WITHDRAWAL FROM GPF --SOME CLARIFICATION

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA’S DECISIONS UNDER RULE 12





(THE ALL INDIA SERVICES (PROVIDENT FUND) RULES, 1955)



1. Withdrawal for purchase a site may be allowed subject to the condition that construction of house should commence within six months and completed within a year of commencement of construction: – A question arose whether withdrawal could be permitted purely for the purchase of a site. The Government of India have decided that it could be, provided that the conditions in the other rules, especially the one in rule 15, that construction of the house should commence within six months of the



withdrawal of money and should be completed within a year from the date of



commencement of constructions, are satisfied.



[G.I. M.H.A. U.O. No. 263/557—AIS(III), dated 29th January, 1957.]







2. Withdrawal for pilgrimage to Haj not allowed: – A member of the Service wanted to withdraw money from the fund for meeting expenses in connection with his pilgrimage to Haj. As pilgrimage to Haj is not obligatory, the withdrawal was not sanctioned.



[G.I., M.H.A. letter No. 8/5/57—AIS (II), dated 7th March, 1957.]







3. Withdrawal applied for after the marriage is over should not be entertained: – A question was raised whether final withdrawal could be permitted for meeting the expenditure on a marriage, which had already taken place.







Marriage is a foreseeable event and ordinarily it should not be difficult for the member concerned to make up his mind beforehand whether he would be able to meet the entire expenditure thereon from his private resources or whether he would have to resort to a final withdrawal from his provident fund account for this purpose, and, if the latter, to apply for the final withdrawal sufficiently in advance of the date of marriage. Where,



however, an officer applies for the withdrawal well before the date of marriage, but the application is sanctioned after the aforesaid date or, if sanctioned before that date, the case is received in audit office for the issue of authority for payment after that date, there will be no objection to the payment of the amount being made after the date of marriage. The certificate in terms of sub-rule (4) should be furnished in such cases to the



sanctioning authority within a month of the actual drawal of the amount for the fund. Cases in which withdrawal is applied for after the marriage is over should not ordinarily be entertained.



[G.I. M.H.A. letter No. 8/41/57—AIS(II), dated 20-11-1957.]







4. Previous services rendered by the moS before inducting to AIS shall be



counted in computing minimum service for advance/withdrawal: – A question has been raised whether the previous service rendered under the State or Central Government by a subscriber to the All India Service Provident Fund, prior to his becoming a member of an All India Service, shall count for the purpose of computing the minimum service prescribed under sub-rule(1), (1A) and (2) of the All India Services (Provident Fund) Rules, 1955. It is clarified, having regard to the provisions of rule 3 of



the All India Services (PF) Rule, 1955, according to which the credit in and liabilities to any provident Fund (only the subscriber’s contribution and interest thereon in respect of a Contributory Provident Fund) to which a member of the All India Service was subscribing Prior to his joining the All India Service, shall be transferred to the All India Service Provident Fund, that the previous service rendered under the State or Central



Government by a member of the Service during which such member was subscribing to any Contributory or Non—Contributory Provident Fund, shall be counted in computing the minimum service prescribed under sub-rule (1), (1A) and (2) of Rule 12 of the All India Services (PF) rules, 1955.



[G.I., D.P. & A.R. letter No. 11026/32/82—AIS(III), dated 23-4-1983.]



5. There is no objection to allowing part final withdrawal from the Provident Fund for the same child in instalments once in 6 months instead of there being a single withdrawal till the relevant rules are amended: – I am directed to say that in terms of clause (a) of sub-rule (1—A) of rule 12 and Note 5 below rule 12 of the All India Services (Provident Fund) Rules, 1955 for the purpose of higher education of a child, only one withdrawal shall be allowed but education of different children on different occasions shall not be treated as the same purpose. However, sub-rule (2) of rule 14 of the said



Rules provides that withdrawal, by a subscriber under clause (a) of sub-rule (1A) of rule 12, from the amount standing to his credit in the fund, shall be permitted once in every six months.







The provisions of Rule 12 and Rule 14 referred to above appear to be contradicting each other. The intention of the Government of India is that as higher education is spread over a period of 3 to 5 years and fees and other expenses are payable in instalments the amount of the withdrawal sanctioned under Clause (a) of sub-rule 1(A) of Rule 12 for meeting the cost of higher education of a child may be drawn in instalments once in every 6 months. It is proposed to make this intention clear through suitable



amendments in the AIS (PF) Rules, 1955. Till such time this is done, there is no objection to allowing part final withdrawal from the Provident Fund for the same child in instalments once in 6 months instead of there being a single withdrawal.



[G.I., DP & AR letter No. 11026/12/79—AIS(III) dated 8.10.80]



6. Previous services rendered by the moS before inducting to AIS shall be



counted for computing minimum service for advance/withdrawal: – I am directed to say that under sub-rule (1) of Rule 12 of the All India Services (PF) Rules, 1955, a subscriber to the All India Service Provident Fund, after 15 years of service (including broken period of service, if any) is eligible to seek final withdrawal from the amount standing to his credit in the fund for acquiring a house/house sit in accordance with the provisions of the rules; and under sub-rule (1A) of Rule 12, a subscriber on completion



of 20 years of service (including broken period of service, if any), is eligible to seek final withdrawal for one or more of the purpose mentioned therein. Under sub-rule (2) of Rule 12, a withdrawal for purchasing a motor car can be sought by a subscriber on completing 25 years of service, including broken periods of service.







A question has been raised whether the previous service rendered under the State or Central Government by a subscriber to the All India Services Provident Fund, prior to his becoming a member of a All India Service, shall count for the purpose of computing the minimum service, shall count for the purpose of computing the minimum service prescribed under sub-rule (1), (1A) and (2) of Rule 12 of the All India Services (Provident Fund) Rules, 1955. It is clarified, having regard to the provision of Rule 3 of the All India



Services (PF) Rules, 1955, according to which the credit in and liabilities to any Provident Fund (only the subscriber’s contribution and interest thereon in respect of a Contributory Provident Fund) to which a member of the All India Service was subscribing prior to his joining the All India Service shall be transferred to the All India Service Provident Fund, that the previous service rendered under the State or Central Government by a member of the Service during which such member of the Service during which such member was subscribing to any Contributory or Non-Contributory



Provident Fund, shall be counted in computing the minimum service prescribed under sub-rule (1), (1A) and (2) of Rule 12 of the All India Services (PF) Rules, 1955.



[Copy of G.I., MHA, DT & AR letter No. 11026/32/82—AIS—III date 23.4.83]



7. Procedure to be followed for granting advance/withdrawal of AIS officers during their service with the Central Government: – It has been decided in consultation with the Ministry of Finance that the following procedure may be followed for granting advances/final withdrawals to officers of the All India Services, including members of a former Secretary of States Service, under the various Provident Fund Rules, during the period of their service in connection with the affairs of the Central Government.







b)All cases of advances/final withdrawals which are fully covered by the existing rules may be sanctioned by the administrative Ministries themselves. The Ministries of the Government of India shall exercise all the power of the “sanctioning authority” in all such cases.







c)[Deleted vide G.I. MHA letter No. 11026/12/84—AIS—III dated 4.10.1985]







d)All cases of advances/final withdrawals which involve relaxation of the rules should be sanctioned by the administrative Ministries after obtaining the concurrence of both the Department of Personnel and A.R and the Ministry of Finance (Establishment Division)







e)Before an officer’s request for advance/final withdrawal is referred to the Ministry of Finance or both to the Department of Personnel and A.R. and Ministry of Finance, the administrative ministries are requested to examine the cases carefully and specify the special reasons or grounds why the rule(s) should be relaxed in favour of the officer.



[G.I., M.H.A. O.M. No. F.5/13/64—AIS(II), dated 20-5-1964.]







10. Advance from the Fund.—







(1) The Government (or an officer not below the rank of the subscriber and specified in this behalf by the Government) may sanction the payment to a subscriber of a temporary advance from the amount standing to his credit in the Fund, subject to the following conditions:—



10(1)(a) No advance shall be granted unless the sanctioning authority is satisfied that subscriber’s pecuniary circumstances justify it and that it will be expended on any of the following objects namely:—







(i) to pay expenses incurred in connection with the serious or prolonged illness of the subscriber or any person actually dependent on him;







(ii) to pay for the overseas passage for reasons of health or education of the subscriber or any person actually dependent on him and also to meet the cost of education of the subscriber or of any person actually dependent on him outside India, whether for an academic, technical, professional or vocational course; or in India for medical, engineering or other technical or specialised courses beyond the high school stage, provided that the course of study is not less than 3 years;







(iii) to pay obligatory expenses on a scale appropriate to the subscriber’s status which by customary usage the subscriber has to incur in connection with marriages, funerals or other ceremonies;







(iv) to meet the cost of legal proceedings instituted by or against the subscriber, any member of his family or any person actually dependent upon him, the advance in this case being available in addition to any advance admissible for the same purpose from any other Government source;







(v) to meet the cost of subscriber’s defence where he engages a legal practitioner to defend himself in an inquiry in respect of any alleged official misconduct on his part.











(vi) to meet the cost of plot or construction of a house or flat for his residence or to make any payment towards the allotment of plot or flat by any Urban Development Authority or a State Housing Board or a House Building Co-operative Society;







(vii) to purchase consumer durables such as television, video cassette recorder, video cassette player, washing machine, cooking range, geysers, computers.







Provided that in special circumstances, the Government at its discretion or where the sanctioning authority is other than the Government, such authority with previous approval of the Government, may sanction an advance if it is satisfied that the subscriber concerned requires the advance for reasons other than those mentioned above:







Provided that the advance under sub-clause (iv) or sub-clause (v) shall not be admissible to a subscriber who institutes legal proceedings in any court either in respect of any matter unconnected with his official duty or against Government in respect of any condition of service or penalty imposed on him.



10(1)(b) The sanctioning authority shall record in writing its reasons for granting the advance.



10(1)(c) An advance shall not, except for special reasons—







(i) exceed three month’s pay or half the amount standing at the credit of the subscriber in the Fund, whichever is less, or







(ii) unless the amount already advanced does not exceed two—thirds of the amount admissible under sub-clause (I) above, be granted until at least a period of twelve months has lapsed after the final repayment of all previous advances







Provided that if any such reason is of a confidential nature it may be communicated to the Account Officer personally or confidentially;







Provided further that where the sanctioning authority is other than the Government no such advance shall be sanctioned except with the previous approval of the Government.



10(2) In fixing the amount of an advance, the sanctioning authority shall pay due regard to the amount standing at the credit of the subscriber in the



Fund.







10(3) When an advance is sanctioned under clause (c) of sub-rule (1) before repayment of the last instalment of any previous advance is completed, the balance of any previous advance not recovered shall be added to the advance so sanctioned and instalments for recovery shall be fixed with reference to the consolidated amount.







(4) After sanctioning the advance, the amount shall be drawn on an



authorisation from the Accounts Officer in cases where the application for final payment had been forwarded to the Accounts Officer under clause (ii) of sub-rule (3) of rule 31



SOURCE;;CGSN