Rule 61 — GAR
Original Rule Text
61. Irreguaa or unusual payments shall be recorded in: the accounts with general reference to the ordinary rules of classification according to the nature of the expenditure; for example an overpayment of salary shall be debited to the head "Salaries". Similarly, an excess payment for bricks manufactured shall be debited to the work for which the bricks are used. It is only when special heads exist in the accounts for recording such charges as compensations for damages, irrecoverable temporary loans written off and the like, that unusual or extraordinary payments shall be separately classified.
What This Means
Rule 61 addresses how irregular or unusual payments should be classified in government accounts. The rule establishes a sensible principle: irregular or unusual payments should still follow the ordinary rules of classification based on the nature of the expenditure — they are NOT automatically routed to a special loss or extraordinary head just because they are irregular. The nature of the payment determines the head, not its irregularity.
The examples given illustrate this well: an overpayment of salary should be debited to the 'Salaries' head, because that is what it is in nature — a payment made on account of salaries, even if excessive. Similarly, an excess payment for bricks (say, due to an error in measurement or rate) should be debited to the work for which the bricks are used, because that is the functional head that would have borne the cost anyway.
The only exception is where specific heads already exist in the accounts for special categories of unusual charges — such as compensation for damages, write-off of irrecoverable temporary loans, and the like. In those cases, the unusual payment should go to its designated special head, not to a functional head. The rule ensures accounts are not cluttered with special loss accounts for every overpayment, while still providing proper heads for genuinely unusual liabilities.
This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.
Key Points
- 1Irregular or unusual payments follow the ordinary classification rules based on the nature of expenditure — they are not rerouted to special heads just because they are irregular.
- 2An overpayment of salary goes to 'Salaries'; an excess payment for bricks goes to the relevant works head.
- 3Exception: Where special heads exist in the accounts for specific categories (compensation for damages, irrecoverable loans written off, etc.), those unusual payments go to those special heads.
- 4The principle is: classify by nature of expenditure, not by the irregularity of the payment.
- 5This rule applies to all departments and all types of payments that deviate from the norm.
- 6DDOs and PAOs must apply this rule when processing overpayments, duplicate payments, or payments made under erroneous sanction.
Practical Example
An Assistant Accounts Officer at a Central Government ministry discovers that a Group C employee was paid Rs. 1.2 lakhs as HRA for twelve months at a rate applicable only to Group A officers — an error resulting in an overpayment of Rs. 36,000. A further discovery reveals that the ministry also paid Rs. 8 lakhs as compensation to a contractor whose equipment was damaged during construction work authorised by the ministry — an extraordinary liability. Under Rule 61, the HRA overpayment of Rs. 36,000 is still classified under the HRA detailed head within the 'Salaries' sub-head, because that is what it is in nature. However, the Rs. 8 lakh compensation to the contractor is classified under the special head 'Compensation and Other Charges' if such a head exists for the department — since Rule 61 specifically identifies compensation for damages as a category that should go to a special head when one is available.
This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.
Frequently Asked Questions
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This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.