Airline companies are increasing the fare due to the rising prices of jet fuel. In such a situation, there is bound to be a burden on the government exchequer due to the employees traveling on government expenses. In view of this, the Finance Ministry has issued new instructions for the employees.
New Delhi . Airline companies are increasing fares due to rising prices of jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel. It is obvious that this is affecting all the people traveling by flight, whether it is common people or government employees. In view of this, the central government has asked its employees to book tickets of the cheapest class to prevent increasing the burden on their exchequer. The Finance Ministry has asked government employees to book tickets for tours and LTC at least three weeks before the date of their air travel to check the increase in expenditure.
The ministry has asked government employees to opt for the ‘cheapest fare’ in the travel class they are entitled to. These things have been said in the office letter i.e. Office Memorandum of the Department of Expenditure, which comes under the Finance Ministry. According to this, employees should book only one ticket for each leg of the journey. Bookings can be made even while the itinerary approval process is in progress, but ‘unnecessary ticket cancellation’ should be avoided.
Must give justification
At present, government employees can buy air tickets only from three registered travel agents. These travel agents include Bomer Lawrie & Company, Ashok Travel & Tours and IRCTC. According to the new guideline related to booking of air tickets at government expense, for booking within less than 72 hours of travel, cancellation of ticket less than 24 hours after travel, the employee will have to give self-declaration justification.
Choose the cheapest flights
The Department of Expenditure has said that employees should choose the cheapest flights available in their travel category. According to the guideline, tickets for all employees for any one journey should be booked through the same travel agent. No fee should be paid to the booking agent for this. The employees should book the tickets at least 21 days prior to the journey and choose the most competitive fare, so as to minimize the burden on the exchequer.
