Para 15.21 — The AG maintains a register (Form 88) that records

15.21 A register in Form 88 will be maintained by the Accountant General (A&E) showing the daily issues and encashment responsible for the preparation of the list of outstanding balances of unpaid cheques at the end of the month. The register will be kept in the custody of the Accountant General (A&E) but may be posted by an Assistant Accounts Officer/Section Officer or other nominee of the Accountant General other than one connected with the Pre-check Payment Department or the Department of Precheck cheques (Central or State) and the outstanding cheques.

The monthly comparison as indicated in the form will be made by the Accountant General himself.

A comparison should also be made with the balances in the Registers of Outstanding Cheques at the end of each month. The balances in the Accountant General’s register should also be verified independently with the Ledger balances in t he Book Department and a note to this effect recorded in Form 88.

The following rules govern the procedure which should be followed an A.G. office in dealing with claims against Government presented for payment from the Consolidated Fund and Public Account of India and of the States.

# PAYMENTS

(1) Bills which should be only claims and not acknowledgements, will be presented by the claimant in person, or through a messenger, or through a bank or other authorised agent, or by post. (2) Bills so presented will be subjected to check before payment by the Check Section concerned which will be conducted on the same principles and with precisely the same formalities as are observed in the case of bills received with the treasury accounts for post audit after payment. (3) After a bill has been examined and recorded, the amount admitted will be passed for payment by a Branch Officer of the A.G. Office. (4) All bills as soon as passed will be made over to the Cash Department. (5) Unless there is a special request on a bill for cash payment, all bills will be paid by cheque if the total of all the bills received from one party at the same time exceeds Rs. 300/-. (6) If payment is to be made by cheque, the bill should bear an endorsement showing:-

- ANNEXURE ‘A’

- (Referred to in paragraph 15.1)

(a) in whose favour the cheque is to be drawn-self, Bank or other authorised agent;

Note 1:Cheques may be drawn in favour of a firm or a private person for payment of contingent bills when the Government authorities direct payment to suppliers of articles. These cheques should always crossed in such manner as may be prescribed in the Treasury Rules or the Financial Rules of the Government concerned and will be issued by the A.G. Office either on original bills of the supplier duly counter-signed by the Head of the office or on consolidated bills in which claims of different persons are included by the Head of the office. In the later case the names of the payees should be specified in the bill, with the respective amounts, for which separate cheques should be issued.

Note 2:Where under the provisions of the Treasury Rules or the Financial Rules of the Government concerned payments due to contractors may be made to financing banks, cheques will be drawn in favour of such Banks.

(b) Whether the cheque is to be an open cheque or a crossed one; and

(c) In the latter cases, whether the crossed cheque is to be sent by post (open cheques are not to be sent by post). (7) The presenter of a bill (otherwise than by post) will receive a token. (8) When payment is to be made by crossed cheque sent by post, the cheque will be sent by the A.G. Office without further action on

(9) In cases other than mentioned in paragraph (8), intimation of the bill having been passed will be sent to the drawer, where necessary or when desired, in the following form as soon as possible after the bill is passed:-

“Your bill for Rs. …………….. received on the …………… has been passed for Rs. ……………… Please send your messenger with your acknowledgement duly stamped, in the form annexed, with instructions to make it over to the paying officer, after actual receipt of the payment. Token No. or this intimation (when the bill has been sent by post and no token received) should also be sent as evidence of identification in addition to the signed acknowledgment”. (10) A payee, who receives payment by cash or by an open cheque, can receive payment only in person or through a messenger but who should in no case be a member of the A.G. Office. In the later case the Cashier in the Pre-check-Pay Department will take all reasonable precautions against fraud, but the payee must understand that he receives payment through a third party at his own risk and that Government is in no way

the part of the payee. He must, however, acknowledge its receipt by return of post. Failure or delay in doing this will render the payee liable to forfeit the privilege of having his cheque sent by post.

responsible for loss and will hand over the cheque or cash to any person presenting:-

(a) any token that has been given to the messenger, and

(b) what purports to be the payee’s receipt for the amount claimed.

This receipt should be in the following

formCash “Received by ----------- Rs. from the in payment of my bill Rs. dated Cheque the on account of

If an advice that the bill has been passed [See (9) above] has been received, this should also be sent.

NOTE:- It is not necessary that an intimation should have been received by the payee before he can be paid. The payee can send his messenger with the receipt without waiting for the intimation and the payment will be made if the bill has been passed. It will prevent possible inconvenience to the payee, however, if he waits for the intimation except for bills which are paid on the same day or on the day following, e.g. pay bills.

(11) If the receipt is sent by a messenger, the A.G. Office will take on the receipt the signature or mark of the messenger himself. (12) A payee should communicate with the A.G. Office in all cases in which payment has been delayed beyond one week from the presentation of the bill. (13) It is the duty of the Cash Department to scrutinise the receipt of the payee presented by

the messenger before making payment. This scrutiny will consist of-

(a) comparison of the signature on the acknowledgement with drawer’s signature on the bill,

(b) comparison of the amount acknowledged with the amount of the pay order on the bill, and

(c) the receipt of any token issued; (if an intimation of the bill having been passed has been sent, this should be demanded; but payment should not be refused merely because of its absence).

Note 1:In the case of any doubt about the agreement of the signature or about the acquittance being legal, e.g. when the payee does not himself sign, the Cash Department will consult the check Section before making the payment.

Note 2:After payment the Cash Department will attach the payees acknowledgement to the bill, stamp the bill as “Paid” the name of the person by whom the payments has been made and date of the payment also being endorsed on the bill.

Note 3:Special care must be exercised by the Cash Department when receipt are presented by unknown messengers.

- GENERAL PRINCIPLES

What This Means

This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.

Key Points

• 1Form 88 tracks daily cheque issues, encashments, and outstanding balances
• 2Register is in AG's personal custody; posted by a nominee NOT from Pre-check Department
• 3AG personally performs the monthly comparison
• 4Balances verified independently against Book Department ledger
• 5Annexure A details the full payment procedure: bill receipt, token, pre-check, cheque/cash, acknowledgement

Practical Example

This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.

Frequently Asked Questions

This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.