Indian Railways

2801. This Chapter deals with the debits raised by the Accounts Office as a result of internal. check of traffic documents and returns rendered by stations.

2802. Error Sheets.—When a mistake involving apparent financial loss to the Railway Administration is noticed, the amount short collected undercharged or unaccounted for should, except in the cases mentioned in paragraph 2803, be debited in full to the station responsible by means of an Error Sheet (Form A. 2802). The Error Sheets should be prepared in carbon triplicate. The original should be filed-in the Accounts Office and the two carbon copies sent to the station against which the debit is raised. On railways, where a separate Outstandings Branch of the Commercial Department is constituted (Paragraph 2810), the Error Sheets should be prepared in quadruplicate by carbon process, the 4th copy being sent to the Outstandings Branch.

Statement of Errors in the Goods (Including Money Coal)/ Coaching Accounts of............Station for the month……………….

(8) Invoice/P.W. Bills issued—————— but accounted for as ————

(9) Invoice/P.W. Bills/Ticket issued but not accounted for. ...................................

Note. —(a) On the back of the Error Sheet, a statement should be given by the Station Master of the way in which admitted items will be adjusted and for items not admitted, the reasons why the debit is obejcted to. After this has been done, the Error Sheet with all necessary documents should be returned to the Accounts Office, or the Chief Commercial Superintendent (Outstandings) as the case may be within one week of receipt.

(b) If the debit be against a subordinate who has been transferred to another station, a report giving full particulars should be sent at once to the Divisional Superintendent concerned with a view to realization.

(c) A copy of the explanation sent to the Chief Commercial Superintendent, Outstandings Branch or to the Financial Adviser and Chief Accounts Officer must be written on the back of the second copy of the Error Sheet which is to be filed at the station for subsequent reference.

(1) ….................................................. (4) ..................................................

(2) ..................................................... (5) ...................................................

(3) .................................................... (6)....................................................

2803. (1) Undercharges upto the limit prescribed by the Railway Board in individual items of Coaching and Goods (including Money Coal) earnings may not be debited against stations unless they present special features such as undercharges arising from failure to recover minimum freight, fares etc. .Any tendency on the part of the station staff to take undue advantage of this concession should be prevented. For this purpose, all such undercharges should be entered in a Register which should be reviewed monthly by the Accounts Officer.

(2) Except in special circumstances and in case of errors detected by the Inspectors of Station Accounts and the Officials of the Audit Department, no debit will, ordinarily, be raised against stations more than six months after the month of accountal of transaction in station returns.

(3) If any document is not susceptible of check for want of any information from the station staff or traffic authorities and the required information has been called for within six months' limit but the station staff or the Traffic authorities have failed to supply the information in time and if on receipt of the information, it is found that an undercharge exists in the transaction, such an undercharge will not be considered as time-barred even if period of six months from the month of accountal has elapsed. The undercharge so detected should be debited against the station with the approval of the Accounts Officer quoting reference to the correspondence with the station staff/Traffic authorities on the Error Sheets.

(4) An undercharge coming to notice after the expiry of the time-limit referred to above for which debits could not be raised due to the negligence of the Accounts Office, should be recorded in a Register, which should be put up to the Accounts Officer every month. Such undercharges should be dropped without bringing the same to account, suitable action being taken against the staff at fault in the Accounts Office.

2804. Full particulars of the transaction giving rise to the debit should be given in the Error Sheet, the reasons for the debit being clearly stated in the column provided for the purpose.

2805. With a view to avoiding issue of unnecessary Error Sheets against the stations, it should be ensured before the issue of an Error Sheet that the undercharge is correctly due and recoverable from the station.

2806. All Error Sheets for undercharges in fares and freight for amounts above Rs. 100 and 10 per cent of those above Rs. 50 but not exceeding Rs. 100 should be checked personally by an Accounts Officer, before they are issued to stations. If he has any doubt about the correctness of the charge, he should consult the officer of the Traffic/Commercial Department, who deals with such cases, and the Error Sheet should only be issued if the latter agrees to its correctness. In the case of disagreement, the matter should be referred to the Heads or Deputy Heads of the Department for a final decision.

2807. The Error Sheets should be signed by the Sub-heads, Section Officers (Accounts) as may be directed by the Financial Adviser and Chief Accounts Officer.

2808. Register of Error Sheets.—The Error Sheets should, before, issue, be entered in a Register (A-2808) and numbered with reference to their entry therein. One or more registers may be used for the purpose, but suitable code letters indicating the various kinds of traffic in connection with which the Error Sheets are issued, should be prefixed before the number to distinguished one set of Error Sheets from the other.

Sl. No.	Name of Station	No. of Error Sheet	Amount of undercharge				Amount withdrawn		Refer-ence to Case No.	Remarks
Sl. No.	Name of Station	No. of Error Sheet	Upto Rs. 10	Above Rs. 10 but not excee-dng Rs.50	Above Rs. 50 but not exceeding Rs.100	Above Rs.100	Month	Amount	Refer-ence to Case No.	Remarks
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11

2809. Disposal of Error Sheets at the Station.—Eevery debit raised by the Accounts Office against a station, whether arising from error in charging fares or freight or due to wrong accounting in the accounts documents and returns, is payable by the person through whose fault it has been incurred. On receipt of an Error Sheet at the station, the Station Master examines it and if the debit is admitted, the Station Master first takes it to account in his books and then fills in the name and designation of the official responsible on one of the foils of the Error Sheet (called the trefoil) stating also when the debit will be paid or whether it should be deducted from the pay bill of the person responsible. If the debit is objected to, the grounds of objection are fully and clearly stated on the trefoil. After this is done, the trefoil is returned by the Station Master to the Accounts Office or, where a separate Outstandings Branch of the Commercial Department is instituted, to that Branch.

2810. Outstandings Branch. —The function of the Outstandings Branch of the Commercial Department, where one exists, is to act as a liaison between the station staff and the Accounts Office. The trefoils of the Error Sheets (Paragraph 2802) will be scrutinized by this Branch. If a debit is to be withdrawn, the Account Office will be addressed on the subject. If, however, the debit holds good, the action necessary for the recovery of the debit from the pay bill of the staff responsible is initiated. Ordinarily, the full amount of the debit is recovered, but where there are extenuating circumstances, the whole or a part thereof is written off by a duly authorized Traffic Officer, the Accounts Office being advised.

2811. Credit Advice Note:--- The objection by the Station Master to the debit, whether received direct from the station or through the Outstandings Branch, should be examined and if the debit is found to be incorrect, it should be withdrawn and a Credit Advice Note issued to the station in Form A-2811 to enable the station to take credit in the Balance Sheet. These advices should be issued only for such Error Sheets as have been taken to account by stations and are outstanding in station accounts, a suitable remark being given against the item in the Outstandings List (COM./O. 6). Reference to the Credit Advice Note should also be given against the connected entry in the Register of Error Sheets (Paragraph 2808). If, however, the debit is found to be in order, the station or the Outstandings Branch, as the case may be, should be informed to enable the necessary recovery being made from the pay bill of the staff responsible.

The under noted debit has been withdrawn. Please take credit in the Balance sheet on the authority of this Credit Advice Note, submitting it, in original, in support of the credit entry.

Error sheet

Ticket/Way-Bill/ Railway Receipt

Station from or To

Amount withdrawn

Remarks

No.

Date

No.

Date

R..S.

2812. Where Error Sheets are adjusted through Overcharge Sheets (COM/0. 7 Revised) the debits need not be withdrawn. In such cases, the Station Master should be asked to take credit in the Balance Sheet on the authority of the Overcharge Sheet certified either by the station against whom the debit does not lie or by the competent Traffic Officer.

2813. Error Sheets written off.—In the case of Error Sheets written off in part or in whole by authorized Traffic Officers, the sanction to the write off should be checked in the same way as other sanctions.

2814. Statements of Error Sheets issued, withdrawn, etc.—A record should be kept, in Form A-2814, of the number and amount of Error Sheets issued, admitted, withdrawn, under reference and not issued (as a result of scrutiny by Accounts Officer, vide paragraph 2806). An extract from this record containing general remarks in respect of the proportion of Error Sheets withdrawn to the Error Sheets issued, should be furnished to the General Manager if considered necessary by him on such dates as may be prescribed by him. This rule refers to debits raised by the Accounts Office concerned including those raised at the instance of the Audit.

Statement of Error Sheets Issued, Admitted, withdrawn, under Reference, etc.

	Error Sheets issued		Error Sheets admitted		Error Sheets withdrawn		Error Sheets still under reference		Error Sheets not issued as a result of scrutiny by Accounts Officer		Rema-rks
	No.	Amount	No.	Amount	No.	Amount	No.	Amount	No.	Amount
Over Rs. 100 Coaching / Goods / Money Coal.
Over Rs. 20 but not exceeding Rs.100 Coaching /Goods / Money Coal.
Over Rs. 10 but not exceeding Rs. 20 Coaching /Goods / Money Coal.
Rs. 10 and below Coaching / Goods / Money Coal.

2815. The column "Error Sheets Withdrawn" should show debits, whether due to error in rates, classification, accounting or short remittance of cash, raised against the station by the Accounts Office and subsequently objected to by stations and withdrawn by the Accounts Office. Error Sheets, the correctness of which is not disputed but which have to be written off or cleared by means of Overcharge Sheets (COM./O. 7 Revised) should be shown under the heading "Error Sheets admitted". Similarly, Error Sheets withdrawn on the station furnishing the required document(s) should be shown under the heading "Error Sheets admitted", as the Error Sheet was correctly issued by the Accounts Office.