FinMin asks ministries/departments to follow guidelines on issuance of mobiles, laptops to officers

New Delhi: The finance ministry has asked various departments and ministries to follow the guidelines with regard to issuance of mobiles, laptops and similar devices to officers and withdraw any policy which is at variance with the Department of Expenditure's guidelines.

The Department of Expenditure under the finance ministry had in July issued guidelines for issue of mobile, laptop, tablet, phablet, notebook, notepad, ultra-book, net-book or devices of similar categories to eligible officers of Government of India for official work. Issuing a fresh office memorandum, the Department of Expenditure said it has come to its notice that various ministries/departments have issued their own policies regarding this which are not in line with the spirit of the finance ministry's guidelines. "Ministries/Departments are hereby directed to stop/withdraw their own policies on the subject and strictly adhere to the instructions issued by this Department in letter and spirit," the Department of Expenditure said.

As per the guidelines issued in July, central government officers were entitled to mobile, laptop or similar devices costing up to Rs 1.3 lakh, which can be retained by them for personal use after 4 years. All central government officers of the rank of deputy secretary and above were entitled to such electronic devices. In the case of Section Officers and Under Secretaries, 50 per cent of the sanctioned strength can be issued such devices. Regarding the cost of the device, the guidelines said it could be Rs 1 lakh plus taxes. However, for devices with a Make-in-India component of more than 40 per cent, the price ceiling will be Rs 1.30 lakh plus taxes