The latest decision is to exempt bills submitted until October 15,” the official said. When an upper ceiling is fixed, bill payments above the limit require Ways and Means clearance or prior sanction from the finance department.
The previous treasury restriction, reducing the upper ceiling from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, was made in August. The government attributes the financial crisis to the cut in the ceiling on market borrowings and the delay in the sanction of central funds.