The Process Server's Three-Day TA Bill
You are the bill clerk of a Mandal Court. A process server attached to the court submits a travelling allowance bill for three days in March. The notified rates for the court are: bus fare Rs.1.50 per km, admissible for the actual journey both ways on production of tickets; daily allowance Rs.300 for absence from headquarters exceeding 8 hours and Rs.150 for absence between 4 and 8 hours; bicycle allowance Rs.2 per km only where no bus fare is claimed for that journey; local conveyance Rs.50 per day only where no other conveyance is claimed on that day. His claim is as follows. Day 1: travelled 14 km each way by bus to serve summons and returned the same evening after 11 hours, and also claims bicycle allowance for 8 km on the same day. Day 2: travelled 22 km by bus, halted overnight, claims full daily allowance. Day 3: returned 22 km by bus, reached headquarters at 2:30 p.m. after 5 hours of absence, claims full daily allowance plus auto fare of Rs.90 for 6 km at Rs.15 per km, with no receipt. Total claimed: Rs.1,114.
1. Compute the admissible amount, showing every disallowance and reason.
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Take the claim head by head.
Bus fare. Day 1: 14 + 14 = 28 km × Rs.1.50 = Rs.42. Day 2: outward 22 km × Rs.1.50 = Rs.33. Day 3: return 22 km × Rs.1.50 = Rs.33. Total bus fare = Rs.108, supported by tickets.
Daily allowance. Day 1: 11 hours of absence, so full allowance Rs.300. Day 2: overnight halt, full allowance Rs.300. Day 3: 5 hours of absence, which falls between 4 and 8 hours, so half allowance Rs.150, not Rs.300 - an excess of Rs.150 disallowed. DA total = Rs.750.
Bicycle allowance. Rs.16 disallowed. The same journey (Day 1) was performed by bus and bus fare is claimed for it; the rule permits bicycle allowance only where no bus fare is claimed for that journey. Claiming both is double payment.
Auto fare. Rs.90 disallowed. No receipt and no certificate from the party served was produced; unsupported actuals cannot be passed.
Admissible total: 108 + 750 = Rs.858. Against a claim of Rs.1,114, the disallowance is Rs.256.
2. The process server says the auto driver gave him no receipt and asks you to pass the bill as it stands 'since we are colleagues'. How do you handle it?
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The bill is disposed of on the record, not on the relationship. My handling:
- Do not pass the inadmissible items. A bill passed without documentary support is an audit objection waiting to happen and, where the excess is knowing, a disciplinary matter for both the claimant and the passing clerk.
- Put up an objection memo setting out the three disallowances with the rule applied to each, sign it with date, and return the bill for correction or, if the office practice so provides, forward the admissible amount with the objection recorded on the bill itself.
- Tell him the remedy, not just the refusal. He may produce a certificate from the party served or a receipt from the auto operator, and he may seek the leave of the head of the office for the auto journey; the file stays open for that limited purpose.
- Have the admissible amount paid so that the man is not kept waiting for money that is admittedly due to him - withholding Rs.858 to dispute Rs.256 is itself an irregularity.
- Report the attempt to the head of the office if the same unsupported claim is repeated, and record it in the bill register, because a pattern matters more than a single instance.
3. What supporting record should back this bill before payment, and what entries close the file?
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Before payment the bill needs evidence that the journeys actually happened and that the money was actually spent:
- The service record: entries in the summons register or process register showing the date, the case, the village, the distance and the result of service, with the acknowledgment of the party served or the report of refusal.
- Travel tickets for the bus journeys, pasted or enclosed, totalling the 28 km, 22 km and 22 km claimed.
- A halting certificate for the Day 2 overnight stay, and the head of office's countersignature on the absence statement for the three days.
- A certificate of the auto journey or the receipt, if the auto claim is to be allowed at all on resubmission.
- The TA bill register entry with the bill number, amount claimed, amount admitted, amount disallowed and the objection number, so that the same claim cannot be resubmitted unchanged; and an acquaintance roll or bank credit entry for the amount paid.
Closing entries matter because a TA bill is the commonest place where a small, repeated excess becomes a large audit para and a vigilance case.