Submit bills by March 29: Kerala government tells officials

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  In view of the financial year-end, the government has asked all heads of departments and drawing and disbursing officers to present bills and cheques at the treasuries by 5 pm on March 29. Any treasury instrument submitted after the stated time limit will not be accepted, said an order issued by Bishwanath Sinha, the additional chief secretary (finance).

However, this time limit would not apply to challan remittances that would be accepted until March 31.

The finance secretary’s order said the restrictions are made because mass submission of bills, cheques and challans at the fag end of the financial year would cause difficulty in scrutinising them properly and completing the work before the close of the financial year.

The order asks controlling officers to ensure that the copies of letters of allotment to sub-controlling officers, made out of the existing budget provisions, are submitted in treasuries latest by 5pm on March 25. The bills under plan head of accounts of Government departments, autonomous bodies, and bills of local self-government institutions submitted at treasuries after March 28 will be shifted to the treasury queue system. 

Treasuries would accept such bills with token assigning sequence and time of receipt. The priority of honouring such bills will be solely on the basis of the order of tokens issued. The number of bills accepted with a token that has not been passed in the current financial year will be cleared in the subsequent days of the next financial year with priority as per the token.