Para 3.7.21 — MSO

Payments made abroad for stores, supplies, etc.

3.7.21 It is obligatory on the part of each and every department of the Central, State and Union Territory Governments to procure stores required on a recurring basis, and borne on the rate contracts entered into by the DGS&D, either through the Directorate General or, if the officer concerned has been declared as a Direct Demanding officer, directly from the firm concerned. Failure to avail of the benefit of these rate contracts and resorting instead to local purchases at higher prices, either by splitting the purchase orders so as to ensure that the financial powers delegated to the officers for local purchases are not exceeded, or under some other pretext, including the ground that the officer concerned was not aware of the conclusion of the rate contract for the particular item, results in avoidable extra expenditure to Government. The Accountant General (Audit) and the Principal Directors of Audit should point out such cases, if any, noticed in the course of audit of the accounts of the departments concerned. In case such failures are found to be widely prevalent in a department or of a large magnitude, appropriate comments should be proposed for inclusion in the Audit Report.

(i) Stores obtained directly from firms abroad on FOB basis subject to inspection by the Director General, India Stores Department, London, or the India Supply Mission, Washington.

(ii) Stores purchased through the agency of the Director General, India Stores Department, London, or the India Supply Mission, Washington in terms of Rule 7 of Appendix 8 of the General Financial Rules (Revised and Enlarged),. 1963).

(iii) Food grains, fertilizers, etc. purchased through other agencies.

A. Stores purchases 3 7.22 Stores transactions passed on to India through the Remittance Account between England and India or the accounts of the India Supply Mission, Washington, as well as transactions pertaining to the separated accounts offices, which are initially classified under “Pay and Accounts Offices" and intimated to the Accounts Officers in India under the heading "Miscellaneous Transactions", can be classified broadly as follows: