Rule 57 — General Financial Rules 2017 (amended July 2024) - Rule 57

GFR 2017

Rule 57 (1) Responsibility for control of Expenditure. The Departments of the Central Government shall be responsible for the control of expenditure against the sanctioned grants and appropriations placed at their disposal. The control shall be exercised through the Heads of Departments and other Controlling Officers, if any, and Disbursing Officers subordinate to them. Rule 57 (2) A Grant or Appropriation can be utilised only to cover the charges (including liabilities, if any, of the past year) which are to be paid during the financial year of the Grant or Appropriation and adjusted in the account of the year. No charges against a Grant or Appropriation can be authorized after the expiry of the financial year. Rule 57 (3) No expenditure shall be incurred which may have the effect of exceeding the total grant or appropriation authorized by Parliament by law for a financial year, except after obtaining a supplementary grant or appropriation or an advance from the Contingency Fund. Since voted and charged portions as also the revenue and capital sections of a Grant/Appropriation are distinct and re-appropriation inter se is not permissible, an excess in any one portion or section is treated as an excess in the Grant/Appropriation. Rule57(4) To have effective control over expenditure by the Departments, Controlling and Disbursing Officers subordinate to them shall follow the procedure as given below: -
(i) For drawal of money, the Drawing and Disbursing Officer shall
(a) Prepare and present bills for “charged” and “voted” expenditure separately.
(b) Enter on each bill the complete accounts classifications from major head down to the object head of account. When a single bill includes charges falling under two or more object heads, the charges shall be distributed accurately over the respective heads.
(c) Enter on each bill the
13
progressive total of expenditure up-to-date under the primary unit of appropriation to which the bill relates, including the amount of the bill on which the entry is made.
(ii) All drawing and disbursing officers shall maintain separate registers in Form GFR 5, physically or electronically for allocation under each minor or sub-head of account with which they are concerned.
(iii) On the third day of each month, a copy of the entries made in this register during the preceding month shall be sent by the officer maintaining it, to the Head of the Department or other designated Controlling Officer. This statement shall also include adjustment of an inward claim, etc., communicated by Pay and Accounts Officer directly to the DDO (and not to his Grant Controlling Officer). If there are no entries in the register in any month, a ‘nil’ statement shall be sent.
(iv) The Controlling Officer will maintain a broadsheet in Form GFR 6 to monitor the receipt of the return prescribed in the foregoing sub- clause
(v) On receipt of the returns from Disbursing Officers, the Controlling Officer shall examine them and satisfy himself:
(a) that the accounts classification has been properly given;
(b) that progressive expenditure has been properly noted and the available balances worked out correctly;
(c) that expenditure up-to-date is within the grant or appropriation; and
(d) that the returns have been signed by Disbursing Officers. Where the Controlling Officer finds defects in any of these respects, he shall take steps to rectify the defect.
(vi) When all the returns from the Disbursing Officers for a particular month have been received and found to be in order, the Controlling Officer shall compile a statement in Form GFR 7, in which he shall incorporate –
(a) the totals of the figures supplied by Disbursing Officers;
(b) the totals taken from his own registers in Form GFR 5;
(c) the totals of such adjustments under the various detailed heads as communicated to him by the Accounts Officer on account of transfer entries and expenditure debited to the grant as a result of settlement of inward account claims and not reckoned by his DDOs.
(vii) If any adjustment communicated by the Accounts Officer affects the appropriation at the disposal of a subordinate Disbursing Officer, the fact that the adjustment has been made shall be communicated by the Controlling Officer to the Disbursing Officer concerned.
(viii) On receipt of all the necessary returns, the Head of the Department shall prepare a consolidated account in Form GFR 8, showing the complete expenditure from the grant or appropriation at his disposal upto the end of the preceding month. Rule 57 (5) The Head of the Department and the Accounts Officer shall be jointly responsible for the monthly reconciliation of the figures given in the accounts maintained by the Head of the Department with those appearing in the Accounts Officer’s books. The procedure for reconciliation shall be as follows: -
(i) DDOs shall maintain a Bill Register in Form TR 28-A, and note all bills presented for payment to the PAO in the register. As soon as cheques for the bills presented for payment are received, and/or status of epayments are verified from the reports available with DDO on PFMS portal these shall be noted in the appropriate column of the Bill Register and the DDOs shall ensure that the amounts of cheques tally with the net amount of the bills presented. In case any retrenchment is made by the PAO, a note of such retrenchments shall be kept against the bill in the remarks
14
column in TR 28-A.
(ii) The PAOs shall furnish to each of the DDOs including Cheque – drawing DDOs, an extract from the expenditure control register or from the Compilation Sheet every month indicating the expenditure relating to grants controlled by him classified under the various major-minor detailed head of accounts. The statements for May to March shall also contain Progressive Figures.
(iii) On receipt of these extracts from the PAOs, the DDOs shall tally the figures received, excluding book adjustments, with the expenditure worked out for the month in the GFR 5 register. Discrepancies, if any, between the two sets of figures shall be promptly investigated by the DDO in consultation with the PAO. He shall also note in the GFR 5 register particulars of book adjustments advised by the PAO through the monthly statement. Thereafter, the DDO shall furnish to the PAO a certificate of agreement of the figures as per his books with those indicated by the PAOs by the last day of the month following the month of accounts.
(iv) The Principal Accounts Officer (or PAO wherever payments, relating to a grant are handled wholly by a PAO) of each Ministry, shall send a monthly statement showing the expenditure vis-à-vis the Budget provision under the various heads of accounts, in the prescribed pro forma, to the Heads of Departments responsible for overall control of expenditure against grant of the Ministry as a whole. The figures so communicated by the Principal Accounts Officer (or the PAO concerned) shall be compared by the Heads of Departments with those consolidated in Form GFR 8 and differences, if any, shall be taken up by the Heads of Departments with the Principal Accounts Officers (or the PAO concerned) for reconciliation. The Head of the Department shall furnish a quarterly certificate to the Principal Accounts Officer certifying the correctness of the figures for the quarter by the 15th of the second following month after the end of quarters AprilJune, July-September, OctoberDecember and January- March. Rule 57 (6) The Departments of the Central Government shall obtain from their Heads of Departments and other offices under them the departmental figures of expenditure in Form GFR 8 by the 15th of the month following the month to which the returns relate. The figures relating to Revenue and Capital expenditure shall be separately shown in these returns. The information so obtained shall be posted in register
(s) kept for watching the flow of expenditure against the sanctioned grant or appropriation. Progressive totals of expenditure shall be worked out for the purpose. If the departmental figures obtained in Form GFR 8 and posted in the register(s), require correction in a subsequent month, Heads of Departments or other offices shall make such corrections by making plus or minus entries in the progressive totals. In case the Accounts Office figures which subsequently become available are found to be higher than departmental figures, the former shall be assumed to be the correct figures, as appropriation accounts are prepared on the basis of the figures booked in the accounts. Rule 57 (7) The Departments of Central Government shall also obtain from the Heads of Departments and other authorities under them, statements showing the details of the physical progress of the schemes for which they are responsible. This statement shall show the name of the scheme, the Budget provision for each scheme, the progressive expenditure on each scheme, the progress of the scheme in physical terms and the detailed reasons for any shortfalls or excess, both against physical and financial targets. Rule 57 (8) A Broadsheet in Form GFR 9 shall be maintained by the Departments of Central Government or each Head of Department and other authorities directly under them, to watch the prompt receipt of the various returns mentioned above from month to month and to take necessary measures for rectifying any defaults noticed.

What This Means

This rule lays down the fundamental principles for how Central Government Departments must manage and control their spending. It places the primary responsibility on these departments to ensure that all money allocated by Parliament, known as grants and appropriations, is spent wisely and within the approved limits. This control is exercised through a hierarchy of officers, including Heads of Departments, other Controlling Officers, and the Drawing and Disbursing Officers who handle the actual payments.

A crucial aspect is that funds are strictly tied to the financial year. Money from a grant can only be used to cover expenses (including any outstanding payments from the previous year) that are paid and recorded within that specific financial year. You cannot authorize spending against a grant once the financial year has ended. Furthermore, departments are strictly prohibited from spending more than the total amount authorized by Parliament. If more funds are genuinely needed, they must obtain a supplementary grant or an advance from the Contingency Fund. It's also important to note that different categories of spending within a grant (like 'voted' vs. 'charged' or 'revenue' vs. 'capital') are distinct, and overspending in any one category is considered an overall excess.

To ensure effective control, the rule outlines specific procedures. Officers responsible for drawing and disbursing money must prepare bills carefully, classifying expenses accurately. Heads of Departments and Accounts Officers are jointly responsible for regularly matching their spending records with the official accounts. Departments must also submit monthly reports on both financial expenditure and the physical progress of schemes, and maintain a broadsheet to track the timely submission of all these important documents. This comprehensive approach ensures accountability and efficient use of public funds.