Public Information Officer should not charge towards postal expenses or cost involved in deployment of man power for supply of information etc - Clarification by Dept of Personnel and Training

Copy of Memo No N0.12/9/2009-IR dated 24.5.2010 of Dept of Personnel and Training.

Subject : Payment of fee under the Right to lnformation Act. 2005 - scope of sub section (3) of Section 7 of the Act.

The Undersigned is directed to say that a question is raised from time to time whether a Public lnformation Ofticer (PIO) has power to charge fee under Section 7(3) of the RTI Act. 2005 in addition to fee prescribed under Sections 6(1), 7(1) and 7(5) of the Act.

2. Section 6(1) of the Act enables the Government to prescribe application fee and sub-sections (1) and (5) of Section 7 to prescribe fee in addition to application fee for supply of information. On the other hand sub-section (3) of Section 7 provides the procedure which a PI0 has to follow for realizing the fee prescribed under sub-sections (1) and (5) of the Section. Details of fees that can be charged by a public authority under the Central Government are contained in the Right to lnformation (Regulation of Fee & Cost) Rules, 2005. The Rules or the Act do not give power to the PI0 to charge any fee other than prescribed in the Fee and Cost Rules. Attention in this regard is invited to following extracts from the common order passed by the Central lnformation Commission in Appeal No. CICIMAIAI2008/0185 (Shri K.K. Kishore Vs. Institute of Company Secretaries of lndia) and Complaint No.CICMIBIC12007/00943 (Shri Subodh Jain Vs. Dy. Commissioner of Police) :

"The Act under proviso to sub-section (5) of Section 7 also provides that fee prescribed under sub-sections (1) and (5) of Section 7 shall be reasonable and no such fee shall be charged from the persons who are below poverty line as may be determined by the Appropriate Government. The Government has already prescribed fees as deemed reasonable mandated under Sections 7(1) and 7(5) of the Act and in the view of the Commission, there is no provision for any further fee apart from the one already prescribed under Sections 7(1) and 7(5) of the Act".

"Thus, there is provision for charging of fee only under Section 6(1) which is the application fee; Section 7(1) which is the fee charged for photocopying etc. and Section 7 (5) which is for getting information in printed or electronic format. But there is no provision for any further fee and if any further fee is being charged by the Public Authorities in addition to what is already prescribed under Section 6(1), 7(1) and 7(5) of the Act, the same would be in contravention of the Right to lnformation Act. The "further fee" mentioned in Section 7(3) only refers to the procedure in availing of the further fee already prescribed under 7(5) of the RTI Act, which is "further" in terms of the basic fee of Rs.101- . Section 7(3), therefore, provides for procedure for realizing the fees so prescribed".

3. The Commission, while delivering decision in above cases, recommended to this Department to make rules, for charging fee towards supply of information which may include fee for supply of books, maps, plans, documents, samples, models etc. that are priced and towards postallcourier charges for mailing information, when postallcourier charges are in excess of minimum slab prescribed by the Department of Posts and for other similar situations.

4. The Right to lnformation (Regulation of Fee & Cost) Rules, 2005 already provide provisions for charging of fee for giving information in diskettes or floppies or in the form of photo copy; for providing samples, models, printed material like books, maps, plans etc; and for inspection of records. The Government have, however, not considered it desirable to charge fee towards expenditure involved in mailing information or overhead expenditure etc. Nevertheless, supply of information in a form which would disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority is taken care of by Section 7(9) of the Act according to which information shall ordinarily be provided in the form in which it is sought but supply of information in a particular form may be refused if supply of information in that form would divert the tesources of the public authority disproportionately.

5. It is hereby clarified that where a Public lnformation Officer takes a decision to provide information on payment of fee in addition to the application fee, he should determine the quantum of such fee in accordance with the fee prescribed under the Fee and Cost Rules referred to above and give the details of such fee to 'the applicant together with the calculation made to arrive at such fee. Since the Act or the Rules do not provide for charging of fee towards postal expenses or cost involved in deployment of man power for supply of information etc., he should not ask the applicant to pay fee on such account. However, wherever supply of information in a particular form would disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority or would be detrimental to the safety or preservation of the records, the PI0 may refuse to supply the information in that form.

6.Contents of this OM may be brought to the notice of all concerned.

Sd/
(K.G. Verma),Director
Te1.23092158

Depart of Personnel and Training Memo dated 24.5.2010

India's postal system is a huge asset which is currently under-utilised, under-skilled and under-developed

An article published in the Business Standard by Subir Roy

India’s postal system is a huge asset which is currently under-utilised, under-skilled and under-developed. The 1.5 lakh post offices in a country of 6.4 lakh villages (that’s where the post office really matters) represent a reach unmatched by any other organisation. If it is developed and used well, it can give a leg-up to those parts of the country and their denizens who have benefited the least from the high growth of the post-reform period.

Till not so long ago, post offices were relics of the past where the urban middle class would not venture unless absolutely necessary. The burgeoning private courier companies appeared to be driving the last nail in the coffin of the slowly declining giant. But then, just as hope always triumphs in India, the post office began to change. It gave itself a new logo, prominent urban post offices began giving themselves a new look and you could spot PCs across counters.

The post office management is now getting bolder by the day and big brothers in the government have given it permission to spend Rs 2,000 crore in the next two years to bring in an IT revolution. All post offices will be linked, a core banking solution will be installed and pre-paid cards will be introduced with which you will be able to send money from anywhere to any post office through your cellular phone. All that the person at the other end will have to do to get instant credit is have a savings bank account with his post office.

For that last leg of the operation to be completed, the post office’s savings bank operations will have to be transformed. That can happen in only one way — by converting the financial services operations of the postal department into a proper bank, giving it a banking licence. Banks have well defined procedures and processes, the skills needed to run them are standardised, as are the benchmarks by which they can be judged. And you can easily get the public sector banks to lend a helping hand to enable the Post Bank of India (PBI) to get going. Initially, PBI will be an outreach for the established banks, but over time it should be able to give vigorous competition.

A parliamentary standing committee has again reiterated the demand for such a bank to be set up. And if or when (it is really a matter of time) it is, it will be a behemoth from day one. In financial year 2008, postal savings bank schemes had total outstandings of Rs 3.4 lakh crore, which was second only to the deposits of the State Bank of India that stood at Rs 5.4 lakh crore. (ICICI Bank came third at Rs 2.4 lakh crore deposits.) In the same year, postal mail traffic fell by 4 per cent. So did the number of money orders, by 8 per cent, but their total value went up by 7.8 per cent. Simultaneously, the post office’s “business development activities”, the cumbersome name for newer services like Speedpost, grew revenues by 24 per cent to almost a quarter of the department’s total revenue. So like it or not, the post office is changing. It only makes sense to get it to change the right way.

Once the post office becomes a bank with a logistical arm and not the other way round, it will be able to bury the canard that it is a loss-making outfit. In 2008, the postal department’s budgetary deficit was Rs 1,511 crore. If it were a bank with assets equal to the savings bank liabilities, it should have been able to earn a very modest return on assets of 0.5 per cent, which would have put it at the bottom of the public sector banks league table. That works out to Rs 1,727 crore, over Rs 200 crore more than the deficit. Right now it is the Government of India and the finance ministry that keep the postal department poor. All the deposits go to the central exchequer, to be passed on to states as loans in proportion to their small savings. The department earns a fee to run the inefficient and archaic savings bank system.

Why is it necessary to reinvent the post office and improve the self-esteem of postal employees? The post office with its reach is the best placed to open bank accounts for the beneficiaries of the rural employment programme, recipients of government pensions and the like. The postman remains the best equipped to affirm a person’s proof of residence. Once the banking function of the post office gets going and expands, it will give a boost to India’s financial savings the same way bank nationalisation did and helped push up the national savings rate. The whole scenario is predicated on PBI being run efficiently and on keeping its transaction costs low with the use of information technology and processes for handling no-frill accounts currently being evolved.

The big question is, what does PBI do with its deposits which are relatively costlier as postal rates are higher than banks'. It should remain a narrow bank, eschewing retail and commercial lending and instead investing in secure but relatively high-yielding bonds issued by infrastructure companies looking for longer term funds. PBI could also subscribe to Nabard bonds whose proceeds Nabard could lend to microfinance organisations whose members could get paid through their savings bank accounts with PBI. You have a bit of a virtuous cycle there. An efficient PBI will not only boost financial inclusion but help reduce fraud in social welfare payments. All this must be made to happen.

Source: Business Standard

3rd FINANCIAL UPGRADATION ON COMPLETION OF 30 YEARS OF SERVICE OR 10 YEARS FROM THE LAST PROMOTION/UPGRADATION. DIRECTORATE ISSUED CLARFICATION

Department of Posts (Establishment Division) Memo No 4-7/(MACPS)/2009-PCC dated 20.5.2010

Subject : Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACPS) for the Central Government Civilian Employees.

I am directed to refer to this Directorate Office Memorandum of even number dated 18.9.2009 on the above subject mentioned above.

2. In page No 19 of the OM, the following omission has been noticed in illustration No 5:-

(a) In example 4 in Box No 4, the text appearing as "3rd MACP to the grade pay of Rs 4200 on completion of 30 years of service" may be read as "3rd MACP to the grade pay of Rs 4200 on completion of 10 years service in the grade pay of 2800 or 30 years of service, whichever is earlier".

3. This corrigendum is based on illustration No 28B of Annexure I to the OM dated 18 Septemner 2009 which prescribes that if two promotions are earned before completion of 20 year, only 3rd financial upgradation would be admissible on completion of 10 year of service in the grade pay from the date 2nd promotion or at 30th year of service, whichever is earlier.

4. This Directorate OM dated 18 Sep 2009 may be taken as amended accordingly and this change may be brought to the notice of all concerned.

India Post is the official carrier of Unique Identity Numbers - MoU signed between DOP and UIADI to this effect.

India Post is the official carrier of Unique Identity Numbers and will deliver the UID communication to the citizens of India. Department of Posts has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on April 30, 2010 to this effect. The MoU has been entered into for a period of two years. The Department would use its flagship product, the Speed Post for this purpose. The Department got advantage for this project due to its vast network of 155,015 post offices of which nearly 90% numbering 139,144 are in the rural area.

India Post is also providing the comprehensive business solution of printing & pre mailing activities and last mile delivery of UID letters to the recipients of UID number. Whenever/ wherever required by UIDAI, the Department will also do biometric authentication of each UID letter delivered.

The Department is also successfully implementing the work of distribution of nearly 10,000 tonnes of Census material from 15 printing presses to nearly 12,000 taluk/ municipal level locations across the length and breadth of the country through its Logistics Post in connection with Census 2011 as its official carrier. India Post will also be undertaking the reverse logistics for collection of filled in census forms from these locations and delivery to the respective Directorates of Census Operations and scanning centers in the States. The Project started in February 2010 and will be completed in June 2011.

Source : PIB

Security to be furnished by Gramin Dak Sevaks increased

The Department of Posts vide letter no 6-18/2010-PE-II dated 07-05-2010 has revised the amount of security to be furnished by Gramin Dak Sevaks as under:

1. GDS BPMs from Rs 10000/- to Rs 25000/-
2 Other GDS from Rs 5000/- to Rs 10000/-

The security will be furnished in the form of Fidelity Guarantee Bond or National Savings Certificate pledged to the Department or in the shape of Bank Guarantee from any nationalized Bank. The present periodicity of yearly renewal- of the Fidelity Guarantee Bond is revised to once in 5 years (quinquinnelly).The required premium for-5 years' block may be recovered and the Fidelity Guarantee Bond obtained for full 5 years block from the recognized Cooperative Credit Society.

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Now, account verification even in post office

LUDHIANA: To check the inflow of black money and to keep a vigil on fake accounts, now even the postal department has started verifying its accounts under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Sources said till now only the banks were verifying the antecedents of a person before opening any account or during the transaction but now even the customers, who will be dealing with the postal department have to submit various documents.

While giving the information, one of the postal officials said that under this system for an instance if the person was depositing Rs 50,000 then he had to deposit the license or I-card and if the transaction went beyond the Rs 5 lakh then income tax return along with the voter card or PAN card. The formalities will increase with rise in amount. While for the city residents the formalities were fine, but the rural people were facing problems, he added.

While the postal department authorities found it a good initiative in order to curb black money flow and also the opening of fake accounts. People’s view was that it was tough to complete the formalities. JR Nur, senior superintendent, postal department, said that the formalities would help in regulate the flow of money in the customer’s account. Nur added that already in banks the system had been adopted from the beginning but now the postal department would be working as per the new system.

Source : Times of India

Submission of representations by Govemment servants

Copy of Memo No F.No.I1013/4/20I&Estt. (A) dated 19.4.2010 of Department of Personnal and Training.

Subject : Subject : Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964 - Submission of representations by Govemment servants - instructions regarding

The undersigned is directed to refer to this Department's O.M. No. 11013/7/99-Estt. (A) dated 01.11.1999 on the abovementioned subject which indicates that the categories of representations from Govemment servants on service matters have been broadly identified as follows :-

(i) Representations/complaints regarding non-payment of salary/ allowances or other Issues.
(ii) Representations on other service matters.
(iii) Representations against the orders of the immediate official superior authority; and
(iv) Appeals and petitions under statutory rules and orders (such as Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965 and the petition instructions.
(Apart from the above, sometimes, Govemment servants also submit advance copy of their representations to the authorities higher than the appropriateICompetent Authority.)

2. Necessary guidelines to deal with such representations are contained in the aforesaid O.M. which are to be followed by the administrative authorities. However, it is observed that some officials resort to the practice of sending repeated representations on the same issue which involves repeated examination of the same issue and bogs down the official machinery to the detriment of consid6ration of more important and time-bound issues. The matter has been considered by this Department. It needs to be emphasized that Govemment servants should desist from making frequent and numerous representations on the same issue. The second representation on the same issue will be examined only if it contains any fresh points regarding new developments or facts having a bearing on the issue. It has been decided that when representations have already been considered and replied, further representations exceeding two on the same issue will henceforth be ignored. A Government servant may make a representation to an authority higher than the lowest competent authority only when he is able to establish that all the points or submissions made therein have not been fully and properly considered by his immediate official superior, or the Head of Office concerned or such other authority at the lowest level competent to deal with the matter. Government servants should desist from prematurely addressing the higher authorities.

3. All the MinistriesIDepartments are requested to bring the above guidelines for the notice of all concerned for information and compliance

Source : Department of Personnal and Training Memo dated 19.4.2010

Collection of Tamilnadu Electricity Bills extended to 50 more post offices in Chennai City

Tamilnadu Postal Circle has entered into an agreement with Tamilnadu Electricity Board, Chennai whereby, Low Tension consumers of Tamilnadu Electricity Board in Chennai can pay their Electricity Bills through select Post Offices in Chennai.
A consumer residing in any part of Chennai Metro, can approach any of the identified post office to pay the electricity bill amount. The bill collection process is done by Online E-payment facility provided by the Department of Posts in coordination with Tamilnadu Electricity Board. For this service, the consumer will pay Rs.5/- per bill as service charges to the Department of Posts.
This facility was introduced on 1st March 2010. Initially, the facility was available at Anna Road Head Post Office and Anna Nagar Post Office.
Presently, TNEB Bill Collection facility has been extended to 48 more post offices across Chennai Metro, with effect from 1st May 2010.
Source : http://tamilnadupost.nic.in

Postal agent held for duping client of Rs 6.6 lakh

KOLKATA: A 53-year-old woman has been arrested by Regent Park police on Monday for duping an employee of the US Cultural Office of Rs 6.6 lakh. Mridula Roy, the accused, works as an agent of post & telegraph department and allegedly withdrew Pulak Ranjan Pattanayak's money from his monthly income scheme account with forged papers. Preliminary probe hinted that an official of the P&T department is also involved in the forgery.

Police said Pattanayak, an employee of US Cultural Office had a MIS account at Purba Putiari Post Office. "It was a six-year scheme and he was supposed to withdraw the maturity amount in March 2010," said a police officer.

In February, Pattanayak applied to the post office, stating that he wanted the amount in cheque. The sub-post master of Purba Putiari countersigned it, mentioning the amount.

Finally, when Pattanayak went to withdraw the money, he was informed that his amount had been withdrawn a year ago. The officials refused to divulge any detail. They, however, could not reply how without his signature or valid approval the cheque was issued a year ago.

Realising that he had been duped, Pattanayak contacted Mridula, who used to deposit the monthly amount. "The pass book of my account was also with her. After a lot of cajoling, she confessed that she had withdrawn the amount fraudulently and gave me a written confession," said Pattanayak.

He lodged a complaint with Regent Park police station and Mridula was arrested.

During interrogation Mridula hinted that some officials of the post office are involved in the racket. Police said the previous sub-postmaster of the post office could have played a crucial role in the case.

India Post is on Twitter

New Delhi : The Department of Posts, one of India's oldest establishments, has become the first government organisation to be on the social networking site Twitter. Tilted ‘PostOfficeIndia,' the DoP's page already has around 200 followers, from both India and abroad, in less than two months of its operations.
As part of its new business strategy, the DoP wants to leverage this unique medium to promote its business, as is being done by leading food chains and other firms in the U.S. and Europe. Though some senior DoP officials are currently managing the web page, soon it plans to have a dedicated team of people to answer queries of followers and paste latest promotions and programmes of the department. It also plans to have sub-categories for various users such as business users, foreigners and have posts State and region-wise.
SMS tracking
It all began with the DoP posting information about new schemes for users. It posted links to its website telling users how they could calculate postage tariffs or know pin codes of their respective areas. Then recently, the DoP launched SMS tracking facility for Speed Post shipments and told people how they could make use of it.
Similarly, through Twitter, the DoP has already started an awareness campaign for India's biggest-ever stamp show that will be held in Delhi next February. It has also been sending messages to people who want to partner DoP in various projects or apply for some tender. Followers have also been making complaints and giving feedback about how to improve the functioning of the department.
Boon to philatelists
DoP's Twitter page is also proving to be a boon for those who pursue philately as a hobby, as it has been informing people about limited edition stamps that India Post issues from time to time. “Welcome to the amazing world of the great magician P.C. Sorcar” read a ‘tweet', asking people to get India Post's commemorative postage on the magician. Through another message – India Post greets you on Earth Day! Let's spare a thought for the future of the planet. Let's all join to put together sustainable lifestyles — it is trying to send social messages and connect with those on Twitter.
Senior DoP officials are excited by the initial response from its followers. “Wow, Indian Post is on twitter...that's great to hear” wrote one Indian follower, while a few foreign nationals have also shown interest in India Post's Twitter postings. The DoP has been taking special initiatives for foreigners. For instance, during the recent Pushkar festival in Rajasthan, which is very popular among foreigners, it informed tourists about the post office near the fair where special arrangements were made for sending mails and parcels, which received good response.
Source : The Hindu

Model Recruitment Rules for Group 'C' posts in Pay Band-I, with Grade Pay of Rs.1800/- (pre-revised Group 'D' Posts)

Extract of Department of Personnel and Training Memo No. AB-140171612009-Estl(RR) dated 30.4.2010

Sub : Model Recruitment Rules for Group 'C' posts in Pay Band-I, with Grade Pay of Rs.1800/- (pre-revised Group'D' posts)

The 61h CPC recommended that all Group 'D' posts in the Government will stand upgraded to Group 'C', Pay Band-I with Grade Pay of Rs.1800, along with the incumbents (after suitable training, wherever required). The other recommendations of the Commission, in this regard include:

(i) There will be no further recruitment in Group 'D'.
(ii) The existing Group 'D' posts will be placed in Group 'C' Pay Band-I with Grade Pay of Rs.1800.
(iii) The minimum qualification for appointment to this level will be either loth pass or IT1 equivalent
(iv) Multi- skilling, with one employee performing jobs hitherto performed by different Group 'D' employees.
(v) Common Designation for these posts.

Their duties would broadly include:

a) Physical Maintenance of records of the Section.
b) General cleanliness & upkeep of the Sectionl Unit.
c) Carrying of files & other papers within the building.
d) Photocopying, sending of FAX etc.
e) Other non-clerical work in the Sectionl Unit.
f) Assisting in routine office work like diary, despatch etc., including on computer
g) Delivering of dak (outside the building).
h) Watch & ward duties.
i) Opening & closing of rooms.
j) Cleaning of rooms.
k) Dusting of furniture etc.
1) Cleaning of building, fixtures etc
m) Work related to his IT1 qualifications, if it exists.
n) Driving of vehicles, if in possession of valid driving licence.
o) Upkeep of parks, lawns, potted plants etc.
p) Any other work assigned by the superior authority.

NOTE: The above list of duties is only illustrative and not exhaustive. Ministries1 Departments may add to the list, duties of similar nature ordinarily performed by officials at this level.

Office Memorandum dated 30.4.2010