Cannons of Financial Propriety

In exercise of financial powers, the sanctioning authority must pay due regard to the following principles:

  • The expenditure should not prima facie be more than the occasion demands, and every Railway servant should exercise the same vigilance in respect of expenditure incurred from public money, as a person of ordinary prudence would exercise in respect of the expenditure of his own.
  • No authority should exercise it s powers of sanctioning expenditures, to pass an order, which will directly or indirectly ne to its own advantage.
  • Public money should not be utilized for the benefit of a particular person or a section of the community unless (i)  the amount of the expenditure involved is insignificant OR (ii) The claim for the amount could be enforced in a court of law OR (iii)The expenditure is in pursuance of a recognised policy/custom.
  • The amount of allowances such as travelling allowance, granted to meet expenditure of a particular type, should be so regulated that the allowances are not on the whole a source of profit to the recipients.

Note: Proposals involving financial implications, except those, which have been exempted, should be referred to the accounts for their advice.

As the Custodians of Public money every Railway servant has to consider these principles of Financial propriety as sacrosanct and accordingly.

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