Breaking


Showing posts with label Concessions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Concessions. Show all posts

Thursday, 21 May 2020

08:31

Special Trains Ticket Booking will Commence From 21.05.2020.No Agent Booking Allowed

Special Trains Ticket Booking will Commence From 21.05.2020.No Agent Booking Allowed
Guidelines for Train Services beginning on 1st June 2020 Graded Restoration of Train services .
Move to help migrants as well who wish to travel other than Shramik Trains.
These rules are for trains other than Shramik trains, which will continue to run in bigger numbers.
100 pairs of Trains listed.
Norms made for Booking of Tickets & Charting, Quota, Concessions, Cancellation & Refunds, Health Screening, Catering, Linen etc
Booking of all these trains will commence from 10 am on 21/05/20.
Other regular Passenger services including all mail/express, passenger and suburban services shall remain cancelled until further advice.
There will be no unreserved coach in the train.
Fare shall be as normal and for General (GS) coaches, being reserved, second seating(2S) fare shall be charged and seat will be provided to all the passengers.
Only online E-Ticketing will be done through IRCTC website or through Mobile App. No tickets will be booked across the reservation counter on any Railway Station.
The ARP (advance reservation period) shall be maximum 30 days.
Only passengers with Confirmed tickets shall be allowed to enter the Railway station.
Screening to be done before boarding and only asymptomatic passengers are allowed to enter /board the train.
Concessions for four categories of Divyangjan concession and 11 categories of patient concessions are permitted in these special trains.
On arrival at their destination, the travelling passengers will have to adhere to such health protocols as are prescribed by the destination state/UT
No Linen, blankets and curtains shall be provided inside the train.
Posted On: 20 MAY 2020 10:25PM by PIB Delhi
Ministry of Railways (MoR) in consultation with Ministry of Health & Family welfare (MoHFW) and Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA) has decided that train services on Indian Railways shall be further partially restored w.e.f. from 01st June 2020.
Indian Railways will start operations of 200 passenger services as listed in the annexure (attached below). These trains shall run from 1/6/2020 and booking of all these trains will commence from 10 am on 21/05/20.
These special services shall be in addition to the existing Shramik special trains being run since 01st May and Special AC trains (30 trains) being run since 12th May 2020.
Other regular Passenger services including all mail/express, passenger and suburban services shall remain cancelled until further advice.
Train Type: Special trains on the pattern of Regular Trains
These will be fully reserved trains having both AC & Non AC classes. General (GS) coaches shall also have reserved seat for sitting. There will be no unreserved coach in the train.
Fare shall be as normal and for General (GS) coaches, being reserved, second seating(2S) fare shall be charged and seat will be provided to all the passengers.
Booking of Tickets & Charting:
i. Only online E-Ticketing will be done through IRCTC website or through Mobile App. No tickets will be booked across the reservation counter on any Railway Station. Booking of tickets through ‘agents’, (both IRCTC Agents and Railway Agents) shall not be permitted.
ii. The ARP (advance reservation period) shall be maximum 30 days.
iii. RAC and Wait list will be generated as per extant rules however waiting list ticket holders shall not be permitted to board the train.
iv. No unreserved (UTS) tickets will be issued and no tickets will be issued onboard to any passenger during the journey.
v.  No tatkal and premium tatkal booking shall be permitted in these trains.
vi. First chart shall be prepared at least 4 hours before scheduled departure and second chart shall be prepared at least 2 hours((unlike present practice of 30 minutes) before scheduled departure. Only online current booking shall be permitted in between first and second chart preparation.
vii. All passengers shall be compulsorily screened and only asymptomatic passengers are allowed to enter /board the train.
viii.Passengers travelling by these special services will observe the following precautions :
1. Only passengers with Confirmed tickets shall be allowed to enter the Railway station.
2.   All passengers must wear face covers/masks at the entry and during travel.
3. The passengers shall reach the station at-least 90 minutes in advance to facilitate thermal screening at the station. Only passengers who are found asymptomatic will be permitted to travel.
4.Passengers shall observe social distancing both at the station and on trains.
5.On arrival at their destination, the travelling passengers will have to adhere to such health protocols as are prescribed by the destination state/UT Quota Permitted:
All quotas shall be permitted in these special trains as has been permitted in Regular trains. Limited number of reservation (PRS) counters shall be operated for this purpose. However, normal ticket booking cannot be done through these counters.
Concessions: Only four categories of Divyangjan concession and 11 categories of patient concessions are permitted in these special trains..
Cancellation and Refund rule: Railway Passengers (Cancellation of Ticket and Refund of Fare) Rules, 2015 shall be applicable.
In addition following instructions already issued regarding Refund of fare in case passenger is not found fit for travelling due to symptoms of Corona shall remain applicable.
As per MHA guidelines all passengers shall be compulsorily screened and only asymptomatic passengers shall be allowed to enter/board the train.
If during screening a passenger has very high temperature/symptoms of Covid-19 etc., he shall not be allowed to travel despite having confirmed tickets. In such case full refund shall be provided to passenger as under:-
(i)  On PNR having single passenger.
(ii) On a party ticket if one passenger is found unfit to travel and also all  other passengers on the same PNR do not want to travel in that case full refund shall be granted for all passengers.
(iii) On a party ticket if one passenger is found unfit to travel however other passengers on the PNR want to travel in that case full refund of fare shall be granted to passenger who was not allowed to travel.
For all the above cases, TTE certificates as per extant practice shall be issued to the passenger at the entry/checking/screening point itself mentioning “Number of passengers not travelled due to symptoms of Covid 19 in one or more passengers”
After getting TTE certificates, online TDR shall be filed for refund of not travelled passengers, within 10 days from the date of journey and the original
TTE certificate issued shall be sent by the passenger to IRCTC as per extant provision and full fare for the part passenger/full who have not travelled shall be refunded by IRCTC in the customer’s account.
For the above purpose, CRIS and IRCTC shall make necessary changes for filing of TDR for non-travelling passengers due to covid-19 symptoms. One option ‘part/full passenger not allowed to travel by Railways due to very high temperature/covid-19 symptoms’ will be available.
Catering:
No catering charges shall be included in the fare. Provision for pre paid meal booking, e-catering shall be disabled. However, IRCTC shall make provision for limited eatables and packaged drinking water on payment basis only in limited trains, having Pantry car attached. Information to this effect shall be made available to passengers during time of booking ticket.
Passengers are encouraged to carry their own food and drinking water.
All static catering and vending units (Multi Purpose stalls, Bookstalls, Misc./Chemist stalls etc) at Railway stations will remain open. In case of Food Plaza and Refreshments rooms etc, cooked items may be served as take away only with no sit-down eating arrangements in place.
 Linen and Blanket:
No Linen, blankets and curtains shall be provided inside the train. Passengers are advised to carry their own linen for the travel. The temperature inside AC coaches shall be suitably regulated for this purpose.
Zonal Railways have been instructed to ensure that there are separate entry and exit gates at Railway stations to the extent feasible so that there is no face to face movement of passengers. Zonal railways will be guided by standard social distancing guidelines on stations and trains and observe the safety, security and hygiene protocols.
All passengers must download and use the Aarogya Setu application. Passengers are advised to travel light.
As per MHA guidelines the movement of the passenger(s) as well as the driver of the vehicle transporting the passenger(s) to and fro the Railway Station shall be allowed on the basis of the confirmed e-ticket.
Link of Annexure
Source:PIBNEWS

Wednesday, 26 July 2017

17:11

RAILWAYS TO INTRODUCE “GIVE UP SCHEME” IN CONCESSION FOR SENIOR CITIZENS IN PASSENGER FARE

RAILWAYS TO INTRODUCE “GIVE UP SCHEME” IN CONCESSION FOR SENIOR CITIZENS IN PASSENGER FARE
Kolkata, 25th July, 2017:
As a prime mover of India, Railways provide travel concessions to Male Senior Citizen of the age of 60 years & above and 58 years & above in case for Women Senior Citizen of Indian Nationality. 
Ministry of Railways have now decided to introduce “Give Up Scheme” with regard to concession granted to Senior Citizen of Indian Nationality. As per the scheme, Senior Citizen can opt an option to give up the element of concessional amount upto 50% or 100%. This scheme has been introduced for reserved tickets including PRS Counter and E-Tickets.
This has been implemented with effect from 15th July, 2017.

Wednesday, 12 April 2017

17:59

WITHDRAWAL OF IMPLEMENTATION OF AADHAAR BASED TICKETING SYSTEM FOR PRS TICKETS FOR SENIOR CITIZENS

WITHDRAWAL OF IMPLEMENTATION OF AADHAAR BASED TICKETING SYSTEM FOR PRS TICKETS FOR SENIOR CITIZENS
11-04-2017
MUMBAI

WITHDRAWAL OF IMPLEMENTATION OF AADHAAR BASED TICKETING SYSTEM FOR PRS TICKETS FOR SENIOR CITIZENS


Ministry of Railways has decided to withdraw the implementation of Aadhaar based ticketing system for PRS tickets (both counter and e-tickets) for senior citizen. Even from 1st April, 2017 o­nwards, the concession to senior citizens shall not be denied only for the reason that the person does not possess Aadhaar card. However, they are required to carry some documentary proof showing their age or date of birth and have to produce it if demanded by o­n-board ticket checking staff. Now senior citizens can book reserved tickets across the reservation counters as well as through internet without aadhaar card.

Earlier, Ministry of Railways has decided to make aadhaar based verification mandatory for getting concessional tickets for senior citizen w.e.f 1st April, 2017 and during journey senior citizen passengers has to carry any of the original documents including Aadhaar Card as notified from time to time for the purpose of identity proof. But, now the implementation of aadhaar based ticketing system has been withdrawn with immediate effect.

Source:Western Railway

Thursday, 29 September 2016

22:52

LIBERALISED STATION TO STATION SPECIAL FREIGHT RATES POLICY

LIBERALISED STATION TO STATION SPECIAL FREIGHT RATES POLICY

· Section 32 of the Railways Act, 1989 empowers railway administration to quote Station to Station Rate (STS) in respect of carriage of various commodities. 

· Railway Board used to issue guidelines to Zonal Railways for implementation of STS rates. Last guidelines on this subject were issued by Board in 2002, which were in operation till 2006. In November 2015, Zonal Railways were advised to exercise power vested with them to quote STS rates as per the Railways Act, 1989.

· On request from Zonal Railways and to enable them to garner more traffic from road and other modes,   broad guidelines are being issued to Zonal Railways for finalising STS rates.

· Salient features of the proposed policy are as under:

·Existing as well as new traffic shall be eligible.
·Concession shall be granted up to a maximum of 30% on the incremental traffic over and above the benchmark NTKM. Benchmark NTKM is defined as average NTKMs of corresponding periods of previous 24 months.
·Concession shall be in the form of percentage discount over the Normal Tariff Rate (NTR). It should be ensured that the concessional freight should not be less than the NTR of Class 100.
·Concession shall be admissible to Block rake, two/multi point rake, Mini Rake etc.
· Concession may be granted for retention of traffic also up to maximum of 15%. In case of container traffic, STS discount upto maximum of 15% shall be given to commodities charged at Container Class Rate (CCR).  
·STS scheme will be applicable for all terminals namely goods sheds, sidings, ports, CRTs, PFTOs etc. 
·To avail STS, Rail users shall be required to apply to the DRM with details, who shall forward the same for approval of GM through CCM, COM and FA&CAO.  If Railway administration approves grant of concession under STS, an agreement shall be executed between Railway and customer.
·The agreement shall be done for a maximum period of three years at a time and for not less than one year.  Any change in freight rate (excluding imposition of any surcharge) shall not be applicable on the customer during the currency of the agreement or for one year, whichever is less. 
·Commodities excluded from STS are - 
o   All commodities with classification below Class-100.
o   All commodities under Main Commodity Head “Coal & Coke”
o   Iron ore (all types)
o   Military traffic, POL and RMC
·Targeted customer:  Food grain, Cement, Clinker, Dolomite, Limestone, Steel companies, Fly ash, etc.
·  Expected additional loading: 10 million tonne per annum.

Saturday, 6 August 2016

00:17

Concession to Domestic Tourists in Luxury Trains

Concession to Domestic Tourists in Luxury Trains 

Concessions to domestic tourists on luxury tourist trains are offered by respective State Tourism Corporations / Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). Presently, only IRCTC offers concession on its train Maharajas’ Express to domestic tourists by way of a discount of 50% to the second tourist sharing the cabin with a fully paid adult tourist, on select departures. Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation, though offers no specific concession on Palace on Wheels and Royal Rajasthan on Wheels to domestic tourists, equivalent Indian National Rupee (INR) tariff for Indian Passport holders is fixed by taking the exchange rate as Rs. 60 per US$ irrespective of actual exchange rate, thereby insulating them from the fluctuation in exchange rate. 

Source:PIBNEWS

Thursday, 7 July 2016

08:40

Railways streamlines process for Concession Certificates to Physically Challenged

Railways streamlines process for Concession Certificates to Physically Challenged

New Delhi: In order to streamline the procedure for issuing of concessional certificate to physically challenged persons, Railways has made changes to the rules in case of change of residence for the convenience of the passengers.

Railways has already facilitated convenient booking of concessional tickets including online ticketing for the physically challenged persons.

According to a statement issued by the ministry, in those cases where the applicant has shifted to a new place and his concession certificate has been issued by the government hospital of his previous residence, he or she will be allowed to apply to Divisional Railway Manager’s (DRM) office of current residence.

The DRM office will then get the concession certificate verified by the concerned zone in which the government hospital falls which has issued the concession certificate.

Such zone will then send the verification report to the referring division which had sent the request.

Based on the verification report, DRM office will issue the ID card to the physically challenged person or to his or her representative.

The notification further said: “However, original certificates (including address proof indicating current residence) must be shown at the time of collection of card. The time limit for disposal of the application/issue of ID card in such cases is two months from the date of receipt of application.”

The photo ID card issued to the eligible physically handicapped person is valid for five years from the date of issue or till the last date upto which the concession certificate is valid whichever is earlier after which it has to be renewed/re-issued for which the same procedure as for issue of fresh photo ID card is to be followed.

The concession certificate is valid for ten years in the age group of 26 to 35 years, in case of permanent disability.

The concession certificate is valid for whole life of the concerned person above the age of 35 years.

Source:RailNews

Sunday, 26 June 2016

10:00

Railways is set to make the PPP terms more attractive for Investors’

Railways is set to make the PPP terms more attractive for Investors’ 

With the potential investors’ initial response to the public-private partnership (PPP) model for railway stations’ redevelopment being lukewarm, the government is set to make the terms more attractive for them to power up PPPs

New Delhi: With the potential investors’ initial response to the public-private partnership (PPP) model for railway stations’ redevelopment being lukewarm, the government is set to make the terms more attractive for them.

An extension of the land lease period from 45 years now to at least 70 years and supporting these ventures with viability gap funding are under active consideration, according to official sources. These apart, it is also likely that the model concession agreements (MCAs) will be reinforced with limited assured sources of revenue to investors to reduce their risks, the sources added.

While the Modi government has lined up plans to revamp 400 railway stations in the country by roping in private investors, only 15-20 projects will be up for grabs in the first phase. The bidding is being carried out under the so-called Swiss challenge method, where an eligible player submits a development proposal to the government, including the premium he is willing to pay the government. Once this proposal is made and due diligence is done, the government would accept counter-proposals from other eligible entities, while the entity which made the first proposal will enjoy the right of first refusal.

According to a senior railway official, private infrastructure players have asked for the lease period of the land to be extended from 45 years to 70-90 years. They have also asked for assured sources of revenue with rights to parking ticketing, platform ticketing and some catering rights.

Even though the ministry of railways is going all out to make the station development plan a success, market sources believe that lack of clarity on certain issues, persisting doubts about the feasibility of the projects and encroachment of land parcels at many major stations have kept investors wary.

“There is still no clarity over how the railway ministry is planning to take the development of these projects ahead. Not all stations have surplus land available to be given for commercial development. The government also need to assure the investors are encroached lands will be taken back and provided for development,” a senior executive from an infrastructure firm told FE.

According to official data, 21 of 85 A1 railway stations have encroached land and 35 such stations have no land available for commercial exploitation.

“The government is talking about commercial, residential and retail development. However, most of the stations that will come up for redevelopment are in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, where a revenue structure based on monetisation of land by way of creating office space and building residential projects, malls etc may not be viable in all cases.

“We would ideally like to see if there is any plan to develop logistics parks or hubs around these stations, which

will make more sense given the cargo volumes that railways carry, and will make for more commercial viability for the developer as well,” said an official from another infrastructure company. “Plus the onus of getting all the clearances from the local authorities lies with the developer; the whole process could potentially get very cumbersome, he added.

“We are addressing the concerns in the market.. we have a provision for compensating the developers who lose out in the bidding process for the expenses incurred by them to prepare the detailed project reports. As for local clearances, we have started forming joint ventures with different states so that the approvals come without costly delays,” a senior railway official mentioned told FE.

The ministry of railways has already signed MOUs in pursuance to forming joint ventures(JV) with nine states and is looking at signing MOUs with seven more states in the future for upgrading the railway infrastructure.

“Railways should first focus on creating a few success stories in terms of station re-development. Creating success stories is very important for investor confidence. Planning and design of the station should be done by the transporter as opposed to the private developer,” Abhay Krishna Agarwal, Partner infrastructure & PPP at E&Y said.

Market sources also state that as balance sheets of most of the private infrastructure companies like GMR, HCC, GVK, Jaypee and Gammon are stretched, many of them could be chary about taking up capital-intensive projects like railway station development.

Source:RailNews 

Thursday, 16 June 2016

07:55

Concession for Differntly abled persons -Indian Railways

Concession for Differntly abled persons -Indian Railways

ANNOUNCEMENT OF POLICY ALLOWING DIFFERENTLY ABLE PERSONS TO AVAIL CONCESSION WHILE TRAVELLING ALONE 
Railways grant concession in passenger fare to more than 50 categories of passengers including the Divyangs.  They are physically and mentally challenged, patients, senior citizens, students, war widows, sports persons etc.,
The following four categories of Divyangs are eligible for concession in passenger fare:-
 1.  Orthopaedically/paraplegic persons who cannot travel without an escort (At present concessional tickets issued only with escort)
2. Mentally retarded persons who cannot travel without an escort (At present concessional tickets issued only with escort).
3.  Completely blind persons with or without an escort
4. Deaf & Dumb persons both afflictions together in same persons with or without an escort.

CATEGORY
CONCESSION
1
Orthopaedically Handicapped/ Paraplegic persons who cannot travel without escort – for any purpose
· 75% in Second, Sleeper First, AC chair Car  &AC 3 tier
·  50% in  First Class and AC 2-tier,
·  25% in AC 3-tier & AC Chair Car of Rajdhani/Shatabdi trains
·  50% in Monthly Season Ticket & Quarterly Season Ticket
·  One escort is also eligible for same element of concession
2
Mentally retarded persons who cannot travel without escort - for any purpose
3
Blind persons travelling alone or with an escort - for any purpose
4
Deaf & Dumb persons (both afflictions together in the same person) travelling alone or with an escort - for any purpose.
·  50% in Second, Sleeper and First  Class
·  50% in Monthly Season Ticket &Quarterly Season Ticket
·    One escort is also eligible for same element of concession
  
At present concessional tickets are not issued to eligible orthopaedically handicapped/paraplegic persons/Mentally retarded persons not accompanied by an escort. Concessional tickets are issued only when tickets are booked along with an escort.
With a view to empower the divyang passengers (Orthopaedically handicapped /paraplegic persons/Mentally retarded) concessional tickets to eligible persons not accompanied by an escort will be issued for travel even without escort for those who would like to travel with friends, relatives or with the assistance of mechanical devices.  This will also help in increasing the self esteem of divyang.
Source:PIBNEWS

Wednesday, 16 March 2016

08:26

Railways launches e-Booking System for Journalists

Railways launches e-Booking System for Journalists

New Delhi: Indian Railways give concession in fare for bonafide press work, to mediapersons accredited to the Press Information Bureau and other competent authorities.

Journalists now need not go to counters for booking train tickets as the Indian Railways on Tuesday launched e-booking for scribes on concessional passes available to them.

“It was promised in the budget to provide e-booking facility to journalists and today we fulfilled it,” Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said here on Tuesday after launching the facility for accredited scribes. Journalists were earlier required to book ticket on concessional passes at PRS counters.

In order to avail the benefit of the e-booking facility, journalists have to use their registered ID card number issued by Railways to book tickets.


(File Photo) Veteran journalist, TCA Srinivasa Raghavan was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the third edition of the Shriram Sanlam Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism 2014 by chief guest Hon. Minister of Railways, Suresh Prabhu in the presence of Mr. Ajay Piramal (Chairman, Shriram Capital) and Mr.Ian Kirk (Deputy CEO, Sanlam Group)

Sunday, 26 July 2015

08:21

Projects of Railways through PPP Model

PPP Model for Development of Railways 

For encouraging PPP (Public Private Partnership) on Railways, a Policy on Participative models for rail connectivity and capacity augmentation was issued in December 2012. Model Concession Agreements for Non-Government line model, Joint Venture, Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) and Customer funded models have been issued. Till now under different PPP models, 9 projects have been implemented, 13 projects have been approved for implementation, besides 6 projects which have been given ‘in principle’ approval. 

The Concession Agreements provide for Conciliation, Arbitration and Adjudication for resolving disputes between Government and partners. 

Projects under PPP model are undertaken on the basis of operational requirement, financial viability, bankability and interest of stakeholders. Such projects are not undertaken based on socio-economic development of a particular region. 

This information was given Minister of State in Ministry of Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in a reply to a question in Rajya Sabha Yesterday. 

Tuesday, 21 July 2015

16:21

Centre kick-starts FDI, PPP in Railways; begins work with Model Concession Agreements

Centre kick-starts FDI, PPP in Railways; begins work with Model Concession Agreements

New Delhi: Attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Railways is finally getting the push with the government. The Railways ministry is initiating a move to create model concession agreements in order to kick-start the process of attracting FDI and private investments, close to 8 months after it came up with sectoral guidelines for such investments in November.

The ministry has just started the process of appointing consultants for preparing model concession agreements for those areas where private and foreign investments have been allowed.

Areas where such investments would be allowed are operation of private passenger trains, concession of standalone passenger corridors, construction, upgradation and maintenance of any new or existing freight terminal owned by the Railways, setting up of technical training institutes, testing facilities and laboratories and technological solutions for level crossings and for improving safety and reducing accidents.

“For the purposes of this assignment, the consultants are expected to go through best possible international and domestic agreements of a similar nature and suggest a framework which will be acceptable to stakeholders including financial institutions,” the document for consultants who would prepare model concession agreement said.

For concession of standalone passenger corridors, the asset would be transferred to a special purpose vehicle at a pre-specified nominal value and the concession period will be for a period between 10-15 years.

For freight terminal projects as well there would be a transfer of assets and the revenues would be shared under the concession agreement.

While model concession agreements already exist for urban rail systems and construction of private lines, many of the permissible activities detailed in the sectoral guidelines will require preparation of concession agreements under which investments can be made.

According to the Dibek Debroy committee which submitted its report in June, earlier policies of Indian Railways for private ownership of rolling stock have not brought in the desired level of investments, primarily due to the perception of a lack of level playing fields.

The government had earlier decided to allow FDI in areas like suburban corridor projects through PPP, high speed trains, Mass Rapid Transport Systems, dedicated freight lines, rolling stock including train sets, locomotives or coaches manufacturing and maintenance facilities, rail electrification, signaling systems, freight and passenger terminals and facilities to manufacture railway lines or sidings.

Friday, 17 July 2015

10:11

What is Swiss Challenge Method

400 Railway Stations to be Redeveloped using ‘Swiss Challenge Method’

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the redevelopment of 400 railway stations, and added that they would be redone using the Swiss Challenge method. “The Cabinet has approved the redevelopment of railway stations. 400 railway stations to be redeveloped using the Swiss Challenge method. The Cabinet has also decided that 400 railway stations will be redeveloped across the nation,” Jaitley told media here. The stations will be offered for development by leveraging real estate development of land and air space in and around stations. The redevelopment is on “as is where is” through open invitation from interested parties with their design and ideas.

What is Swiss Challenge Method

A Swiss challenge is a form of public procurement in some (usually lesser developed) jurisdictions which requires a public authority (usually an agency of government) which has received an unsolicited bid for a public project (such as a port, road or railway) or services to be provided to government, to publish the bid and invite third parties to match or exceed it.  Some Swiss challenges also allow the entity which submitted the unsolicited bid itself then to match or better the best bid which comes out of the Swiss challenge process. It is a form of regulating public procurement. An example of this is the recently announced Mega Film City Venture by the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) in which JDA is planning to fund the venture using Swiss Challenge Philosophy.

Swiss Challenge System

As the name itself suggests Swiss Challenge System is a new bidding process to help private sector initiative in core sector projects. It’s an offer made by the original proponent to the government ensuring his process to be best (in terms of effectiveness including both the factors cost and time) by his initiative as a result of his own innovative approach or on the demand of the government to perform certain task. The Swiss challenge system, like the bonus system, further allows third parties to make better offers (challenges) for a project during a designated period with simple objective to discourage frivolous project, or to avoid exaggerated project development costs. Then accordingly, the original proponent gets the right to counter-match any superior offers given by the third party.

There are two different patterns. It’s up to the government to decide which one to adopt. The two main ways are:

The government can either purchase the intellectual property rights for a project concept from the proponent or then award the project through a competitive bidding process in which no bidder has a predefined advantage.

The government can offer the original proponent an advantage in a competitive bidding process. In this case the government should create rewards that satisfy the original proponent while still allowing a truly competitive process.

However it has been observed that in both bonus and Swiss challenge systems it is not easy to find the right balance between incentives to propose beneficial projects and incentives for third parties to submit counter proposals. In Korea and the Philippines, however, very few projects have been successfully challenged. In Chile the probability of a successful challenge appears to be high, though experience is limited. In an effort to find the right balance, some countries (such as Argentina) have begun to explore hybrid systems combining elements of the bonus system and the Swiss challenge system. However, in some countries the proposer does have certain advantages. Unlike, the lowest bidder will not be given the work order for the project. Instead, the participant who floats the design and concept for the project will have the first right of refusal.

There are various attributes, which the government takes into account while dealing with the Swiss challenge system it includes:

1. Offering cost reimbursement: Some countries such as Chile and South Africa allow reimbursement of original project proponents for their project concept or project development costs. The advantage given to the original proponent in the bidding is usually intended to compensate for use of the project concept. In addition, the bidding documents sometimes specify reimbursement for project development costs by the winning bidder or the government. Other countries (such as Korea and the Philippines) allow no reimbursement of project development costs. Advantage of offering cost reimbursement maintains private sector interest during the development phase of an infrastructure project, helps to ensure that the source of ideas is not limited to large investors with deep pockets, and encourages proponents to allocate the resources needed to ensure that projects are professionally developed.

2. Setting time limits:  Government often sets time limits on the approval and bidding phases. Time constraints on counter proposals give an obvious competitive advantage to the original project proponent. The proponent has already spent much time and effort preparing the project and thus is much more familiar with its characteristics. By contrast, a challenger may have as little as 60 days in some countries (such as the Philippines) to prepare a counter proposal. Many potential challengers may be unwilling to compete without sufficient time to prepare.

Problems

The questions relating to legal validity of using the Swiss challenge system when a counterproposal contains different specifications than the original proposal was always being raised. The problem was being observed at the time of construction of International Passenger Terminal 3 in Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport, where several issues relating to validity of system were being raised. The challenger was eventually awarded the concession.
07:53

PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED PERSONS MAY NOW GET ONLINE CONCESSION FROM HOME

2015/07
16-07-2015
Mumbai

PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED PERSONS MAY NOW GET ONLINE CONCESSION FROM HOME

Railway's one more user friendly step towards Digital India
  
Railways have always been pioneer to ensure best possible efforts to provide user friendly services and facilities to its valued customers in various fields. In continuation to this one more user friendly step has been initiated by Railways to provide benefit of 'Digital India' concept to physically challenged persons by arranging Photo ID cards to them for getting online concession facility o­n any rail travel as per their requirement and the best part of this initiative, is that now o­nwards any physically challenged person is not required to present personally o­n reservation counter to get Rail travel concession, but now he can book his ticket o­nline from home with concession facility with the help of photo ID card issued to him by Railways.

As announced in the Railway Budget 2015-16 by Hon'ble Minister of Railways, it has been decided to launch the scheme o­n entire Indian Railways wherein the physically challenged persons can book concessional reserved tickets across PRS counters, e-ticket/i-ticket through IRCTC website and also concessional unreserved tickets across the UTS counters throughout India o­n the authority of Photo Identity card to be issued by the Railways.

Physically Challenged Person entitled for Railway concession may approach nearest Divisional Railway Manager's Office along with all the relevant documents viz. Concession Certificate, Photo Identity proof, Date of Birth proof, Address proof and two passport size photographs either in person or by post for issuing Railway Photo Identity card by submitting one set of attested photocopies (self attested) of the said documents. It should be addressed to Sr. Divisional Commercial Manager of the concerned division. The envelope containing documents should be superscribed "Application for issue of Railway Identity Card for Physically Challenged Persons for ticketing." No fee will be charged by the Railways for issue of this photo ID card.

The Concession based ticketing through counters as well as internet (online booking) has been launched by the Railways for the physically challenged persons i.e. Orthopedically handicapped, Deaf & Dumb, Mentally Retarded and Blind patients. The physically challenged persons can avail of this facility on producing photo identity card with unique ID number issued by the Railway.

In case of permanent disability (Orthopedically/Paraplegic persons above the age of 35 years) the validity of the card will remain 5 years from the date of issue of the card. At the time of expiry of the validity of the card, a new card may be got issued by submitting a fresh application upto 3 months before the expiry of the validity period of the card.

Sunday, 24 May 2015

12:09

Salary hike for Bank Employees, 30 month Pay Arrears – New Wage Revision agreement to be signed on the 25th

Salary hike for Bank Employees, 30 month Pay Arrears – New Wage Revision agreement to be signed on the 25th

A 15% salary hike, 30 months pay arrears and other such concessions are part of the new wage agreement(Joint Note / Bipartite Settlement) that the United Forum of Bank Unions and the Indian Banks’ Association are going to sign on the 25th of this month.

The not-so-popular wage agreement came to an end and everybody involved in convinced that the new agreement will benefit more than 7 lakh employees of various banks including the nationalized ones, a few private banking institutions and some foreign banks.

During the talks that were held on February 23, both the sides had agreed to resolve all the issues within 90 days. The new wage agreement is going to be signed on the last Monday of the 90-day resolution period. The new wage agreement brings a 15% hike in salary, holidays on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month, medical insurance and other special allowances. One of the important aspect in the settlement is that the Bank Officers will get health insurance cover of Rs.4 lakh and the clerical and sub-staff will get Rs.3 lakh cover.

The last wage revision expired in October 2012, that means 30 months already exhausted and the new wage settlement with effect from November 2012.

Monday, 4 May 2015

08:16

LTC Claims – Need for observing prescribed procedures

LTC Claims – Need for observing prescribed procedures

G.I., Dept. of Pers. & Trg., O.M.F.No.31011/3/2015-Estt (A-IV), dated 01.04.2015

Subject:- LTC Claims – Need for observing prescribed procedures

This Department receives a large number of recommendations for relaxation of some or the other provision of the Central Civil Services (Leave Travel Concession) Rules, 1988, (hereinafter referred to as LTC Rules), in individual cases. It is seen that, in most cases the situation arises are due care had not been exercised by the Government servant and/or the administrative authority in claiming LTC or in examination.

2.The references mainly relate to:

a) Late submission of claims;
b) Booking of air tickets through an agency not authorized by the Government for this purpose;
c)Travel by private vehicles; and
d)Claims for wrong block of years.
3.In this connection it may please be noted that the primary responsibility for ensuring compliance with the rules is that of the Government servant. The of-repeated plea of ignorance of rules cannot be a valid ground for relaxation of rules. At the same time it has also been noticed that the administrative authorities have also shown laxity and due diligence on their part could have prevented such situations from arising.

4.Late Submission of Claim

4.1 In terms of Rules 14 and 15(vi) of LTC Rules, the time limit for submission of LTC claim is :

i) Within three months of completion of return journey, if no advance is drawn;
ii) Within one month of completion of return journey, if advance is drawn.

Powers have been delegated, as under, to the Ministries/Departments to relax these limits with the concurrence of the Financial Advisor.

a) Upto 6 months, if no advance is drawn;
b) Upto 3 months if advance is drawn, provided the Government servant refunds the entire amount of advance (not merely the unutilized portion) within 45 days of completion of return journey.

4.2 As per Rule 12(a) of the “Compendium of Rules on Advances to Government Servants”, it is the responsibility of the Head of Office to effect recovery of advances and also to see that the conditions attached to each advance are fulfilled. The Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO) is required to keep a watch on the advances and furnish monthly statements to the AP&AO. In addition, the DDO is also required to adjust all outstanding short term advances at the close of financial year.

5.Booking of air tickets through agents other than Government approved agents

5.1 Government servants travelling by air under LTC are required to book their tickets either directly from the airline or through the approved agencies viz: M/s Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd/ M/s Ashok Tours & Travels Ltd/IRCTC. Booking through any other agency is not permissible.

6. Travel by private vehicles.

6.1 As per LTC rules, a Government servant may travel only by vehicles operated by Central/State Government or local bodies or by any corporation in the public sector owned/controlled by Central/State Government. Journey on LTC by taxi, auto-rickshaw etc, are permissible only between places not connected by rail. This is further subject to the condition that these modes operate on a regular basis from point to point with the specific approval of the State Governments/transport authorities concerned and are authorized to ply as public carriers.

7. Claims for wrong block of years

7.1 Whenever a Government servant applies for LTC advance, the administrative authority is required to verify from the service book and certify the entitlement of the Government servant. Cases of the type mentioned in para 2(d) would not arise, if this is properly done.

8. LTC Rules also provide that a government servant who has been granted LTC Advance is required to submit copies of the tickets within 10 days of drawal of advance. The administrative authority can at this stage itself check the date of commencement of journey; whether ticket has been booked direct from airline or through approved agency etc. Any discrepancy can be brought to the notice of the government servant so that he can take remedial action, if needed.

9. Even in cases where advance is not drawn, the Government servant is required to give prior intimation of his intention to avail LTC. The administrative authority can check the details indicated especially w.r.t entitlement. A watch can also be kept to ensure timely submission of claims.

10. All Ministries/Departments are requested to bring the contents to this O.M. to the notice of all concerned. It may also be noted that requests for relaxation of rules shall be considered by this Department only if it is established that the deviation is due to reasons beyond the control of the Government servant and there has been no laxity on the part of the administrative authorities concerned.


Authority: www.persmin.gov.in