3301. The preceding chapters deal with the check and accounting of returns which are submitted by the stations to the Accounts Office. The check of initial records of accounts maintained at stations, which do not come under the scrutiny of the Accounts Office, is carried out by the Travelling Inspectors of Station Accounts who are also responsible to check that the returns submitted by stations to the Accounts Office have been correctly prepared and agree with the initial records maintained at the stations.  

             3302. Programme of Inspections. — Every station must be inspected at such intervals as may be fixed by the Accounts Officer, the interval not to exceed, ordinarily, four months in the case of large stations and six months in the case of small stations.  

             3303. Each Office of the Tourist Agent should be inspected at least once a month by the Accounts Inspector or Commercial Inspector to ensure that the Tourist Agent correctly accounts for all the tickets sold and cash collected and does not, at any time, fall behind schedule either in making remittances or submitting accounts to the railway.   Where railways consider two inspections every month are required, one should be by a Commercial Inspector and the other by an Accounts Inspector.  These Inspections should be conducted thoroughly in order to detect any irregularity. A similar procedure should be introduced in the case of City Booking Agents and Out-Agents to ensure that the returns and remittances etc. are received in time and regularly.

             3304. The Inspectors are required to keep their programmes confidential and the date on which it is proposed to visit a station should not be made known to the Station Master concerned.

             3305. Intensive check over collection of Tickets.—Intensive check over collection of tickets should be conducted periodically at stations.   For this purpose, the collection of tickets of all passengers arriving at or entraining at the stations during 24 hours should be supervised by Ins­pectors of Station Accounts of the Reserve Force as nominated by the Accounts Officer and staff of the Commercial Department. These intensive checks should, also, be carried out by the Travelling Inspectors of station Accounts holding regular beats during their journeys to and from station with the assistance of station and Ticket Checking staff.

             3306. Facilities for investigations. —The Station Masters are required to allow the inspecting staff of the Accounts Department free access to all correspondence, books and other records at stations and to afford them every possible facility in their investigations. All books, documents and vouchers, as well as all tickets in Stock, outstanding parcels and goods, cash in hand, etc. which may be asked for by the inspecting staff, should be promptly produced for their inspection.  

             3307. Inspection of Initial Records. —The Inspectors should pay particular attention to the manner in which the initial records are maintained at stations.   They should see that there are no erasures, overwritten figures or uninitialled corrections in the station books and documents and that otherwise they have been maintained up-to-date, efficiently and in a way that they can be relied upon, if necessary, as evidence in a court of law.

             3308. Duty of Inspectors to instruct station staff. —The Inspectors should, at all times, be prepared to give readily, when an application is made to them by the station staff, instructions for the preparation of returns for the Accounts Office and as to the manner in which the books and accounts are to be kept at stations.  Should any portion of such instructions be not understood by the station staff, the Inspectors should take the opportunity afforded by their visits to stations, to clarify them and instruct the staff how to maintain their accounts and records.

             3309. Initial Records not be removed outside station premises. —The work of checking the initial records and documents must be done at the stations concerned and no documents belonging to the station should be removed outside the station premises, except under special instructions from the Accounts Officer or under very exceptional circumstances such as frauds.

             3310. Duties of Inspectors in cases of frauds. —When a fraud is suspected at a station, it is incumbent on the Inspector immediately to report the matter to the Accounts Officer by name, and to continue the investigation of the case with caution and calmness, avoiding excitement and any tendency to exaggerate facts or jump at conclusions. In such a case, he should, on no account, leave the station or take upon himself the safe custody of the books or cash connected with fraud, without the permission of the Accounts Officer.  He should, however, see that proper measures are taken to prevent access by the suspected party to the connected books, cash etc.  The general instructions laid down in Chapter XI of the Indian Railway Financial Code should be borne in mind in dealing with cases of losses, frauds and embezzlements.  

             3311. Main items to be checked by Inspectors. — The detailed instructions for the check of various records of accounts at stations will be prescribed by the Financial Adviser and Chief Accounts Officer.  The following are some of the main items which the Inspectors should look into :—

(1)	Verification of cash immediately on arrival at a station and the arrangement for its safe custody.
(2)	Arrangement of the tickets in the tubes and check of fares and closing numbers of tickets with those shown on the tube and in the summary of Daily Trains Cash-cum-summary Book, respectively.
(3)	Check of the Blank Season Tickets register.
(4)	Check of Paper tickets, including Blank Paper Tickets.
(5)	Check of Daily Trains Cash-cum-summary Book and Cash Remittance Notes.
(6)	Check of Guard's signature book for cash bags.
(7)	Check of outstanding parcels and goods with the delivery books. Tally books, Vehicle register, Register of unconnected consignments and Gate Pass books.
(8)	Check of Parcels and Goods Cash Books.
(9)	Recovery of wharfage and demurrage charges.
(10)	Accountal of Error Sheets.
(11)	System of re-weighment of inwards parcels and goods and the accuracy of weighing machines and weighbridges.
(12)	Obtaining of proper forwarding Notes.
(13)	Check of List of Outstandings.
(14)	Regularity in the preparation of Test Balance Sheets.
(15)	Handling bills.
(16)	Unaccounted for invoices and way-bills.
(17)	Excess fare books.
(18)	Witnessing of collection of tickets and check of collected tickets.
(19)
	(a)	Cent percent inventory of all wagon load consignments at goods sheds should be taken to check whether all consignments on hand are represented by undelivered items as per register.
	(b)	Delivery book should be checked with cash book to ensure completeness of accountal of freight collected.
	(c)	Money receipts should be checked against cash book for 20 days – 8 days broken period & 12 selected dates
(20)	(a)	At sidings wagaon exchange book and placement mema should be checked with unloading book and delivery book in addition to items at 19(a) (b) (c) above.
	(b)	These item should be connected with siding statement. Check should cover one full month transaction and other selected date.

             3312. The Travelling Inspectors of Station Accounts should prepare Test Balance Sheet in respect of both coaching and goods traffic and submit them to the Accounts Officer along with their inspection reports.

             3313. Reserve Force of Inspectors of Station Accounts. —In order to introduce an element of surprise in station inspections and carry out special investigations of frauds etc., a Reserve Force of experienced Inspectors of Station Accounts should be formed.  The main duties and respon­sibilities of the Reserve Force of Inspectors should be as follows: —  

(a)	Surprise Station inspections.
(b)	Special investigations of frauds and assistance to the Prosecution in conducting such cases in courts.
(c)	Collaboration with other departments at Departmental Joint Enquiries.
(d)	Assisting the permanent District Inspectors in the ascertainment by actual verification of goods and parcels on hand with the purpose of proving the correctness of accounts specially at important and big stations.
(e)	Collaboration with the Commercial Department in undertaking special surprise checks with the object of bringing to light irregularities in connection with tickets etc. and suggesting remedial measures.
(f)	Relief works as and when necessity arises.

             3314. Test-check of Inspectors Work.—The work of the Travelling Inspectors of Station Accounts should be regularly test-checked by the Accounts Officer.   The test-check should be so regulated that the work of every Inspector comes under scrutiny once a year and the accounts of all important stations are test-checked within a period to be prescribed by the Financial Adviser and Chief Accounts Officer. The Accounts Officer should also carry out original check of some of the initial records kept at station.

Top