INDIAN RAILWAY CODE FOR THE ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT

||  Index  ||  Chapter 20  ||  Chapter 21  ||  Chapter 22  ||  Chapter 23 ||
||  Chapter 24 ||  Chapter 25  ||  Chapter 26  ||  Chapter 27  ||  Chapter 28  ||  Chapter 29  || 
|| Chapter 30  ||  Chapter 31  ||  Chapter 32  ||  Chapter 33  ||  Chapter 34  || 

Chapter XXIX
Carriage Bills and the Accounts office Balance Sheet

             2901. Stations take credit in their Balance Sheets for the amount of fares and freight repre­sented by vouchers sent to the Accounts Office in lieu of Cash. The realization of this amount, as also of similar other amounts which do not pass through the Station Balance Sheet (viz., carriage of postal mails, haulage of postal vehicles etc., etc.,), devolves upon the Accounts Office and is made through Carriage Bills. 

             2902. Carriage Bills are of two classes, namely :— 

(1) Those prepared from Warrants and Credit Notes received daily from stations with the Cash Remittance Notes.

(2) Those prepared from Advices and Statements received from Departments, etc. 

             2903. The procedure for the receipt, sorting and registration of station vouchers (Local and Through) has been described in Paragraph 2728. The following paragraphs deal with the check of Credit Notes, Advice and Statements, and with the preparation of Bills and their realization from the firms or departments concerned. 

             2904. Check of Credit Notes. —The amount of each individual Credit Note as received from the station should be compared with the entry relating to the connected Ticket, Way-Bill or In­voice in the Return (including Machine prepared Abstracts returned by the destination stations and paid statements received from Machine Section in the case of Goods/Money Coal traffic) in support of the corresponding debit, to ensure that the latter show an identical amount. In cases in which demurrage or wharfage charges are included in a Credit Note, it should be seen that such charges are accounted for in the Demurrage and Wharfage Returns (COM./D-16 revised, COM./ D. 14 Revised and COM./W. 6 Revised). A suitable remark should be given in the relevant Return against the entry of the connected Ticket, Way-Bill or Invoice to guard against duplicate credit being taken in connection with the same transaction. The following points should also be looked into during the check of Credit Notes: — 

(1) The Credit Note is "original" and is in proper form.
(2) It is signed by the department issuing it.
(3) It bears the stamp of the issuing office.
(4)

There are no erasures, and alterations, if any, have been attested by the issuing officer.
(5)

The certificate at the foot of the Credit Note has been completed and signed by the station staff.
(6) Full particulars of the transaction, in payment of which it is rendered, are quoted. 
(7)

When a single Credit Note is issued for a number of transactions payable at one time and place, full particulars of all such transactions are recorded in the Credit Note.
(8)

In the case of Credit Notes of the Posts and Telegraphs Department (Appendix XXIV/D-CM) the column headed "class" has been correctly filled in to admit of the correct levy of freight charges. 

Note .—The above procfdure does not apply to Firm's Credit Noles which arc sent by the Cash Office to the Reserve Bank direct for collection from the Bankers of the Firms concerned and are not, therefore, received and subjected to check in the Accounts Office. 

             2905. The check of charges shown in Warrants and Credit Notes relating to Coaching Traffic mainly consists in bringing them to accord with the checked amount of the connected tickets or Way-Bills except that: —

(i) in the case of Blank Paper Tickets/Excess Fare Tickets where the connected tickets may not have come in the prescribed check, the Warrants/Credit Notes should be checked completely, and
(ii) the check of freight charges on Credit Notes relating to Parcels traffic involving freight value below Rs. 30 in each case should be conducted to the extent of 10 per cent subject to the same conditions as in vogue in the check of Parcels Way-Bills falling under this monetary limit.
(iii) In the case of police warrants/Jail Vouchers, the under mentioned checks shoulds be conducted :—
  (a) Complete check of fare with reference to the particulars shown on the Police Warrants/Jail Vouchers viz.. Station From, Station to, class etc.
  (b) 10% linking with entries of the connected Printed tickets in the return but in cases where under/overcharges are noticed the linking should be cent percent.
  (c) Cent percent linking with entries of tickets in the return where other than printed tickets are issued. 

            In the case of Goods traffic, the Credit Notes for both 'Paid' and To-Pay' traffic should be checked as per the data available thereon. In case complete information is not available on 'To-Pay' Credit Notes, the relevant invoice foils may be obtained from the destination station to complete the check. In the case of 'Paid' traffic, the Accounts foils of the Invoices received from the forwarding station should be referred to for the purpose. The checked Credit Notes should be subsequently linked with the Machine Abstracts and Incorrect Statements in the case of Inwards 'To-Pay' traffic and with the Paid Statement and Incorrect Statements in the case of Outwards 'Paid' traffic. The check of rates on Goods Credit Notes involving freight value below Rs. 50 may be exercised to the extent of ten per cent except that in the case of Credit Notes involving Worked Lines, Out/City Booking Agencies etc., the rate should be checked in all cases irrespective of any monetary limit.

             2906. Carriage Bills for Credit Notes and Warrants.—After the Credit Notes and Warrants have been subjected to internal check in the Accounts Office, these should be entered in Carriage Bills (A-2907 or A-2908).

             2907. All Carriage Bills except those against the Controller of Defence Accounts should be prepared in Form A-2907.

Form A-2907

CARRIAGE BILLS

Bill No, ...................                                                                                     ................ ..Dr.

To                              

   The............ .................. Railway

For carriage charges as under during the month of.......... 20 

S. No. Credit Note or Warrant Station Details Weight Checked Amount Remarks
No. Date From To Qts Kgs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 2908. Carriage Bills against the Controller of Defence Accounts should be prepared in Form A 2908

From-2908

CARRIAGE BILLS
(Defence Accounts)

Bill No, ...................                                                                                     ................ ..Dr.

To                                  

The............ .................. Railway

For carriage charges as under during the month of.......…..20

S. No. Railway Warrant or Credit Note Station Checked Amount

Code number of Unit and Classification head etc. (For use in the Defence Accounts  Department only) 

Department only)

 Remarks
No. Date From To
1 2 3 4 5 6
               

 

 

             2909. The Carriage Bills should be prepared separately for each Government Department, firm or person against whom a claim lies, and should show the total freight due on each voucher, the vouchers themselves being securely attached to the bill. Thus the total of each bill will represent the freight due on the vouchers attached to it.                                     

             2910. Register of Credit Notes kept pending. —Credit Notes should, as far as possible be included in Carriage Bills for the month to which they pertain. However, those, which cannot be billed for, on account of some reason or other, should be entered in a Register (Form AC (T) V-1) of Pending Credit Notes maintained for the purpose, and care should be taken to see that they are included in the subsequent bill against the department concerned.

             2911. Commission charges on Warrants and Credit Notes.—Commission charges are pavable to the railways by Government Departments for the use of Warrants and Credit Notes in payment of railway fare and freight.

             2912. The commission charges should be levied at the rate of Rs. 220 per hundred Credit Notes and Warrants relating to the State Governments, Union Territories and Civil Departments of the Government of India. In the case of the Defence Department of the Government of India also, the commission charges should be levied at the rate of Rs. 220 per hundred Credit Notes and Warrants except that in respect of Military Warrants for individuals (Form I.A.F.T 1752 ) for journey in II class for which debits are raised against Defence Department at flat rate, the Com­mission charges should be levied at the rate of  Rs. 110 per hundred Warrants i.e. 50 per cent of the normal rate of Commission charges.

             2913. The amount of commission charges recoverable from the Departments concerned ,on account of the use of Warrants and Credit Notes, should be included as a separate item in the same Bill in which charges in respect of the Warrants and Credit Notes issued by them are included. 

             2914. Requisition forms used for reserving railway accommodation for High Officials of Government are not included in the term "Warrants and Credit Notes" for the purpose of levy of commission charges and consequently no commission charges should be recovered in their case.

             2915. Railway Orders issued by the Military Secretary to the President for railway accommodation for the transport of the suites of the President should be treated in the same way as Requisition of High Officials and no commission charges should be recovered in their case either.

             2916. Commission charges should not be levied on Emergent Police Passes and on vouchers tendered by the Posts and Telegraphs Department for occasional despatches for the conveyance of mails.

             2917. Commission charges in respect of weather telegrams of the Indian Meteorological Department despatched without prepayment of charges from the Licensed Railway Telegraph Offices should be recovered at the rate prescribed in Rule 149 of the Telegraph Manual, Volume I and not at the rate laid down in Paragraph 2912.  

             2918. Miscellaneous Bills. —These bills comprise such items as hire of engines and wagons other than that due by other railways on stock interchanged, interest on the capital cost of Postal vehicles, charges for the conveyance of mails as a regular daily service, haulage of Postal vehicles, demurrage and wharfage charges due from Departments of the railway.

             2919. Bills for the conveyance of Postal mails as a regular daily service and for the haulage of Postal vehicles should be prepared on the authority of Statements (Paragraphs 1608-T and 1616-T) furnished half-yearly by the Divisional Superintendents. In all other cases, bills should be prepared on such information, to be supplied by departmental or other officers, as may be necessary to work out the charges in accordance with the rules and orders in force.

             2920. Adjustment of petty sums between railways. —The detailed instructions for inter-railway adjustments are contained in paragraphs 867 to 870 F. These do not, however, apply to the following classes of transactions which should be adjusted regardless of the amount involved.

(i) Debits against joint station staff.
(ii) Through traffic transactions (except as provided in Paragraph 2921).
(iii) Clearance of charges of hire on goods vehicles.

             2921. Inter-railway adjustments in respect of the undernoted categories of Through traffic transactions should not be carried out as between the Indian Railways: —

(a) Public claims refunds.
(b) Overcharges Sheets relating to clearance of station outstandings.
(c) Items twice accounted for.
(d) Debits raised and subsequently withdrawn etc.
(e)

Readjustment of items wrongly accounted for with a railway when (on the accountal being proposed with the correct railway) the amount involved falls below Rs. 50 in each case.
(f)

'Overcharges' or 'Undercharges' coming to notice, after freight relating to Invoices/ P.W. Bills has been apportioned provisionally.

             2922. Numbering of Carriages. Bills. —Bills should, before issue, be serially numbered with reference to their entry in the Accounts Office Balance Sheet (A-2923), suitable code letters being prefixed to the number to distinguish one class of bills from the other. These should then be submitted to the firm, person or department concerned.  

             2923. Accounts Office Balance Sheet.—For the purpose of taking the Carriage Bills into account and of watching their realization from the firms or departments concerned, as also for incorporat­ing in accounts the traffic cash received otherwise than through the Station Balance Sheets (e.g., workshop profit, advertisement fees, sale of grass, fares of coupons sold by Tourist Agents, fares represented by Suburban Tickets sold in Headquarters Offices, etc. etc.), a Balance Sheet (corresponding to the Bills Receivable Account in Commercial Book-keeping) should be maintained in Form A. 2923. 

Form A. 2923

Accounts Office Balance Sheet For.......................... 20.

Particulars Debits Credits
  Comm- ssion charges Freight Of Fare Total Cash Trans- fer Cash Trans- fer Cash

Tran- Fer
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  Rs.    P Rs.   P Rs.   P Rs.   P Rs.   P Rs.   P Rs.   P Rs.   P Rs.   P
 

 

 

 

                  

               2924. Separate Accounts Office Balance Sheets should be maintained for Coaching and Goods transactions.

             2925. Debit entries in the Accounts Office Balance Sheet.—The debit entries in Accounts-Office Balance Sheet comprise—

(1) Opening Balance;
(2) (2) Amount of Carriage Bills issued in connection with Station vouchers—
  (a) for the current month plus,
  (b) kept pending in the previous months (Part A).
(3) Amount of pending vouchers—
  (a) for the current month less,
  (b) amount of pending vouchers (station figures) for previous months billed for in the current month.
(4) Amount of Miscellaneous Bills (Part B); and
(5) Direct traffic receipts under—
  (a) Coaching;
  (b) Goods; and
  (c) Sundry other earnings.

             2926. Credit entries in the Accounts Office Balance Sheet.—The credit entries in the Accoanfs Office Balance Sheet comprise—

(1) Cash (i.e., direct cash receipts and payments on Traffic Account);
(2) Transfers Railways and adjustments through the Reserve Bank;
(3)

Book Transfers (Transfer credits afforded through Journal Entries of Transfers between Traffic and General Books); and
(4)

Balance Sheet Transfers (Transfer credits from station Balance Sheet in connection with the bills paid through the latter).

             2927. The closing balance of the Accounts Office Balance Sheet consists of the unrealized amount of Carriage Bills and the amount of vouchers kept pending.

             2928. Posting of the Accounts Office Balance Sheet—It is necessary, in the case of vouchers, to defer the posting of the accounts Office Balance Sheet, till Carriage Bills have been made out against the persons, firms or departments concerned, so that only the total of each bill need be catered in the Accounts Office Balance Sheet and the number of postings is reduced to a minimum. All bills pending realization or adjustment should be posted in the debit column of the Accounts Office Balance Sheet, the amount of fare (or freight) and commission, if any, being posted separately under the sub-columns provided for the purposes. The latter should be credited to Sundry Other Earnings on the debit side of the Balance Sheet. 

             2929. From the point of view of realization, the bills fall under three distinct categories, namely

(1) Bills payable in cash,
(2) Those adjustable through "Transfers Railways" and through the Reserve   Bank, and
(3) Those adjustable in the books of the home railway.

             2930. It will be found convenient to write up the Accounts Office Balance Sheet separately for each class of bills.—For this purpose, each Accounts Office Balance Sheet should be kept in two parts A and B (Paragraph 2925) and separate pages allotted for the record of the three categories of bills mentioned in the previous paragraph. The total of each category should be brought to­gether at the end of each part and that of each part in the Summary mentioned in Paragraph 2933. In the form of the Accounts Office Balance Sheet (A. 2923) provision is made for the adjustment of transactions for three months. In totalling each part, therefore, a separate total should be made of the unadjusted items brought forward from the previous quarter.

             2931. Debits to be cleared by cash recovery will be so cleared on receipt of cash for which the necessary advice will be sent by the Cashier. Those which are adjustable by book entry will be so adjusted on receipt of the transfer acceptances of Other Railways or Government Departments by means of Journal Entries of Transfers between General and Traffic Books, the latter in the case of items adjustable in the books of the home railway. The transfer acceptances will be communicated by the Booking Section. All such credits should be posted in the credit column of the Accounts Office Balance Sheet against the connected debit entries and the month's outstanding reduced accordingly.

             2932. Miscellaneous Earnings Register. —Direct traffic cash receipts or similar other items of earnings not previously brought to account should be recorded in Miscellaneous Earnings Register Form A. 2932) and credited to the appropriate head of earnings.

Form A 2932

Register of Earnings arising in Accounts Office during the Month of...............20

Brief Particulars Bill No. and Date Amount Heads of Account creditable
    Bill recoverable in T.A. entered in Accounts office Balance Sheet Cash Credits General Accounts Transfers Traffic Accounts Transfers Total    
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Rs. P. Rs. P. Rs. P. Rs. P. Rs. P. Rs. P. Rs. P.
 

 

 

             2933. After the postings in the Accounts Office Balance Sheet have been completed, a Summary of both the parts (A and B) should be prepared in Form A. 2933. Separate summaries should be prepared for Coaching and Goods Accounts Office Balance Sheets. 

Form A-2933

Summary of Coaching/Goods Accounts Office Balance Sheet for the Month of......... 20 

Bills Adjusta-ble by / in Balance B.F.

Debits

 Credits
        Total Debit Treasury Tranfers Cash

General Accounts

Transfers

 Account Office Balance Sheet Trans­fers Total Credits Balance
                     

 

 

             2934. The totals arrived at in the Summary mentioned in the previous paragraph should be transcribed to the Traffic Book, Part C ( A. 3225 ).                         

             2935. Claims for under and overcharges in items included in Carriage Bills—The time limits for claims by firms or departments against the railway for overcharges and by the railway against firms or departments for undercharges on items included in a Carriage Bill which has already been rendered are governed by Paragraphs 352 and 353 of the Indian Railway Code for the Traffic Department. If any such claim is made by a firm or department in time, it should be investigated and, if admitted, the mistake should be rectified through an  'Adjustment' Bill to be prepared and rendered to the firm or department concerned. Ail such 'Adjustment' Bills should be classed as Miscellaneous Bills (Paragraph 2918 ) and entered in Part 'B' of the Accounts Office Balance Sheet irrespective of the 'class' of the original bill. 

             2936. Outstanding Bills.—The outstandings in the Accounts Office Balance Sheet should be reviewed monthly and suitable action taken for the realisation of old outstandings. Those more than twelve months old should be specially watched.

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