GPF - General Provident Fund

Introduction

The Principal Accountant General (A & E) maintains the individual GPF accounts of nearly 4.8 lakh employees of the Karnataka State Government.  The Funds group is headed by an IA & AS Officer in the rank of  Deputy Accountant General.
Provident Fund Accounts relating to the following funds are maintained by Pr. A.G. (A&E), Karnataka, Bangalore.

1. Karnataka General Provident Fund governed by “The Karnataka State General Provident Fund Rules Of 1957”.

2. All State Provident Funds governed by the AISPF Rules.

3.       Provident Fund accounts of High Court Judges (Direct Recruits) governed by the Central Provident Fund Rules.

4.       Non-detailed broadsheets in respect of Aided School Provident Funds and Contributory Provident Fund. The detailed General Provident Fund accounts of Aided School Provident Fund and Contributory Provident Fund are maintained by the respective District Officers.

Constitution of the Fund
The Fund shall be maintained in Indian Rupees.

Duties of its officers:

Rules by which Governed

Karnataka General Provident Fund is constituted under the provisions of THE PROVIDENT FUND ACT 1925 and the rules framed thereunder by the State Government viz.,

1. The Karnataka State General Provident Fund Governed by THE KARNATAKA GENERAL PROVIDENT FUND RULES 1957.
2. The All India Services Provident Fund governed by THE ALL INDIA SERVICES PROVIDENT FUND RULES.
3. Provident Fund accounts of High Court Judges (Direct Recruits) governed by THE CENTRAL PROVIDENT FUND RULES.

          The detailed procedure to be followed in maintaining the accounts of the subscribers are contained in the following manuals-

1. The Provident Fund Manual and
2. The Manual of Standing Orders (Accounts and Entitlement)Vol I.

Timeframe for discharge of functions

Categories of Documents under control of the PF Group:
 

1. Documents held by the Department (received from the State Govt/ Other Agencies)

1. Credit Schedules / Challans & Debit Vouchers with Covering Lists.(List of payments / Receipts)
2. Sanctions of temporary advances and Partial Final Withdrawals.
3. Final Withdrawal applications (Form 6(a)(b)(c) received through the deptt)
4. Alteration memos received from treasuries to rectify misclassification of accounts.
5. Orders / circulars / notifications issued by the Government of Karnataka.
6. Applications for admission to GPF by individual subscribers forwarded through the Department.
7. Impounded fraudulent debit vouchers.
8. Details of missing credits received from individual subscribers through the departmental officer.
9. Nominations of individual subscribers with reference to admission made prior to June 2002 (document of personal nature).

2. Documents maintained by the Deptt as required in the GPF Manual (for maintenance of accounts)

(a) Maintained in the Computer System:

1. Ledger Cards(Document of  personal nature).
2. Broadsheets (deptt wise /Consolidated to check the correctness of the postings).
3. General Index Register – (Alphabetical and Numerical).
4. Register of PFW sanctions received.
5. Register of Missing Credits / Debits.
6. Register of Unposted Credits / Debits.
7. Register of Minus balances/small balances/dormant accounts.

(b) Maintained manually in the Entt Sections

1.    Register of FW applications received.(incl. Complete, incomplete and defective applications

2.    Register of RB Cases

3.    Register of Final Withdrawal applications called for.

4.    Register of Closed accounts (to watch disbursements).

5.    Register of Complaints.

6.    Register of treasury irregularities

7.    Explanation sheet(A/cs agreement).

Register for watching the receipt of wanting schedules / vouchers

Conditions of Eligibility 

Subscription to the Fund is compulsory for Government servants except Group “D” employees in pensionable service.
Every temporary Government servant from the date of completing two years of continuous service.
(Rules 5 (1) to (4) w.e.f  June 2002).

Nominations

Every subscriber has to nominate, one or more members of the family and specify the share payable to each nominee if he/she nominates more than one person, in the prescribed form.

·         Definition of Family :  Family means wife or wives (for a male subscriber) or husband (for a female subscriber), children, widow or widows and children ofìted in the Service Registers (SRs) along  with the nomination of Family Pension, DCRG etc., and retained with the respective Departmental officers.    (FD 48 Mubani 2001 dated 27.8.2003). While finalizing  death cases of new Subscribers the departmental officers have to forward the respective nominations along with Form 6 ( c).

Subscription

Conditions of Subscription :
A Subscriber shall subscribe monthly to the fund except during a period of suspension.
Provided that subscriber, may at his option, not subscribe during leave which either does not carry any leave salary or carries leave salary equal to or less than half pay or half average pay.

Provided further that a subscriber on reinstatement after a period passed under suspension shall be allowed the option of paying in one sum, or in instalments, any sum not exceeding the maximum amount of arrears subscription permissible for the period.

The subscriber shall intimate his intention not to subscribe during the leave in the following manner :

(a)      If he is an officer who draws his own bill, by making no deduction on account of subscription in  his first bill drawn after proceeding on leave.

(b)      If he is not an Officer who draws his own pay bills, by written communication to the Head of his Office before he proceeds on leave.

Failure to make due and timely intimation shall be deemed to constitute that the subscriber elects to subscribe.

The option intimated by the subscriber shall be final.   (Rule 10 (1,2))

A Government servant due to retire on superannuation shall be exempted from making any subscription to the GPF during last six months of his service.  The discontinuance of subscription would be compulsory and not optional.

RATES OF SUBSCRIPTION :
Minimum rate of monthly subscriptions payable by the subscriber shall be equal to four per cent of the average pay of the time scale of pay of the post held by him (Rule 11 (1)). Maximum rate of subscription will be the maximum basic pay.

Interest to be accrued as per the rate decided by the Government from time to time. The present rate of interest for the year 2003-04 is 8%.

Advances

A temporary advance may be granted to a subscriber from the amount standing to his credit in the Fund, at the discretion of the appropriate authority subject  to the conditions as detailed in Rule 15 of the KGPF Rules. No advance shall be granted unless the sanctioning authority is satisfied that the applicants pecuniary circumstances justify it and it will be expended on the following object or objects and not otherwise.
To pay expenses in connection with the prolonged illness of the applicant or any person dependent on him. To pay for the overseas passage for reasons of health or education of the applicant or any person actually dependent on him.
To pay obligatory expenses on a scale appropriate to the applicant’s status which, by customary usage, the applicant has to incur in connection with marriages, funeral, first annual shraadda ceremonies or other ceremonies of persons actually dependent on him.

Provided that the conditions of actual dependence shall not apply in the case of son or daughter of the subscriber.
To pay for education outside India whether for an academic, Technical, Profession or vocational course of the applicant or any person actually dependent on him.

To pay Medical, engineering and other technical or specialized course in India beyond the High School Stage of the applicant or any person actually dependent on him provided that the course of study is not less than 3 years.

Provided that the Government may at its discretion in special circumstances, sanction an advance if it is satisfied that the subscriber concerned required that the advance for reasons other than those mentioned above.
Advance shall not except for special reasons:
Exceed six months pay subject to a maximum of eighty per cent of the balance at the credit of the subscriber in the fund whichever is less or
Unless the amount already advanced does not exceed eighty per cent of the amount admissible under  (i) above,  be granted at least twelve months after the final repayment of all previous advances.
A subscriber shall be permitted to take an advance once in every six months under sub-clause (IV) and (V).                                                        (RULE 15)
The advance to be sanctioned for ordinary reasons, shall be restricted to two.  In the case of a second advance, the amount of such advance together with the balance of the previous advance, shall not exceed half the amount at the credit of the subscriber.

RECOVERY OF ADVANCE
An advance shall be recovered from the subscriber in such number of equal monthly instalments as the sanctioning authority may direct but such number shall not less than twelve unless the subscriber so elects or in any case more than forty.  A subscriber may at his option repay more than one instalment in a month.  Each installment shall be a number of whole rupees, the amount of the advance being raised or reduced, if necessary.
Recovery shall commence on the first occasion after the advance is made, on which the subscriber draws pay or remuneration on foreign service for a full month.

SUSPENSION OF RECOVERY
Recovery shall not be made except with the subscriber’s consent, while he is in receipt of subsistence grant or is on leave salary or carries leave salary equal to or less than half average pay as the case may be.  The recovery may be postponed on the subscriber’s written request by the sanctioning authority during the recovery of an advance of pay granted to the subscriber.                                                (Rule 16(2))

Withdrawal from the fund

Withdrawal from the balance at the credit of the subscriber from the Fund may be permitted for the following purposes:

For Purchase of Site or building acquisition, reconstruction or redemption of own house.
For meeting the cost of higher education of self or dependent children.
For meeting expenditure on marriage purpose.
For making deposit for booking a car/motor cycle/scooter/moped etc.

The concession will be admissible to the employees at any time not earlier than ten years before attaining the age of superannuation or when the subscriber has completed twenty years of total service (including broken service if any) whichever is earlier for the purpose specified in the sub-rule (1).        (Rule 24 (1)).

Conditions for Withdrawal
Only one withdrawal is allowed for the same purpose.
Withdrawal from the Provident Fund shall not ordinarily exceed 12 months pay or seventy five percent of the balance amount outstanding to the credit of the subscriber.
The Head of the Department can sanction a withdrawal of 90 Percent of the balance, without assigning any reason, during the last 12 months of service of the subscriber.  This can be availed only once.

Final Closure

Final Withdrawals from the Fund
Final withdrawals from the Funds shall become payable to the Government Official when he quits service

When a subscriber who has been dismissed or removed from the service and is subsequently reinstated in the service shall, if required to do so by the Government, repay any amount paid to him from the fund in pursuance of this rule with interest there on at the rate provided in Rule 14.  The amount so repaid shall be credited to his account in the fund.

Annual Statements of Accounts

After the close of each financial year, the Accounts Officer shall send to each subscriber an Annual Statement of Accounts in the Fund showing the opening balance as on the 1st April of the year, the total amounts credited or debited during the year, the total amount of interest credited as on 31st March of the year and the closing balance on that date.  Subscribers shall satisfy themselves as to the correctness of the annual statement and errors if any, should be brought to the notice of the Accounts Officer.  The details of missing credits will also be shown in the said statement.

Name of the subscriber.

GPF A/c No.

Name of the DDOs under whom serving.

Amount of subscription / refund / withdrawal

Salary month for which details are being furnished.

Head of Account under which salary was drawn.

Treasury / Sub-Treasury where was the salary was drawn.

Voucher Number / Challan Number/ TTR No.

Total amount of the schedule.  

Common Lapses Noticed in the Receipt Of (i) Schedules (ii) FW Applications  

(i) Schedules:
Lapses noticed in GPF Schedules are :

(1)   Account number not given / wrong account number cited in schedules / Challans.

(2)   Schedules wanting.

(3)   Schedule total not tallying with the booked amount.

(4)   Subscription and refund amounts shown as one lumpsum.

(5)   Name of subscribers written in abbreviated form.

(6)   Name / Account number illegible in the schedule.

(7)   Incomplete schedules i.e. continuation sheets / pages missing.

(8)   Treasury Challans without enclosing statement / schedule.

(9)   GPF schedule not in the prescribed format (Form No.2)  

(10) In case of officials  who are on deputation details of subscriptions relating to each subscriber along with department prefix not given.

(ii) GPF Final Withdrawal Application:
 Deficiencies noticed are

(10) Form 6A, 6B and 6C do not contain details of latest deduction made or the details are furnished incorrectly.

(11) Particulars of GPF Advances/ Withdrawals sanctioned and drawn during the period of one year prior to retirement are not furnished or are incorrectly furnished.

(12) The application is not countersigned by the Head of the Department in case of Gazetted Officers / Drawing Officer in respect of non-gazetted staff.

(13) Temporary advances are sanctioned and drawn during the last 6 months of services in contravention of Rule 11(5)(iii).

(14) Temporary advances are seen to be sanctioned after the final withdrawal application of the subscriber has been sent to the Accountant General, even though it is not permitted as per Rule 15 a a.

(15) Even where advances are drawn during the previous one year, the details are not furnished.  Instead a line is drawn against item No.5 of the Final Withdrawal Application Form in respect of non-gazetted staff and item No.2 in respect of gazetted staff.  

The above deficiencies can lead to excess payments being authorized at the time of final withdrawal.  It is therefore, necessary that proforma enclosed to this list be submitted by all Heads of Department/Controlling officer/ Drawing and Disbursing Officers while forwarding the GPF Final Withdrawal applications.

Do’s and Dont’s for Drawing Officers / Treasury Officers

A.   Instructions to Drawing Officers:

1.      Great care should be taken in noting the Account numbers correctly as otherwise the amounts deducted (recovered) are likely to be posted to wrong accounts.

2.      Account number should be written in “Serial Order” (under Col.3) of the GPF schedule irrespective of the order in which the names of the subscribers occur in respective pay bill.

3.      The amount (in figures) under columns 5,6, and 7 of the GPF schedule should always be in whole rupees.

4.      No entries without an Account number should be made.

5.      The account numbers in the previous month’s statement should be repeated and the reasons for the non-recovery of subscriptions and refunds of temporary advance (withdrawals such as ‘proceeded on leave’ from ……………….. ‘Transferred to ………………… Office …………….. District’ ‘Quit service’, ‘Died on ……………’Subscriptions discontinued’etc.,) should invariably be furnished in the ‘Remarks’ column.

6.      When new names are entered in the Statement other than those found in the previous months statement, the reason therefore (such as ‘New Subscribers’ ‘Returned from Leave’, ‘Transferred from ……………. Office …………………district’ ‘Resumed Subscriptions etc.,’) should invariably be noted in the remarks column overleaf.

7.      With regard to supplemental claims, month(s) to which the original claim(s) related should be furnished clearly and correctly in line 2 above ie., at the top of the form (or in the body of the form if more space is required).

8.      Ordinarily only one line should be used for each subscriber, entries between line being, however strictly avoided.

9.      The blanks against Total Deductions, Signature and Designation of Drawing Officer, Station and Date etc., should invariably be filled in the respective spaces allotted therefore and in the middle of the form.

10.  The Account numbers would be furnished in full i.e., with the guided notation or letters such as GA (for General Administration) EDN (for Education) PW (for Public Works) etc., as intimated by the Accountant General.

B. Checks required to be exercised by by Drawing and Disbursing Officers.

11.  DDO should check before sanctioning any amount of Advance / Withdrawal of GPF to a subscriber that the amount applied for  is at the credit to his GPF account on the date of sanction with reference to the balance shown in his annual GPF statement of the previous year and subsequent advance withdrawal sanctioned to him if any.

12.  DDO should ensure that the amount as mentioned in the bill is the same as actually applied for by the employee.

13.  DDO should also see before passing the bill that the administrative sanction has been obtained in favour of applicant and for the amount  applied for.

14.  DDO should check whether the sanction order has been issued in favour of the applicant.

15.  In case of advance bill the Drawing Officer must sign the register of GPF advance recovery against the amount so sanctioned for ensuring monthly recovery.

16.  Before passing the bill he must check totaling of the bill.

17.  DDO should ensure correct classification of the bill.

C. Instructions To Treasury Officers

18.  Before passing the bill Treasury Officer must check the signature of the DDO for its genuineness by tallying it with the specimen signature of that DDO kept under his custody.

19.  In case of any confusion/inconsistency arising in regard to the signature of the DDO, Treasury Officer should immediately contact the DDO without passing the said bill.

20.  Before passing the bill, he/she must check the totaling of the bill as well as sanction order issued in that connection.

21.  Treasury Officer should pass the bill with his full satisfaction on other matters also like signature of the authorised person who collects the money from the Bank.

22.  Treasury Officer should see whether the DDO’s code number is mentioned on the Bill and check its genuineness.

23.  Treasury Officer should check the classification in regard to credit and debit vouchers.

D. Do’s and Dont's for DDOs

24.  Don’t forget to record the GPF account number in the service book of the Government Servant and in the Pay bill Register as soon as it is received from the Office of the A.G. (A&E),Bangalore.

25.  Don’t prepare GPF schedule in the form other than the prescribed format.

26.  Don’t prepare the schedule in incomplete form. Name of the subscribers should not be written in abbreviated form.

27.  Name of the subscriber, Account No and the amount indicated in the schedule should not be illegible.

28.  Schedule should not be prepared in piecemeal for one establishment i.e., one schedule for Head of the  Office, one for Head Clerk, and other for UDC’s etc.

29.  Do not include more than 20 names in a schedule.

30.  Under no circumstances name(s) of Group `D’ staff be included in the schedule meant for Group ‘A’ – ‘B’ or ‘C’ staff.

31.  Do not prepare schedules without ascending order of the account number.

32.  Do not include account numbers of various department in the same schedule.

33.  Do not prepare GPF advance / partial final withdrawal in the same bill.

34.  Do not prepare bill for advance or partial final withdrawal of Group `D’ employees with Group ‘A’ – ‘B’ or ‘C’ employees bill.

35.  Do not make delay in obtaining application for final payment from the retiree and in forwarding  the same to the Accountant General.

36.  Do not forget to attach death certificate, Survival Certificate of the family of the deceased, succession certificate (if necessary) with the application for final payment of deceased employees.

37.  Do not forward to the Accountant General incomplete application for final payment.

38.  Do not forget to enclose a detailed statement of credits and deductions made during last one year of retirement / death of the Government Servant.

39.  Do not forward application for final payment without dated signature of the subscriber /claimant and the Head of Office with his Office Seal.

40.  DDO should not allow more withdrawal /advance to the subscribers in such a fashion that GPF account is used as a Savings Bank Account.

41.  No advance to be sanctioned during last 6 months of service.

42.  Incorrect classification in debit / credit vouchers should not be made.  

43. In case of death of subscriber who hasd commenced subscribing after June 2002, a copy of the nomination filed by the subscriber with the Drawing Officer may also be enclosed to the Final Withdrawal application.

Subscribers Grievance Cell

In case of grievances the subscriber may address this office with the envelope superscribing “DEFECTS IN ACCOUNT SLIP” TO

SENIOR ACCOUNTS OFFICER / EDP - PF, Office of the Principal Accountant General (A&E),  Park House Road, BANGALORE- 560 001, with reference to defects in Accounts like  Missing Credits etc., and

SENIOR ACCOUNTS OFFICER / FM, Office of the Principal Accountant General (A&E), Park House Road, BANGALORE- 560 001, with reference to any other complaints like Final Withdrawals / Partial Final Withdrawals etc.

Online Enquiry

Find Your Provident Fund Balance...? check the status through the links provided or click here Online Provident Fund Status 

Online Balance Enquiry

To know the status of the Provident Fund Account log on to www.agkar.cag.gov.in Or e-mail us at  agpf@mail.kar.nic.in