Amounts defrauded from S.B. Accounts to Departmental
Officials and not accounted for in the books of the Department.
58(1) After satisfying himself about the bonafides of the
claim of the depositors in respect of defrauded amount, the Head of
Circle/Regional Director/ Divisional Superintendent will approach CEPT Team to
check whether defrauded amount can be restored in the accounts. In cases where
CEPT approves restoration, the competent authority should issue sanction for
the restoration of the defrauded amount with interest thereon up to the end of
the year preceding the year in which the amount is restored to the account. The
amount of interest to be restored to the account will be calculated by the Head
Post Office and checked by the S.B. Control Organisation. In cases where
restoration is not admissible, sanction will be issued for directly paying the
defrauded amount to the claimant by Cheque. Accounts standing in CBS
application should be closed in such cases in closure proceed paid to the
depositors as per laid down rules.
Note :- The Head of Division(irrespective of status
of the division) and Group 'A' Postmasters can sanction the claims upto Rs.
5000/- in each case regardless of the aspect of recovery of the loss subject to
the condition that sanctioning authority has to ensure that there has not been
any negligence on the part of the defrauded person in contributing to the fraud
and also that settlement of claim will not cause any hindrance in concluding
the enquiry, fixing responsibility and taking appropriate action against the
officials at fault. These powers will be exercised personally by the Divisional
Heads/Group 'A' Postmasters. Regional Directors are vested with powers to
sanction claims without any limit. (DG Posts Letter NO. 8-5/2003-Inv(Pt) dated
5.6.2003)
(2) Immediately
on receipt of the sanction for restoration of amount, the Head Postmaster
should credit the amount in the respective account (principal) and Interest
should be credited by using HIARM menu by Supervisor SBCO. The net loss
sustained by the department in respect of principal amount (arrived at after
taking into consideration the deposits and withdrawals not accounted for by the
departmental official) and interest thereon should be entered in the schedule
of unclassified payment(UCP) by per contra entry as deposit (Total amount) in
the list of transactions. Complete details of the charge should be given in the
remarks field of the account and in column 3 of the schedule of unclassified
payment to enable the Postal Accounts Office to classify the amounts properly.
(3) When
the amounts defrauded are to be recovered from the officials at fault, penal
interest should be calculated in the manner prescribed in Rule 156(2) of the
Central Government Compilation of General Financial rules, extract given below,
on the amount outstanding from time to time for the actual number of days such
amounts remain outside the custody of Government.
Rule 156 (2):- “A loan shall bear the interest for the day
of payment but not for the day of repayment. Interest for any period
shorter than a complete half year shall be calculated as :-
|
Number of day x yearly rate of interest
|
|
365
|
unless any other method of calculation is prescribed in
any particular case or class of cases.”
(4) The
penal interest will be recovered at the rate of 2 ½ % per annum (compound) over
and above the rate of interest fixed from time to time for the various types of
accounts and savings certificates for the period during which the amount was
defrauded. The amount of penal interest will be calculated by the Head office
and intimated to the punishing authority after check by the Control
Organisation.
(5) The
interest may be recovered from the depositor/investor on the amount paid in
excess for the actual period (total number of days) for which the amount excess
paid is retained by him if the period is less than a complete half year. This
will be done in the manner prescribed in sub para (3) above.
(6) The
normal rate of interest payable on each type of account or certificate and not
the post-maturity interest rate will be applicable.
(7) If
the period is more than a year, the interest will be recovered at the compound
rate of interest.
Note:- In case of recovery of interest from the members of
the public to whom double or excess payment on account of discharge value of
savings certificate or in any type of account due to negligence of the
departmental officials and the amount over paid was retained by the
depositor/investor for the considerable period till its refund at the instance
of the department, the interest at normal rate only should be recovered from
the depositor on the amount paid excess and for the period the amount was
retained by him. The term “normal rate” means the rate of interest which was
paid to the depositor/investor on his account/certificates, as the case may be.
In case it is proved on enquiry that the member of the public defrauded the
department by taking double payment deliberately, the desirability of
instituting a criminal case may also be kept in view.
Fox Eg. SB scheme
|
Normal Int rate
= 4.0 %
|
Penal Int rate =
2.5 %
|
Total = 6.5 %
|
|
Sl No
|
Account No
|
Date of Suppression
|
Date of Credit
|
Defrauded
Amount |
No. of Days
|
Normal Interest
|
Penal Interest
|
Total
6.5 % |
|
1
|
100000001
|
12-01-2019
|
22-08-2019
|
10000
|
223
|
562.08
|
152.74
|
714.82
|
|
2
|
do
|
31-01-2019
|
22-08-2019
|
5000
|
204
|
111.78
|
69.86
|
181.64
|
|
3
|
100000036
|
19-02-2019
|
31-08-2019
|
7500
|
194
|
159.45
|
99.66
|
259.11
|
|
4
|
do
|
25-02-2019
|
31-08-2019
|
15000
|
188
|
309.04
|
193.15
|
502.19
|
|
5
|
do
|
01-03-2019
|
31-08-2019
|
2000
|
184
|
40.33
|
25.21
|
65.33
|
|
39500
|
1182.68
|
540.62
|
1723.30
|
|
Defrauded Amount
|
Rs. 39500
|
|
Total Interest (
Rounded off)
|
Rs 1723
|
|
Total Recovery
|
Rs 41223
|
** The penal interest will be recovered at the rate of 2 ½
% per annum (compound) over and above the rate of interest fixed from time to
time for the various types of accounts and savings certificates for the period
during which the amount was defrauded.
Source : SB Order 5/2018 (CBS Manual), Page No. 61, 62
