Noting on a supplier delay with a missing earlier file
An assistant in a Maharashtra district office receives inward letter No. 214 dated 12 January from M/s Deshmukh Traders. The letter says a consignment under Purchase Order No. PO/17/2024 arrived 15 days late because of a transporter strike, and asks that the penalty be waived. The office standing order imposes a 2% penalty per week of delay. The earlier file S-14/2024 cannot be found, and the Section Officer is on leave for three days. The assistant must put up a Marathi note for the senior clerk's signature and send a reply within three days. The letter does not mention the invoice number. Office rules require all notes and replies in Marathi and same-day inward/outward entries.
1. Sequence the office actions from receipt to reply, and explain what should go into the Marathi note.
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Sequence:
- Make the inward entry the same day: inward No. 214, date, sender, subject, and file reference if traceable.
- Search for S-14/2024 in the current and record-room bundles. Record the search, including who searched and where, because the file's absence affects the note.
- Open a temporary file or a substitute folio with the letter, the purchase order reference, and the standing penalty order.
- Put up a provisional Marathi note before the reply deadline, even if the original file is missing.
- Obtain the senior clerk's signature and dispatch the reply; make the outward entry the same day.
Note content should include: the fact of receipt, the supplier's claim, the PO reference, the applicable 2% per week penalty rule, the missing file position, and a clear recommendation. Do not recommend waiver on the supplier's bare statement. Recommended line: verify the actual delay period and transporter evidence, then calculate penalty; seek orders on waiver only after verification. The note should be factual and avoid admitting the office's file loss as a reason to waive a contractual penalty.
2. How should the assistant handle the missing file and the incomplete letter without delaying the reply?
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Treat the missing file and missing invoice number as verification issues, not as reasons to stop the clock.
Reasoning:
- The reply deadline is three days and the Section Officer is on leave. The assistant should not wait for the original file; a provisional note protects the office's position and keeps the record moving.
- Ask the supplier for the invoice number, transporter's delay certificate, and delivery challan. The reply can acknowledge the letter and request these documents without conceding waiver.
- Start a 'missing file' note in the file-movement register and inform the record room. If the file is later traced, merge the provisional folio into S-14/2024.
- The Marathi reply should be polite but conditional: receipt acknowledged; penalty rule cited; documents requested; final decision after verification. Avoid saying 'penalty will be waived' or 'penalty is confirmed' before the facts are checked.
Judgement: the missing file is an internal control failure. It should be recorded honestly, but it should not become the supplier's argument for waiver.
3. Draft the approach and key sentences for the Marathi reply, and state what must not be included.
Read the worked answer
Approach: formal Marathi office letter, reference to inward No. 214 and PO No. PO/17/2024, acknowledgment of the transporter-strike claim, request for evidence, and a neutral statement on penalty.
Key sentences (paraphrase, not verbatim):
- 'आपले पत्र दि. १२ जानेवारी रोजी प्राप्त झाले आहे.'
- 'खरेदी आदेश क्र. PO/17/2024 अंतर्गत मालाच्या विलंबाचा तपशील तपासण्यात येत आहे.'
- 'विलंबाचा कालावधी सिद्ध करण्यासाठी वाहतूकदाराचे प्रमाणपत्र, बिल क्रमांक आणि डिलिव्हरी चलन सादर करावे.'
- 'नियमानुसार विलंबासाठी २% प्रति आठवडा दंड लागू आहे; तपासणीनंतर योग्य तो निर्णय कळविला जाईल.'
Must not include: an unconditional waiver, an admission that the office lost the file, a penalty amount calculated without the invoice and delay certificate, or a promise of payment. Keep a copy of the reply and the inward/outward entries for audit.