RAILWAY SERVICES PENSION RULES 2026

260 GI/2026 (1) REGD. No. D. L.-33004/99 The Gazette of India CG-DL-E-19012026-269424 EXTRAORDINARY PART II—Section 3—Sub-section (i) PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY No. 23] NEW DELHI, TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2026/PAUSHA 23, 1947 MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (Railway Board) NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 12th January, 2026 G.S.R. 23(E).––In exercise of the powers conferred by the proviso to article 309 of the constitution, the President hereby makes the following rules, namely:- CHAPTER I Preliminary 1. Short title and commencement.-(1) These rules may be called the Railway Services (Pension) Rules, 2026. (2) Save as otherwise provided, in these rules , - (a) rules 1 to 30 and rules 33 to 64 and rules 66 to 87 shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. (b) rules 31, 32 and 65 shall be deemed to have been come into force with effect from the 20th day of December, 2021; 2. Application.- (1) Save as otherwise expressly provided in these rules, these rules shall apply to the following railway servants, namely:- (a) any Group ‘D’ railway servant whose service was pensionable before the introduction of Pension System for Railway Servants on the 16th day of November, 1957; (b) any non-pensionable railway servants who were in service on the 16th day of November, 1957 and who elected to be governed by these rules; (c) any non-pensionable railway servant who were in service on the 1st day of January, 1986 and did not opt to be governed by the State Railway Provident Fund (Contributory) Rules; and (d) any person entering a railway service on or after the 16th day of November, 1957, except a person who is appointed on contract or re-employed after superannuation or whose terms of appointment specifically provide to the contrary. Provided that these rules shall not apply to,- (i) railway servants appointed on or after the 1st day of January, 2004; (ii) persons in casual and daily rated employment ; (iii) persons paid from contingencies ; (iv) persons entitled to the benefit of a State Railway Provident Fund (Contributory); (v) persons employed on contract except when the contract provides otherwise ; (vi) persons whose terms and conditions of service are regulated by or under the provisions of the Constitution or any other law for the time being in force; and (vii) persons employed to work on payment of a fee or honorarium. (2) These rules shall also apply to,- (a) a railway servant who was put on induction training on or before the 31st day of December, 2003 followed by appointment on regular basis after the 31st day of December, 2003: Provided that - (i) completion of the induction training was an essential condition for appointment on regular basis to the post; (ii) the railway servant was eligible for a salary or a stipend during the period of such training; and (iii) the period of training was eligible for being counted as qualifying service in accordance with the provisions of the Railway Services (Pension) Rules, 1993. (b) a railway servant who was initially appointed on or before the 31st day of December, 2003,- (i) in an establishment or Department of the Central Government whose employees were covered by a pension scheme other than the Railway Services (Pension) Rules, 1993; or (ii) in a State Government or an autonomous body under the Central Government or State Government having a non- contributory pension scheme similar to the Railway Services (Pension) Rules, 1993, and was subsequently appointed after 31st December, 2003 under Railways to which these rules apply, subject to the condition that the said railway servant fulfils all other conditions for counting of service rendered in such establishment of the Central Government or the State Government or autonomous body, in accordance with these rules or any general or special order issued in this regard; (c) a railway servant appointed after 31st December, 2003 to a railway service or post and if he fulfills the conditions for coverage under these rules in accordance with any special or general order issued by the Government in this regard. (d) substitutes who were regularly appointed in railway service after 31st December, 2003 but were conferred temporary status on or before 31st December, 2003 in accordance with prevailing instructions notified by Ministry of Railways and such temporary status is followed without interruption by regular appointment in railway service. (e) the cases where in the event of death or discharge from service on the ground of invalidation in the case of a railway servant who, having been appointed to Railway services and posts after 31st December, 2003, is covered by the Railway Services (Implementation of National Pension System) Rules, 2025, the benefits of Invalid pension under rule 39 and Family pension under rule 50 shall be payable to the Railway servant or his family, as the case may be, if the Railway servant had exercised an option to this effect under rule 10 of the Railway Services (Implementation of National Pension System) Rules, 2025 or in whose case the default option is for availing benefits under these rules; (f) in the case of Railway servants appointed in temporary capacity to railway services and posts on or before the 31st day of December, 2003, who retired or were retired before having been appointed in a substantive capacity, the benefits under these rules shall be payable to the railway servant to the extent provided in rule 18 of the Railway Services (Pension) Rules, 1993. 3. Definitions.- (1) In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,- (a) “Accounts Officer” means a Principal Financial Advisor of a Railway or such other officers as may be appointed in this behalf by the Railway Board; (b) “allottee” means a railway servant to whom railway accommodation or Government accommodation, as the case may be, has been allotted on payment of license fee or otherwise; (c) “average emoluments” means average emoluments as determined in accordance with rule 32; (d). “Child” means a son or daughter of a railway servant who is eligible to receive death gratuity under rule 45 or family pension under rule 50 and the expression `children' shall be construed accordingly; (e) “Code” means the Indian Railway Establishment Code, as amended from time to time; (f) “Dearness Relief” means a dearness relief on pension and family pension as specified in rule 52; (g) “Defence Service” means services under the Government of India in the Ministry of Defence including the Defence Accounts Department, paid out of the Civil Estimates of the Ministry of Defence and not subject to the Air Force Act, 1950 (45 of 1950) or the Army Act, 1950 (46 of 1950) or the Navy Act, 1957 (62 of 1957); (h) “family pension” means family pension admissible under rule 50 but does not include dearness relief; (i) “foreign service” means service in which a railway servant receives his pay with the sanction of the Government from any source other than the Consolidated Fund of India or the Consolidated Fund of a State or the Consolidated Fund of a Union territory; (j) “Form” means the forms appended to these rules; (k) “Format” means a format appended to these rules; (l) “Government” means the Central Government; (m) “gratuity” includes- (i) ‘service gratuity’ payable under rule 44; (ii) retirement gratuity or death gratuity payable under sub-rule (1) of rule 45; (iii) ‘residuary gratuity’ payable under sub-rule (3) of rule 45; (n) “Head of Department” means any authority whom the President may, by order, declare to be the Head of a Department for the purpose of these rules; (o) “Head of Office” means a Gazetted officer whom the appointing authority may, by order declare as Head of Office and includes such other authority or person whom the appointing authority may specify in the like manner; (p) “Integrated Payroll and Accounting Service” means the online system for sanctioning retirement benefits; (q) “local fund administered by Government” means the Fund administered by a body which, by law or rule having the force of law, comes under the control of the Government and over whose expenditure the Government retains complete and direct control; (r) “minor” means a person who has not completed the age of eighteen years; (s) “pension” includes gratuity except when the term pension is used in contradistinction to gratuity, but does not include dearness relief; (t) “pension disbursing authority” means- (a) banks selected in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India for payment of pension to railway pensioners; or (b) Post Office; or (c) Treasury including sub-treasury; or (d) Accounts officer; (u) “Pension Payment Order” includes e-Pension Payment Order; (v) “qualifying service” means service rendered while on duty or otherwise which shall be taken into account for the purpose of pensions and gratuities admissible under these rules; (w) “railway servant” means a person who is a member of a railway service or holds a post under the administrative control of the Railway Board and includes a person who is holding the post of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Member (Finance) or a Member of the Railway Board but does not include casual labour or person lent from a service or post which is not under the administrative control of the Railway Board to a service or post which is under such administrative control; (x) “retirement benefits” includes pension or service gratuity and retirement gratuity where admissible; (y) “service book” includes service roll, if any; (z) “substitutes” means a person engaged against a regular, permanent or temporary post by reason of absence on leave or otherwise of a permanent or temporary railway servant and such substitute shall not be deemed to be a railway servant unless he is absorbed in the regular railway service; and (za) “Treasury” includes a sub-treasury. (2) Words and expressions used herein and not defined but defined in the Code shall have the same meaning respectively assigned to them in the Code. 4. Railway servants transferred from services and posts to which these rules do not apply.- (1) A Government servant whose service is pensionable under the Central Government shall become subject to these rules if he is permanently transferred to a railway service on or after the first day of April, 1957. (2) Where sub-rule (1) applies, any amount paid by such Government servant to the General Provident Fund or any other non-contributory Provident Fund while in previous employment, alongwith the interest thereon standing to his credit shall be transferred to his new account in the State Railway Provident Fund (non- contributory). (3) The previous service rendered by such Government servant shall be taken into account for the purpose of these rules to the extent permissible under these rules. (4) A temporary Government servant who has been or is likely to be retrenched from Civil Department and succeeds in securing employment in railway service while on terminal leave or before their services are actually terminated, shall also be treated as having been transferred. CHAPTER II General Conditions 5. Claims to pension or family pension.- (1) Any claim to pension or family pension shall be regulated by the provisions of these rules in force at the time when a railway servant retires or is retired or is discharged or is allowed to resign from service or dies, as the case may be. (2) The day on which a railway servant retires or is retired or is discharged or is allowed to resign from service, as the case may be, shall be treated as his last completed working day and the date of death shall also be treated as a completed working day: Provided that in a case where the railway servant immediately before his retirement or death was absent from duty on leave or otherwise or was under suspension, the day of retirement or death shall be part of such leave or absence or suspension. 6. Limitations on number of pensions.- (1) A railway servant shall not earn two pensions in the same service or post at the same time or by the same continuous service. (2) Save as otherwise provided in rule 19 or rule 20, a railway servant who, having retired on superannuation pension or retiring pension or compulsory retirement pension or who is in receipt of a compassionate allowance on having been dismissed or removed from service, is subsequently re-employed, shall not be entitled to a separate pension or gratuity for the period of his re-employment: Provided that a railway servant who was previously appointed in an autonomous body or a public sector undertaking and was subsequently appointed, with proper permission of that body or undertaking, in the railway service on or before the 31st December, 2003, shall be eligible for pension and gratuity for the service rendered under the railway in addition to the pension and gratuity, if any, received by him from the autonomous body or the public sector undertaking for the service rendered in that body or undertaking: Provided further that the total amount of gratuity in respect of the service rendered in the autonomous body or the public sector undertaking and the service rendered under the Railway shall not exceed the amount that would have been admissible taking into account the entire service rendered by the railway servant in the autonomous body or the public sector undertaking and the Railway and the emoluments on retirement from Railway. (3) A railway servant shall be deemed to have been appointed in the Railway with proper permission if he had applied for the service or post in the railway with previous permission of the autonomous body or the public sector undertaking and the order of the autonomous body or the public sector undertaking clearly indicates that the employee is resigning to join the post in the railway with proper permission of the autonomous body or the public sector undertaking, as the case may be. (4) Pension, if any, on account of service rendered in an autonomous body or a public sector undertaking shall be paid by the concerned autonomous body or the public sector undertaking itself and there shall be no liability on the part of the railway towards pension for the service rendered by the railway servant in the said autonomous body or the public sector undertaking before joining service under the railway. 7. Pension and family pension subject to future good conduct.- (1)(a) Future good conduct shall be an implied condition of every grant of pension and its continuance under these rules. (b) The Appointing Authority may, by order in writing, withhold or withdraw a pension or a part thereof, whether permanently or for a specified period, if the pensioner is convicted of a serious crime or is found guilty of grave misconduct: Provided that where a part of pension is withheld or withdrawn, the amount of such pension shall not be reduced below the amount of minimum pension under rule 44. (2) Where a pensioner is convicted of a serious crime by a Court of Law, action under sub-rule (1) shall be taken in the light of the judgement of the court relating to such conviction. (3) In a case not falling under sub-rule (2), if the authority referred to in sub-rule (1) considers that the pensioner is prima facie guilty of grave misconduct, he shall before passing an order under sub-rule (1),- (a) serve upon the pensioner a notice specifying the action proposed to be taken against him and the ground on which it is proposed to be taken and calling upon him to submit, within fifteen days of the receipt of the notice or such further time not exceeding fifteen days, as may be allowed by the said authority, such representation, as he may wish to make against the proposal; and (b) take into consideration the representation, if any, submitted by the pensioner under clause (a). (4) Where the authority competent to pass an order under sub-rule (1) is the President, the Union Public Service Commission shall be consulted before any order is passed. (5) An appeal against an order under sub-rule (1), passed by any authority other than President, shall lie to the President and the President shall, in consultation with the Union Public Service Commission, pass such orders on the appeal as he deems fit. Explanation.- For the purposes of this rule, the expressions - (a) ‘pension’ includes family pension and the expression ‘pensioner’ includes family pensioner; (b) ‘serious crime’ includes a crime involving an offence under the Official Secrets Act, 1923 (19 of 1923); (c) ‘grave misconduct’ includes the communication or disclosure of any secret official code or password or any sketch, plan, model, article, note, document or information, such as is mentioned in section 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, (19 of 1923) (which was obtained while holding office under the Government) so as to prejudicially affect the interests of the general public or the security of the State. 8. Power to withhold or withdraw pension.- (1) Action under sub-rule (2) may be taken, if the pensioner is found guilty of,- (a) any corrupt practices during service; (b) any misconduct whether in relation to the performance of official duty or otherwise; and (c) any misconduct whether resulting in pecuniary loss to the Government or otherwise. (2) (a) The President, in the case of a pensioner who retired from a post for which the President is the appointing authority; (b) the Railway Board, in the case of a pensioner who retired from a post for which an authority subordinate to the President is the appointing authority, may, by order in writing, withhold a pension or gratuity, or both, either in full or in part, or withdraw a pension in full or in part, whether permanently or for a specified period, and order recovery from a pension or gratuity of the whole or part of any pecuniary loss caused to the Railway, if, in any departmental proceedings or judicial proceedings, the pensioner is found guilty of grave misconduct or negligence during the period of service, including service rendered upon re-employment after retirement : Provided that the Union Public Service Commission shall be consulted before any final orders are passed by the President under this sub-rule: Provided further that where a part of pension is withheld or withdrawn, the amount of such pension shall not be reduced below the amount of minimum pension under rule 44. (3) (a) The departmental proceedings referred to in sub-rule (2), if instituted while the railway servant was in service whether before his retirement or during his re-employment, shall, after the final retirement of the railway servant, be deemed to be proceedings under this rule and shall be continued and concluded by the authority by which they were commenced in the same manner as if the railway servant had continued in service: Provided that where the departmental proceedings are instituted by an authority subordinate to the Competent Authority to pass order under sub-rule (2), that authority shall submit a report recording its findings to the said competent authority. (b) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (2) and clause (a), the departmental proceedings instituted under rule 11 of the Railway Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1968, while the railway servant was in service and continued after retirement, shall have no effect on the pension and gratuity of the pensioner. (c) The departmental proceedings, if not instituted while the railway servant was in service, whether before his retirement, or during his re-employment, - (i) shall not be instituted except with the sanction of the authority competent to pass order under sub-rule (2) in Format 1; (ii) shall not be in respect of any event which took place more than four years before such institution; and (iii) shall be conducted by such authority in such place as the authority competent to pass order under sub-rule (2), may direct and in accordance with the procedure applicable to departmental proceedings in which an order of dismissal from service could be made in relation to the railway servant during his service: Provided that for the purpose of instituting departmental proceedings under this sub-rule, a memorandum of charges shall be communicated to the pensioner concerned in Format 2. (d) Where a full-fledged inquiry is conducted giving an opportunity to the such Railway servant to show cause during the proceedings in accordance with the Railway Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1968, any further opportunity to show cause would not be necessary before taking action in same matter under sub-rule (2). (4) In the case of railway servant who has retired on attaining the age of superannuation or otherwise and against whom any departmental or judicial proceedings are instituted or where departmental proceedings instituted under rule 9 of the Railway Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1968 are continued under sub-rule (3), a provisional pension as provided in sub-rule (5) shall be sanctioned. (5) (a) In respect of a railway servant referred to in sub-rule (4), the Accounts Officer shall authorise the provisional pension equal to the maximum pension which would have been admissible on the basis of qualifying service up to the date of retirement of the railway servant, or if he was under suspension on the date of retirement, up to the date immediately preceding the date on which he was placed under suspension. (b) The provisional pension shall be authorised by the Accounts Officer during the period commencing from the date following the date of retirement up to and including the date on which, after the conclusion of departmental or judicial proceedings, final orders are passed by the competent authority. (c) No gratuity shall be paid to the railway servant until the conclusion of the departmental or judicial proceedings and issue of final orders thereon. (d) The provisions of this sub-rule shall not be applicable where allegations of misconduct are under investigation against a railway servant or where departmental or judicial proceedings are contemplated against a railway servant but have not actually been instituted or deemed to have been instituted in accordance with Explanation to this rule, till the date of retirement of the railway servant and the pension and gratuity in such cases shall be authorised to be paid to the railway servant on his retirement in accordance with rule 63: Provided that any departmental proceedings instituted after retirement of the railway servant shall be subject to the provisions of sub-rule (2). (6) Payment of provisional pension made under sub-rule (5) shall be adjusted against final retirement benefits sanctioned to such railway servant upon conclusion of such proceedings but no recovery shall be made where the pension finally sanctioned is less than the provisional pension or the pension is reduced or withheld either permanently or for a specified period. (7) Where the authority competent to pass order under sub-rule (2) decides not to withhold or withdraw pension but orders recovery of pecuniary loss from pension, the recovery shall not ordinarily be made at a rate exceeding one third of the pension admissible on the date of retirement of a railway servant. (8) No appeal shall lie against any order made by the President under this rule. (9) An appeal against an order under sub-rule (2), passed by an authority other than the President, shall lie to the President and the President shall, in consultation with the Union Public Service Commission, pass such orders on the appeal as he deems fit. (10) The President may at any time, either on his own motion or otherwise call for the records of any inquiry and revise any order made under these rules, after consultation with the Union Public Service Commission, and may confirm, modify or set aside the order; or remit the case to any authority directing such authority to make such further inquiry as it may consider proper in the circumstances of the case or pass such other order as he may deem fit: Provided that no order enhancing the amount of pension or gratuity to be withheld or withdrawn, shall be made by the President unless the railway servant concerned has been given a reasonable opportunity of making a representation against the order proposed and except after consultation with the Union Public Service Commission. (11) The President may at any time, either on his own motion or otherwise review any order passed under these rules, where extenuating or special circumstances exist to warrant such review or when any new material or evidence which could not be produced or was not available at the time of passing the order under review and which has the effect of changing the nature of the case, has come, or has been brought, to his notice: Provided that no order enhancing the amount of the pension or gratuity to be withheld or withdrawn, shall be made by the President unless the railway servant concerned has been given a reasonable opportunity of making a representation against the order proposed and except after consultation with the Union Public Service Commission. Explanation.- For the purposes of this rule,- (1) (a) the departmental proceedings shall be deemed to be instituted on the date on which the statement of charges is issued to the Railway servant or pensioner, or if the railway servant has been placed under suspension from an earlier date, on such date; and (b) the judicial proceedings shall be deemed to be instituted, – (i) in the case of criminal proceedings, on the date on which the complaint or report of a police officer, of which the Magistrate takes cognisance, is made; and (ii) in the case of civil proceedings, on the date the suit is filed in the court. (2) the expression “misconduct” means any act done or omitted to be done by the pensioner, during the period of service, including service rendered upon re-employment after retirement, and which was in violation of any provisions of the Railway Services (Conduct) Rules, 1966, for which action under Railway Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1968 could be taken during the period of service. (3) the expression “civil proceedings” would mean such proceedings in respect of a civil suit filed by the Government. 9. Commercial employment after retirement.- (1) If a pensioner who, immediately before his retirement was a member of Railway Service Group `A' wishes to accept any commercial employment before the expiry of one year from the date of his retirement, he shall obtain the previous sanction of the Government to such acceptance by submitting an application in Form 1: Provided that a railway servant who was permitted by the Government to take up a particular form of commercial employment during his leave preparatory to retirement or during refused leave shall not be required to obtain subsequent permission for his continuance in such employment after retirement: Provided further that a railway servant shall not negotiate for commercial employment during service without prior permission of the Ministry of Railways and such permission shall not be given unless there are special reasons for doing so. (2) Subject to the provisions of sub-rule (3), the Government may, by order in writing, on an application made under sub-rule (1) by a pensioner,- (a) grant necessary permission to such pensioner to take up the commercial employment specified in the application, subject to such conditions, if any, as it may deem necessary; or (b) refuse permission to such pensioner to take up the commercial employment specified in the application, for reasons to be recorded in the order. (3) In granting or refusing permission under sub-rule (2) to a pensioner for taking up any commercial employment, the Government shall have regard to the following factors, namely:- (a) whether a ‘no objection’ for the proposed post retirement commercial employment has been obtained from the cadre controlling authority and the office from where the officer had retired; (b) whether the officer has been privy to sensitive or strategic information in the last three years of his service which is directly related to the areas of interest or work of the organisation which he proposes to join or the areas in which he proposes to practise or consult; (c) whether there is conflict of interest between the policies of the office he has held in the last three years and the interest represented or work undertaken by the organisation he proposes to join; Explanation.- For the purposes of this clause, “conflict of interest” shall not include normal economic competition with the Government or its undertakings. (d) whether the organisation he proposes to join has been known to be in any way in conflict with or prejudicial to India’s foreign relations, national security and domestic harmony, and whether the organisation is undertaking any activity for intelligence gathering; (e) whether service record of the officer is clear, particularly with respect to integrity and dealings with non Government organisations; (f) whether the proposed emoluments and pecuniary benefits are far in excess of those currently prevailing in the industry; Explanation.- For the purposes of this clause, the words “far in excess” shall not be construed as to cover increase in such benefit that may be as a result of buoyancy in the industry or in the economy as a whole. (g) any other relevant factor which may be in the knowledge of the Ministry of Railways (Railway Board) but are not included in the criteria in this rule or the matters on which specific instructions may be issued by Ministry of Railways from time to time. (4) The applications of pensioners for permission to accept commercial employment shall be considered in accordance with the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961 and the instructions issued by the Government from time to time. (5) In order to ensure that all aspects relating to the case have received proper attention, the Railway shall maintain a check list in Form 2. (6) Where the pensioner is not disqualified on account of any of the factors mentioned in clauses (b) to (g) of sub- rule (3), the Railway may,- (a) liberally grant permission for Directorship of a firm or consultancy or practice in professional areas; (b) actively encourage post service employment in scientific, literary, cultural, social and artistic activity; (c) be liberal in granting permission for posts of responsibility in non-Government sector; and (d) not distinguish between honorary and paid employment and self-employment. (7) Where the Government grants the permission applied for subject to any conditions or refuses such permission, the applicant may, within thirty days of the receipt of the order of the Government to that effect, make a representation against any such condition or refusal and the Government may make such orders thereon as it deems fit: Provided that no order other than an order cancelling such condition or granting such permission without any conditions shall be made under this sub-rule without giving the pensioner making the representation an opportunity to show cause against the order proposed to be made. (8) If any pensioner takes up any commercial employment at any time before the expiry of one year from the date of his retirement without the prior permission of the Government or commits a breach of any condition subject to which permission to take up any commercial employment has been granted to him under this rule, it shall be competent for the Government to declare by order in writing and for reasons to be recorded therein that he shall not be entitled to the whole or such part of the pension and for such periods as may be specified in the order: Provided that no such order shall be made without giving the pensioner concerned an opportunity of showing cause against such declaration: Provided further that in making any order under this sub-rule, the Government shall have regard to the following factors namely:- (i) the financial circumstances of the pensioner concerned; (ii) the nature of, and the emoluments from the commercial employment taken up by the pensioner concerned; and (iii) any other relevant factor. (9) Every order passed by the Government under this rule shall be communicated to the pensioner concerned. Explanation.- For the purposes of this rule, the expressions - (a) “commercial employment” means- (i) an employment in any capacity including that of an agent, under a company, co-operative society (which includes holding of any office, whether elective or otherwise, such as that of President, Chairman, Manager, Secretary, Treasurer and the like, by whatever name called in such society), firm or individual engaged in trading, commercial, industrial, financial or professional business and includes also a directorship of such company and partnership of such firm, but does not include employment under a body corporate, wholly or substantially owned or controlled by the Central Government or a State Government; (ii) setting up practice, either independently or as a partner of a firm, as adviser or consultant in matters in respect of which the pensioner – (A) has no professional qualifications and the matters in respect of which the practice is to be set up or is carried on are relatable to his official knowledge or experience; or (B) has professional qualifications but the matters in respect of which such practice is to be set up are such as are likely to give his clients an unfair advantage by reason of his previous official position; or (C) has to undertake work involving liaison or contact with the offices or officers of the Government. (b) “date of retirement”, in relation to a railway servant re-employed after retirement, without any break, either in the same or in another Group ‘A’ post under the Government or in any other equivalent post under a State Government, means the date on which such railway servant finally ceases to be so re-employed in Government service. 10. Employment after retirement under a Government outside India- (1) If a pensioner, who immediately before his retirement was a member of Railway Service, Group `A', wishes to accept any employment under any Government outside India, he shall obtain the previous permission of the Ministry of Railways (Railway Board), for such acceptance, and no pension shall be payable to a pensioner who accepts such an employment without proper permission in respect of any period for which he is so employed or such longer period as the Government may direct : Provided that a railway servant who was permitted by the Ministry of Railways (Railway Board) to take up a particular form of employment under any Government outside India during his leave preparatory to retirement shall not be required to obtain subsequent permission for his continuance in such employment after retirement. Explanation.- For the purpose of this rule, the expression “employment under any Government outside India” includes employment under any local authority or corporation or any other institution or organisation which functions under the supervision or control of a Government outside India, or an employment under an International Organisation of which the Government of India is not a member. (2) The request of a pensioner for permission to accept employment under a Government outside India shall be considered in accordance with the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961 and the instructions issued by the Government from time to time. CHAPTER III Qualifying service 11. Commencement of qualifying service.- Subject to the provisions of these rules, qualifying service of a railway servant shall commence from the date he takes charge of the post to which he is first appointed either substantively or in an officiating or temporary capacity: Provided that officiating or temporary service is followed without interruption by substantive appointment in the same or another service or post: Provided further that service rendered before attaining the age of eighteen years shall not count, except in the cases of counting of military service for civil pension under rule 20. 12. Conditions subject to which service qualifies.- The service of a railway servant shall not qualify, unless his duties and pay are regulated by the Government, or under the conditions determined by the Government. Explanation.- For the purposes of this rule, the expression “service” means service under the Government and paid by that Government from the Consolidated Fund of India or a Local Fund administered by that Government but does not include service in an establishment not having a non-contributory pension scheme, unless such service is treated as qualifying service by that Government. 13. Service in State Governments.- (1) In the case of a railway servant earlier belonging to a State Government, who was initially appointed in a pensionable establishment of the State Government on or before the 31st December, 2003 and who is permanently transferred to a service or post to which these rules apply, the continuous service rendered under the State Government in an officiating or temporary or substantive capacity shall qualify: Provided that continuous service rendered under that Government in an officiating or temporary capacity shall qualify if that service is followed without interruption by substantive appointment in the State Government or the Central Government. (2) In the case of a railway servant earlier belonging to a State Government who is appointed with proper permission to a service or post to which these rules apply after acceptance of his resignation from the service of State Government, the continuous service rendered under the State Government in an officiating or temporary or substantive capacity shall qualify, subject to the condition that the service rendered under that Government in an officiating or temporary capacity is followed without interruption by substantive appointment in the State Government or the Central Government. Explanation.- A railway servant shall be deemed to have been appointed in the Railways with proper permission if he had applied for the service or post in the Railways with previous permission of the State Government and the order of the State Government clearly indicates that the employee is resigning to join the post in the Railways with proper permission of the State Government. (3) The liability for pension and gratuity in cases covered under sub-rules (1) and (2) shall be borne by the Railways and no recovery of proportionate pension shall be made from the State Government. 14. Service in autonomous bodies.- (1) In the case of a person who was initially appointed, on or before the 31st December, 2003, in an autonomous body under the Central Government or a State Government having a non- contributory pension scheme similar to these rules and who is subsequently appointed with proper permission to a service or post in the Railways to which these rules apply, after acceptance of his resignation from the said autonomous body, the service rendered under the said autonomous body in an officiating or temporary or substantive capacity shall qualify, subject to the following conditions, namely:- (a) the appointment of that railway servant in an officiating or temporary capacity in the Railways is followed without interruption by substantive appointment; (b) the railway servant is not drawing a separate pension from the said autonomous body for the service rendered in that body before acceptance of resignation; and (c) the pension liability is discharged by the said autonomous body by paying in lump sum the amount of pension or service gratuity and retirement gratuity for the service rendered in the autonomous body; and (d) the lump sum amount of pension shall be determined with reference to the Table indicating the commutation values for a pension appended to the Railway Services (Commutation of Pension) Rules, 1993. (2) The condition for discharge of pension liability by an autonomous body under the State Government having a non-contributory pension scheme similar to these rules shall be binding on that autonomous body in accordance with the reciprocal arrangement entered into by the Railways with the concerned State Government. Explanation.- A railway servant shall be deemed to have been appointed in the Railways with proper permission if he had applied for the service or post in the Railways with previous permission of the Autonomous Body and the order of the Autonomous Body clearly indicates that the employee is resigning to join the post in the Railways with proper permission of the autonomous body. (3) Service rendered in a public sector undertaking, including nationalised bank and financial institution, before appointment in the railways shall not count as qualifying service for the purpose of these rules. 15. Counting of service of Substitute, service rendered by a Scientific employee in semi-Government institution and service rendered in Indian Railway Conference Association – (1) Where a person who, after appointment as a Substitute under the Ministry of Railways, was granted temporary status on or before the 31st December, 2003 and was subsequently absorbed in a regular Group ‘C’ or Group ‘D’ post without any break, service rendered by him as substitute shall be counted for pensionary benefits from the date of completion four months in other cases of continuous service as substitute. (2) On permanent appointment to a pensionable railway service on or before the 31st December, 2003 without any interruption, service rendered by a scientific employee in a semi-Government institution financed from cess or Government grants, if he was subscribing to a Contributory Provident Fund during such service, shall be counted as service qualifying for pension: Provided that the contribution together with interest thereon paid by the said institution is made over to the Government but so much of the period of service during which he did not subscribe to the Contributory Provident Fund shall not be so reckoned unless the previous employer agrees to bear proportionate liability on account of pensionary benefits for the service so rendered. Provided further that the previous service shall be reckoned as qualifying for pension if the employee was not on a Contributory Provident Fund basis in such an institution and the previous employer agreed to bear proportionate liability on account of pensionary benefits. (3) If a part of the service rendered by a railway servant in the Indian Railway Conference Association, such service shall be deemed as having been rendered under the Government and shall be taken into account for calculating the qualifying service under these rules; Provided that the transfer has been effected as a result of the railway servants application having been forwarded through proper channel or in consequence of the Indian Railway Conference Association and the Indian Railway Administration having agreed to such transfer on account of the employee’s special qualification or experience. 16. Counting of service on probation.- Service on probation against a post if followed by confirmation in the same or another post shall qualify. 17. Counting of service as apprentice.- Service as an apprentice shall not qualify. 18. Counting of service on contract.- A person,- (a) who was initially engaged by the Railways on a contract for a specified period and was subsequently appointed, on or before the 31st December, 2003, to the same or another post in a temporary, officiating or substantive capacity in an establishment to which these rules apply, without interruption of duty; and (b) who, in accordance with the option exercised under rule 24 of the Railway Services (Pension) Rules, 1993, refunded to the Railways, the Government contribution in the Contributory Provident Fund with interest thereon including any other compensation for that service, shall count the period of service, on the said contract, as qualifying service. 19. Counting of pre-retirement Civil service in the case of re-employed railway servant.- (1) A railway servant who, having retired on compensation pension or invalid pension or compensation gratuity or invalid gratuity, was re-employed and appointed, on or before the 31st day of December, 2003 to a service or post to which these rules apply and who on such reemployment or appointment, in accordance with an option exercised under the Railway Services (Pension) Rules, 1993, ceased to draw his pension and refunded or agreed to refund – (a) the pension already drawn; (b) the value received for the commutation of a part of pension; and (c) the amount of retirement gratuity including service gratuity; if any, shall be count the former service, as qualifying service: (2) In accordance with the Railway Services (Pension) Rules, 1993, for counting past service under the relevant rule, (a) the pension drawn prior to the date of re-employment was not required to be refunded; (b) the element of pension which was ignored for fixation of his pay including the element of pension which was not taken into account for fixation of pay was to be refunded by the railway servant; and (c) the element of pension equivalent of gratuity including the element of commuted part of pension, if any, which was taken into account for fixation of his pay was to be set off against the amount of retirement gratuity and the commuted value of pension and the balance, if any, was to be refunded by him. Explanation. — For the purposes in this sub-rule, the expression “which was taken into account” means, the amount of pension including the pension equivalent of gratuity by which pay of the railway servant was reduced on initial re- employment and the expression “which was not taken into account” shall be construed accordingly. (3) A railway servant who opted for counting of his former service was required to refund the gratuity received in respect of his earlier service, in monthly instalments not exceeding thirty-six in number, the first instalment beginning from the month following the month in which he exercised the option. In such case, the right to count previous service as qualifying service shall not revive unless the whole amount has been refunded. (4) In the case of a railway servant, who, having elected to refund the gratuity, dies before the entire amount is refunded, the amount of unrefunded gratuity shall be adjusted against the death gratuity which may become payable to his family. (5) In the case of a railway servant who opted to continue to draw the pension or retain the gratuity sanctioned for his earlier service, and in whose case his former service was not to be counted as qualifying service, the pension or gratuity admissible for his subsequent service is subject to the limitation that service gratuity, or the capital value of the pension and retirement gratuity, if any, shall not be greater than the difference between the value of the pension and retirement gratuity, if any, that would be admissible at the time of the railway servant’s final retirement if the two periods of service were combined and the value of retirement benefits already granted to him for the previous service. Explanation.- The capital value of pension shall be calculated in accordance with the Table indicating the commutation values for a pension appended to the Railway Services (Commutation of Pension) Rules, 1993 applicable at the time of the second or final retirement. 20. Counting of military service rendered before employment on the railway.- (1) A railway servant, who after having rendered military service, was re-employed in a railway service or post on or before the 31st day of December, 2003 and who on such re-employment, in accordance with an option exercised under the Railway Services (Pension) Rules, 1993, ceased to draw his pension and refunded or agreed to refund – (a) the pension already drawn; and (b) the value received for the commutation of a part of military pension; and (c) the amount of retirement gratuity including service gratuity, if any; shall count previous military service, as qualifying service. Explanation.- 1 In accordance with the Railway Services (Pension) Rules, 1993, for counting past military service under the relevant rule, (i) the pension drawn prior to the date of re-employment was to be refunded; (ii) the element of pension which was ignored for fixation of his pay including the element of pension which was not taken into account for fixation of pay on re-employment was to be refunded by him; (iii) the element of pension equivalent of gratuity including the element of commuted part of pension, if any, which was taken into account of fixation of pay was required to be set off against the amount of retirement gratuity and the commuted value of pension and the balance, if any, was required to be refunded by him; Note. - In this Explanation, the expression "which was taken into account" means the amount of pension including the pension equivalent of gratuity by which the pay of the railway servant was reduced on initial re-employment and the expression "which was not taken into account" shall be construed accordingly. Explanation.- 2 A railway servant, who had rendered military service and who on re-employment in a railway service or post on or before the 31st day of December, 2003, had opted, in accordance with rule 34 of Railway Services (Pension) Rules, 1993, to continue to draw the military pension or retain gratuity received on discharge from military service, his former military services shall not count as qualifying service under these rules. Explanation.- 3 A railway servant, who had rendered military service after joining that service on or after the 31st day of December, 2003, shall, on re-employment in a railway service or post, continue to draw the military pension or retain gratuity received on discharge from military service and on re-employment in a railway service or post, he shall be covered by the rules governing the National Pension System. (2) A railway servant, who had exercised the option referred to in sub-rule (1), was required to refund the pension, bonus or gratuity received in respect of his earlier military service, in monthly installments not exceeding thirty-six in number, the first instalment beginning from the month following the month in which he exercised the option and in the case of such railway servant, the right to count previous service as qualifying service shall not revive unless the whole amount has been refunded. (3) In the case of a railway servant, who, having elected to refund the pension, bonus or gratuity, dies before the entire amount is refunded, the unrefunded amount of pension or gratuity shall be adjusted against the death gratuity which may become payable to his family. (4) Where an order was passed under the Railway Services (Pension) Rules, 1993 allowing previous military service to count as part of the service qualifying for railway pension, the order shall be deemed to include the condonation of interruption in service, if any, in the military service and between the military and railway services. (5) The pension and gratuity for the service rendered after re-employment in railway service or post shall not be subject to any limitation with references to the pension and gratuity drawn by the railway servant in respect of the military service. 21. Counting of periods spent on leave.- All leave during service for which leave salary is payable and all extraordinary leave granted on medical certificate shall count as qualifying service: Provided that in the case of extraordinary leave other than extraordinary leave granted on medical certificate, the appointing authority may, at the time of granting such leave, allow the period of that leave to count as qualifying service if such leave is granted to a railway servant,- (i) due to his inability to join or re-join duty on account of civil commotion; or (ii) for prosecuting higher scientific and technical studies. Explanation.- In the case of extraordinary leave other than extraordinary leave granted on medical certificate and extraordinary leave allowed to be counted as qualifying service under proviso to this rule, at the time of grant of such leave, a definite entry shall be made in the service book of the railway servant to the effect that the period of extraordinary leave shall not be treated as qualifying service and such an entry in the service book, if not made at the time of grant of extraordinary leave, can be made subsequently but not later than six months before the date of retirement of the railway servant on superannuation and if no such entry is made in the service book, the period of extraordinary leave shall be treated as qualifying service. 22. Counting of periods spent on training.- (1) In the case of railway servant who was required to undergo a departmental training before regular appointment to a Group ‘C’ post and was in receipt of pay in a scale of pay or a stipend or a nominal allowance during such training, the period of such training shall count as qualifying service. (2) In cases not covered under sub-rule (1), the Ministry of Railways may, by order, decide whether the time spent by a railway servant under training immediately before appointment to service under the Railways shall be counted as qualifying service. (3) Where time spent by a railway servant under training immediately before appointment to service under the Railways is counted as qualifying service, interruption due to the training and regular appointment being at different stations, not exceeding the joining time permissible under the rules of transfer, shall be counted as qualifying service. (4) Where the period of interruption is in excess of joining time due to administrative reasons, such period of interruption in excess of joining time shall be regularized by grant of leave of the kind due or, if no such leave is due, by grant of extraordinary leave by the Head of Department and the period of interruption regularised by grant of extraordinary leave shall be counted as qualifying service. 23. Counting of periods of suspension.- (1) Time passed by a railway servant under suspension pending inquiry into his conduct shall be counted as qualifying service only where, on conclusion of such inquiry, he has been fully exonerated or only a minor penalty is imposed and the suspension is held to be wholly unjustified. (2) In cases not covered under sub-rule (1), the period of suspension shall not count unless the authority competent to pass orders under the rule governing such cases expressly declares at the time that it shall count to such extent as the competent authority may declare. (3) In all cases of suspension, the competent authority shall pass an order specifying the extent to which, if any, the period of suspension shall count as qualifying service and a definite entry shall be made in the service book of the railway servant in this regard. 24. Forfeiture of service on dismissal or removal.- Dismissal or removal of a railway servant from a service or post shall entail forfeiture of his past service. 25. Counting of past service on reinstatement.- (1) A railway servant who was dismissed, removed or compulsorily retired from service, and is subsequently reinstated on appeal or review, is entitled to count his past service as qualifying service. (2) The period of interruption in service between the date of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement, as the case may be, and the date of reinstatement, and the period of suspension, if any, shall not count as qualifying service unless regularised as duty or leave by a specific order of the authority which passed the order of reinstatement. 26. Forfeiture of service on resignation.- (1) Resignation from a service or a post, unless it is allowed to be withdrawn in the public interest by the appointing authority, entails forfeiture of past service. (2) A resignation shall not entail forfeiture of past service if it has been submitted to take up, with proper permission, another appointment, whether temporary or permanent, under the Government where service qualifies for pension. (3) The order accepting the resignation should clearly indicate that the railway servant has resigned to join another appointment with proper permission and a specific entry to this effect shall also be made by the Head of Office in the service book of the railway servant. (4) Interruption in service in a case falling under sub-rule (2), due to the two appointments being at different stations, not exceeding the joining time permissible under the rules of transfer, shall be covered by grant of leave of any kind due to the railway servant on the date of relief or by formal condonation to the extent to which the period is not covered by leave due to him. (5) The appointing authority may permit a person to withdraw his resignation in the public interest on the following conditions, namely:- (a) that the resignation was tendered by the railway servant for some compelling reasons which did not involve any reflection on his integrity, efficiency or conduct and the request for withdrawal of the resignation has been made as a result of a material change in the circumstances which originally compelled him to tender the resignation; (b) that during the period intervening between the date on which the resignation became effective and the date from which the request for withdrawal was made, the conduct of the person concerned was in no way improper; (c) that the period of absence from duty between the date on which the resignation became effective and the date on which the person applies for permission to withdraw the resignation is not more than ninety days; (d) that the post, which was vacated by the railway servant on the acceptance of his resignation or any other comparable post, is available. (6) Request for withdrawal of a resignation shall not be accepted by the appointing authority where a railway servant resigns his service or post with a view to taking up an appointment in or under a private commercial company or in or under a corporation or company wholly or substantially owned or controlled by the Government or in or under a body controlled or financed by the Government. (7) When an order is passed by the appointing authority allowing a person to withdraw his resignation and to resume duty, the order shall be deemed to include the condonation of interruption in service but the period of interruption shall not count as qualifying service. (8) A resignation submitted for the purpose of rule 35 or rule 36 shall not entail forfeiture of past service under the Railways. 27. Effect of interruption in service.- (1) An interruption in the service of a railway servant entails forfeiture of his past service, except in the following cases, namely:- (a) authorised leave of absence; (b) unauthorised absence in continuation of authorised leave of absence so long as the post of absentee is not filled substantively; (c) suspension, where it is immediately followed by reinstatement, whether in the same or a different post, or where the railway servant dies or is permitted to retire or is retired on attaining the age of superannuation while under suspension; (d) transfer to non-qualifying service in an establishment under the control of the Government if such transfer has been ordered by the competent authority in the public interest; (e) joining time while on transfer from one post to another. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1), the appointing authority may, by order, commute retrospectively the periods of absence without leave as extraordinary leave. 28. Condonation of interruption in service.- (1) In the absence of a specific indication to the contrary in the service book, an interruption between two spells of Government service rendered by a railway servant under Government including civil service rendered and paid out of Defence Services Estimates or Railway Estimates shall be treated as automatically condoned and the pre-interruption service treated as qualifying service. (2) Nothing in sub-rule (1) shall apply to interruption caused by resignation, dismissal or removal from service or for participation in a strike. (3) The period of interruption referred to in sub-rule (1) shall not count as qualifying service. (4) The appointing authority may consider condonation of interruption in service and to treat the pre-interruption service as qualifying service. (5) The appointing authority may take a decision not to condone interruption in service only in exceptional and grave circumstances. (6) No such order against condonation of interruption in service shall be passed by the appointing authority without extending to the railway servant a reasonable opportunity of representation and being heard in person. 29. Deputation to United Nations and other organisations.- A railway servant who is deputed on foreign service to the United Nations’ Secretariat or other United Nations’ Bodies or the International Monetary Fund or the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development, or the Asian Development Bank or the Commonwealth Secretariat or any other International organisation may opt,- (a) to pay the pension contributions in respect of his foreign service and count such service as qualifying for pension under these rules; or (b) not to pay the pension contributions in respect of his foreign service and not count such service as qualifying for pension under these rules: Provided that where a railway servant opts for clause (b), pension contributions, if any, paid by the railway servant shall be refunded to him. 30. Periodic verification of qualifying service.- (1) On each occasion after a railway servant has completed eighteen years of service and on his being left with five years of service before the date of superannuation, the Head of Office in consultation with Accounts Officer shall, in accordance with the rules for the time being in force, verify the service rendered by such a railway servant, determine the qualifying service and communicate to him, in Format 3, the period of qualifying service so determined. (2) For the purposes of verification of service, the Head of Office shall follow the procedure provided in clause (a) of sub-rule (1) of rule 57. (3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1), where a railway servant is transferred to another department from a temporary department or on account of the closure of the department he had been previously serving or because the post he held had been declared surplus, the verification of his service may be done whenever such event occurs. (4) The verification done under this rule shall be treated as final and shall not be reopened except when necessitated by a subsequent change in the rules and orders governing the conditions under which the service qualifies for pension. (5) By 31st January of each year, a report shall be submitted to the Railway Board giving the details of the railway servants who were required to be issued a certificate of qualifying service during the previous calendar year under sub- rule (1), the details of the railway servants who have actually been issued the said certificate during the said period and the reasons for not issuing the said certificate in the remaining cases. CHAPTER IV Emoluments and Average Emoluments 31. Emoluments.- (1) Where a railway servant immediately before his retirement or death while in service had been absent from duty on leave for which leave salary is payable or on extraordinary leave on medical certificate or, having been suspended, had been reinstated without forfeiture of service, the emoluments which he would have drawn had he not been absent from duty or suspended shall form part of his emoluments: Provided that any increase in pay [other than the increment referred to in sub-rule (4) and the notional increase in pay referred to in sub-rule (9) or sub-rule (10)] which is not actually drawn shall not form part of his emoluments. (2) Where a railway servant immediately before his retirement or death while in service had proceeded on leave for which leave salary is payable after having held a higher appointment whether in an officiating or temporary capacity, the benefit of emoluments drawn in such higher appointment shall be given only if it is certified that the railway servant would have continued to hold the higher appointment but for his proceeding on leave. (3) Where a railway servant immediately before his retirement or death while in service had been absent from duty on extraordinary leave or had been under suspension, the period whereof does not count as service, the emoluments which he drew immediately before proceeding on such leave or being placed under suspension shall form part of his emoluments. (4) Where a railway servant immediately before his retirement or death while in service, was on leave, and earned an increment which was not withheld, such increment, though not actually drawn, shall form part of his emoluments. (5) Pay drawn by a railway servant while on deputation to an ex-cadre post in the same or some other Department of the Government or to the Armed Forces of India shall be treated as emoluments: Provided that in the case of a railway servant while on leave after release from the ex-cadre post on completion of the period of deputation, the pay which he would have drawn in the parent department had he not been on leave shall be treated as emoluments. (6) Pay drawn by a railway servant while on deputation to a State Government or while on foreign service shall not be treated as emoluments, but the pay which he would have drawn under the Railways had he not been on deputation to the State Government or on foreign service shall alone be treated as emoluments. (7) Where a pensioner who is re-employed in railway service elected to retain his pension for earlier serviceand whose pay on re-employment had been reduced by an amount not exceeding his pension, the element of pension by which his pay is reduced shall be treated as emoluments. (8) When a railway servant has been transferred to a public sector undertaking or to an autonomous body consequent on the conversion of a Department of the Railways into such public sector undertaking or autonomous body and the railway servant so transferred opts to retain the pensionary benefits under the rules of the Railways, the emoluments drawn under the public sector undertaking or autonomous body shall be treated as emoluments. (9) Where the pay of a railway servant is notionally increased with retrospective effect in any of the following circumstances after his retirement, such notional pay shall be treated as emoluments, namely:- (a) the pay scale of the post from which the pensioner retired is increased with retrospective affect from a date when the pensioner was in service and his pay in the higher pay scale is fixed from such date on notional basis; (b) the retired railway servant is promoted from a retrospective date on the recommendation of a Review Departmental Promotion Committee or on exoneration in any departmental proceedings or in compliance of a court order and the benefit of fixation of pay is allowed to the pensioner on notional basis from the date of such promotion. (10) Where a railway servant dies during the currency of a penalty which has the effect of reducing his pay only during the currency of that penalty and on expiry of which he would have regained the pay admissible to him without any impact of the said penalty, the notional pay on the date of death ignoring the effect of such penalty shall be treated as emoluments. Explanation .- For the purposes of this rule, the expression ‘emoluments’ means basic pay, as defined in clause (i) of rule 1303 of the Code which a railway servant was receiving immediately before his retirement or on the date of his death, and shall also include,- (i) non-practising allowance granted to a medical officer in lieu of private practice; (ii) Stagnation increment; (iii) fifty-five per cent. of the basic pay, in the case of running Staff. 32. Average emoluments.- (1) Average emoluments shall be determined with reference to the emoluments drawn by a railway servant during the last ten months of his service. (2) In case during the last ten months of his service a railway servant had been absent from duty on leavefor which leave salary is payable or on extraordinary leave on medical certificate or having been suspended had been reinstated without forfeiture of service, the emoluments which he would have drawn had he not been absent from dutyor suspended shall be taken into account for determining the average emoluments : Provided that any increase in pay [other than the increment referred to in sub-rule (4) and the notional increase in pay referred to in sub-rule (5) or sub-rule (6)] which is not actually drawn shall not form part of his emoluments. (3) In case during the last ten months of his service, a railway servant had been absent from duty on extraordinary leave, or had been under suspension the period whereof does not count as service, the aforesaid period of leave or suspension shall be disregarded in the calculation of the average emoluments and equal period beforethe ten months shall be included. In order that the fractions of a month, when added, worked out to one full month, a month for this purpose shall be reckoned as consisting of thirty days. Illustration.- A railway servant retires on 16th July, 2019. The last ten months comprise nine full months and fractions of fourteen days of September, 2018 and sixteen days of July, 2019. The emoluments for fractional periods shall be computed by multiplying the emolument by the factor 14/30 and 16/30 irrespective of the number of days in the month. This formula shall also apply in the case of the month of February, irrespective of whether the month has twenty-eight days or twenty nine days. (4) In the case of a railway servant who was on leave during the last ten months of his service and earned an increment, which was not withheld, such increment though not actually drawn shall be included in the average emoluments. (5) Where the pay of a railway servant is notionally increased with retrospective effect during the last ten months of his service in any of the following circumstances after his retirement, such notional pay shall be taken into account for determining the average emoluments for the purpose of this rule,- (a) the pay scale of the post from which the pensioner retired is increased with retrospective effect from a date when the pensioner was in service and his pay in the higher pay scale is fixed from such date on notional basis; (b) the retired railway servant is promoted from a retrospective date on the recommendation of a review Departmental Promotion Committee or on exoneration in any departmental proceedings or incompliance of a court order and the benefit of fixation of pay is allowed to the pensioner on notional basis from the date of such promotion. (6) Where a railway servant dies during the currency of a penalty which has the effect of reducing his pay only during the currency of that penalty and on expiry of which he would have regained the pay admissible to him without any impact of the said penalty, the notional pay during the last ten months of his service ignoring the effect of such penalty shall be taken into account for determining the average emoluments. CHAPTER V Classes of pensions and conditions governing their grant 33. Superannuation pension or service gratuity.- A superannuation pension or superannuation service gratuity, as the case may be, shall be granted in accordance with rule 44 to a railway servant who is retired on his attaining the age of superannuation or, if the service of the railway servant has been extended beyond superannuation, on expiry of such period of extension of service beyond the age of superannuation. 34. Retiring pension or service gratuity.- (1) A retiring pension or retiring service gratuity, as the case may be, shall be granted in accordance with rule 44, to a railway servant ,- (a) who retires on his volition, before attaining the age of superannuation, in accordance with the provisions of rule 43, or chapter 18 of the Code; or (b) who, on being declared surplus, opts for voluntary retirement in accordance with the provisions of the Special Voluntary Retirement Scheme for surplus employees notified by Ministry of Railways’ letter No. E(P&A)- I-2002/RT-1 dated 4th day of August, 2004, as amended from time to time; or (c) who is retired by the railways, before attaining the age of superannuation, in accordance with the provisions of rule 42 of these rules or chapter 18 of the Code. (2) A permanent railway servant, who on being declared surplus to the establishment in which he was serving, opts for Special Voluntary Retirement Scheme notified by the Ministry of Railways’ letter No. E(P&A)-I-2002/RT-1 dated 4th day of August, 2004, as amended from time to time, shall be entitled to payment of ex-gratia amount in accordance with that Scheme, in addition to the retiring pension or service gratuity in accordance with rule 44 and retirement gratuity under rule 45. 35. Pension on absorption in or under a State Government.- A railway servant, who has been permitted to be absorbed in a service or post in or under a State Government, shall be deemed to have retired from service under the Railways from the date of such absorption and, subject to sub-rule (6), he shall be eligible, on such absorption, to receive pension or service gratuity, as the case may be, and retirement gratuity on the basis of the qualifying service and emoluments on the date of absorption in accordance with rules 44 and 45: Provided that on retirement from the State Government, the total amount of gratuity in respect of the service rendered under the Railways and the service rendered in the State Government shall not exceed the amount that would have been admissible had the railway servant continued in the railway service and retired on the same pay which he drew on retirement from the State Government. (2) The date of absorption shall be (a) in case a railway servant joins a State Government on immediate absorption basis, the date on which he actually joins that Government. For this purpose, immediate absorption would mean acceptance of a technical resignation of a railway servant from railway service to enable him to take up an appointmentin the State Government, for which he had applied with proper permission; (b) in case a railway servant initially joins a State Government on deputation, the date from which his unqualified resignation is accepted by the Railways. (3) In the case of a railway servant who joins a State Government on immediate absorption basis, the relieving order shall be issued in the Format 4 which, shall indicate the period within which the railway servant shall join the State Government: Provided that this period may be extended by the relieving authority for reasons beyond the control of the railway servant, which shall be recorded in writing. (4) The period between the date of relief and the date of joining in the State Government may be regularised by grant of leave due and, if no such leave is due, the period may be regularised by grant of extraordinary leave. (5) The relieving authority, before processing the case for sanction of retirement benefits, shall ascertain the date of joining by the railway servant in the State Government and accept the resignation of the railway servant from the date preceding the date of joining. (6) Where a pension scheme similar to the pension scheme under these rules exists in the State Government in whicha railway servant is absorbed, he shall be entitled to exercise option either,- (a) to receive retirement benefits for the service rendered under the Railways in accordance with sub-rule (1); or (b) to count the service rendered under the Railways in that State Government. (7) Where a railway servant is absorbed in a State Government and exercises an option under clause (b) of sub- rule (6), on retirement from the State Government, the payment of pension and gratuity for the entire service, including the service rendered in the Railways, shall be made by that Government and no liability of proportionate pension shall be borne by the Railways. 36. Pension on absorption in or under a corporation, company or body.-(1) A railway servant who has been permitted to be absorbed in a service or post in or under a corporation or company wholly or substantially owned or controlled by the Central Government or a State Government or in or under a Body controlled or financedby the Central Government or a State Government, shall be deemed to have retired from service from the date of such absorption and, subject to sub-rule (9), he shall be eligible, on such absorption, to receive pension or service gratuity, as the case may be, and retirement gratuity on the basis of the qualifying service and emoluments on the date of absorption in accordance with rules 44 and 45: Provided that on retirement from such corporation or company or body, the total amount of gratuity in respect of the service rendered under the Government and the service rendered in such corporation or company or body shall not exceed the amount that would have been admissible had the railway servant continued in railway service and retired on the same pay which he drew on retirement from that corporation or company or body. (2) The date of absorption shall be,- (a) in case, a railway servant joins a corporation or company or body on immediate absorption basis, the date on which he actually joins that corporation or company or body and for this purpose, immediate absorption would mean acceptance of a technical resignation of a railway servant from railway service to enable him to take up an appointment in a corporation or company wholly or substantially owned or controlled by the Central Government or a State Government or in or under a body controlled or financed by the Central Government or a State Government, for which he had applied with proper permission; (b) in case, a railway servant initially joins a corporation or company or body on foreign service terms, the date from which his unqualified resignation is accepted by the Railways. (3) The provisions of sub-rule (1) shall also apply to railway servants who are permitted to be absorbed in joint sector undertakings, wholly under the joint control of the Central Government and State Governments or Union territory administrations or under the joint control of two or more State Governments or Union territory administrations. (4) In the case of a railway servant who joins a corporation or company or body on immediate absorption basis, the relieving order shall be issued in the Format 4. (5) The relieving order shall indicate the period within which the railway servant shall join the corporation or company or the body: Provided that this period may be extended by the relieving authority for reasons beyond the control of the railway servant, which shall be recorded in writing. (6) The period between the date of relief and the date of joining in the corporation or company or the body maybe regularised by grant of leave due and if no such leave is due, the period may be regularised by grant of extraordinary leave. (7) The relieving authority, before processing the case for sanction of retirement benefits, shall ascertain the date of joining by the railway servant in the corporation or company or the body and accept the resignation of the railway servant from the date preceding the date of joining. (8) No lien of the railway servant shall be retained in the relieving department and all his connections with the Railways shall stand severed on his absorption in the corporation or company or the body. (9) Where a pension scheme similar to the pension scheme under these rules exists in a body controlled or financed by the Central Government or a State Government in which a railway servant is absorbed, he shall be entitled to exercise option either,- (a) to receive retirement benefits for the service rendered under the Railways in accordance with sub-rule (1); or (b) to count the service rendered under the Railways in that body for pension. (10) Where a railway servant is absorbed in a body controlled or financed by the Central Government or a State Government and exercises an option under clause (b) of sub-rule (9), the Railways shall discharge its pension liability by paying in lump sum as a one time payment. (11) The pension liability shall comprise the capitalised value of pension or service gratuity and retirement gratuity for the service up to the date of absorption in that body. (12) Lump sum amount of pension shall be determined with reference to the Table indicating the commutation values for a pension appended to the Railway Services (Commutation of Pension) Rules, 1993. Explanation.- For the purposes of this rules, body means autonomous body or statutory body. 37. Conditions for payment of pension on absorption consequent upon conversion of a Railway Department into a Public Sector Undertaking.-(1) On conversion of a department of the Railways intoa public sector undertaking, all railway servants of that Department shall be transferred en-masse to that public sector undertaking, on deemed deputation on terms of foreign service without any deputation allowance till such time as they get absorbed in the said undertaking, and such transferred railway servants shall be absorbed in the public sector undertaking with effect from such date as may be notified by the Government. (2) The public sector undertaking shall frame its rules and regulations within a time frame not exceeding five years. (3) After such rules and regulations are framed by the public sector undertaking, all railway servants on deemed deputation shall be asked, within a period not exceeding three months from the date of notification of the rules and regulations by the public sector undertaking, to exercise their option to revert back to the Railways or to seek permanent absorption in the public sector undertaking. (4) Such railway servants shall be asked to exercise this option within a period of three months from the date of the communication asking the railway servants to exercise the option. (5) The option referred to in sub-rules (2) to (4), shall be exercised by every transferred railway servant in such manner as may be specified by the Government. (6) In case, a railway servant, does not exercise any option within the prescribed time limit, shall be deemedto have opted for permanent absorption in the public sector undertaking. (7) The permanent absorption of the railway servants as employees of the public sector undertaking shall take effect from the date on which their options are accepted by the Government and on and from the date of such acceptance, such employees shall cease to be railway servants and they shall be deemed to have retired from railway service. (8) Upon absorption of railway servants in the public sector undertaking, the posts which they were holding inthe Railways before such absorption shall stand abolished. (9) The employees who opt to revert to railway service shall be repatriated to the Railways within two years from the date of exercise of the option and shall be redeployed through the surplus cell of the Railways. (10) The period between the date of option and the date of reversion to the Railways shall continue to be on deemed deputation on terms of foreign service without any deputation allowance. (11) Where an employee retires or dies during the period of such deemed deputation, the pay which he would have drawn under the Railways had he not been on deemed deputation shall be treated as emoluments for calculating the pensionary benefits to be paid by the Government. (12) The pensionary benefits in respect of such employee shall be drawn and paid in the manner to be specified by the Ministry of Railways. (13) Subject to the provisions of sub-rules (14) to (19), the employees including temporary employees but excluding casual labourers, who opt for permanent absorption in the public sector undertaking shall, on and from the date of absorption, be governed by the rules and regulations or bye-laws of the public sector undertaking. (14) A railway servant who has been absorbed as an employee of a public sector undertaking shall be entitledto exercise option either,- (a) to receive pension or service gratuity, as the case may be, and retirement gratuity from the Railways for the service rendered under the Railways in accordance with rules 44 and 45; or (b) to count the service rendered under the Railways in that public sector undertaking for pension and gratuity. (15) In the case of a railway servant who has exercised option under clause (a) of sub-rule (14), the pay which he would have drawn under the Railways had he not been on deemed deputation shall be treated as emoluments for calculating the pensionary benefits to be paid by the Railways and the pensionary benefits in respect of such employee shall be drawn and paid in the manner to be specified by the Ministry of Railways. (16) A railway servant who has exercised option under clause (b) of sub-rule (14) and his family shall be eligible for pensionary benefits (including commutation of pension, gratuity, family pension or extra-ordinary pension), on the basis of combined service rendered by the employee in the Railways and in the public sector undertaking in accordance with the formula for calculation of such pensionary benefits as may be in force in the Central Government at the time of his retirement from the public sector undertaking or his death. (17) (a) On retirement from the public sector undertaking or on death of an absorbed employee who has exercised option under clause (b) of sub-rule (14), the amount of pension or family pension shall be calculated in the same manner as calculated in the case of a railway servant retiring or dying, on the same day. Explanation.- The emoluments or average emoluments for this purpose shall be based on the pay drawn in the public sector undertaking as per Industrial Dearness Allowance pattern. (b) The pensionary benefits of such employee shall be drawn and paid in the manner specified in sub-rule (20) to sub-rule (28). (18) In addition to pension or family pension, as the case may be, the employee who opts for pension on the basis ofcombined service shall also be eligible to dearness relief as per Industrial Dearness Allowance pattern. (19) If a permanent railway servant absorbed in a public sector undertaking or a temporary railway servant, who has been confirmed in the public sector undertaking subsequent to his absorption therein, had exercised option under clause (b) of sub-rule (14), he shall be eligible to seek voluntary retirement after completing ten years of qualifying service with the Railways and the public sector undertaking taken together, and such person shall be eligible for pensionary benefits on the basis of these rules. (20) The Government shall create a Pension Fund in the form of a trust and the pensionary benefits of absorbed employees shall be paid out of such Pension Fund. (21)(a) The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Railway Board shall be the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Pension Fund. (b) The Board of Trustees shall include representatives of the Department of Expenditure, Department of Pension and Pensioner’s Welfare, Ministry of Labour and Employment, concerned public sector undertaking, employees of the concerned public sector undertaking and experts in the relevant field to be nominated by the Government. (22) The procedure and the manner in which pensionary benefits to the employees, who have exercised option under clause (b) of sub-rule (14), are to be sanctioned and disbursed from the Pension Fund shall be determined by theGovernment on the recommendation of the Board of Trustees. (23)(a) The Government shall discharge its pensionary liability in respect of employees, who have exercised option under clause (b) of sub-rule (14), by paying in lump sum as a one time payment to the Pension Fund. (b)The pensionary liability shall comprise the capitalised value of pension or service gratuity and retirement gratuity for the service rendered till the date of absorption of the railway servant in the public sector undertaking. (c) Lump sum amount of the pension shall be determined with reference to the Table indicating the commutation values for a pension appended to the Railway Services (Commutation of Pension) Rules, 1993. (24) The manner of sharing the financial liability on account of payment of pensionary benefits by the public sector undertaking to the employees who have exercised option under clause (a) of sub-rule (14), by the autonomous body shall be determined by the Government. (25) In respect of the employees who have exercised option under clause (b) of sub-rule (13), the autonomous body shall make pensionary contribution to the Pension Fund for the period of service to be rendered by the concerned employees under that body at the rates as may be determined by the Board of Trustees so that the Pension Fund shall be self-supporting. (26) If, for any financial or operational reason, the Trust is unable to discharge its liabilities fully from the Pension Fund and the public sector undertaking is also not in a position to meet the shortfall, the Government, shall be liable to meet such expenditure and such expenditure shall be debited to either the Fund or to the public sector undertaking, as the case may be. (27) Payments of pensionary benefits of the pensioners of a Railway Department who retired from that Department before the date of its conversion into an autonomous body shall continue to be the responsibility of the Railways and the mechanism for sharing its liabilities on this account shall be determined by the Government. (28) In case of conversion of a Railway Department into an autonomous body,- (a) the balance of provident fund standing at the credit of the absorbed employees on the date of their absorption in theautonomous body shall, with the consent of such body, be transferred to the new Provident Fund Account of the employees in such body; (b) earned leave and half pay leave at the credit of the employees on the date of absorption shall stand transferred to such body; (c) the dismissal or removal from service of the autonomous body of any employee after his absorption in such body for any subsequent misconduct shall not amount to forfeiture of the retirement benefits for the service rendered under the Railways and in the event of his dismissal or removal or retrenchment the decisions of the body shall be subjectto review by the Ministry of Railways. (29) In case the Government disinvests its equity in any autonomous body to the extent of fifty-one per cent or more, it shall specify adequate safeguards for protecting the interest of the absorbed employees of such autonomous body. (30) The safeguards specified under sub-rule (29) shall include option for voluntary retirement or continued service in the body, as the case may be, or voluntary retirement benefits on terms applicable to railway servant or servants of the autonomous body as per option of the employees, assured payment of earned pensionary benefits with relaxation in period of qualifying service, as may be decided by the Government. 39. Invalid Pension.-(1) The case of a railway servant acquiring disability, where the provisions of section 20 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016) are applicable, shall be governed by the provisions of the said section: Provided that such employee shall produce a disability certificate from the competent authority as prescribed under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017. (2) If a railway servant, in a case where the provisions of section 20 of the Rights of Persons with DisabilitiesAct, 2016 (49 of 2016) are not applicable, intends to retire from the service on account of any bodily or mental infirmity which permanently incapacitates him for the service, he may apply to the Head of Department for retirement on Invalid pension: Provided that an application for invalid pension submitted by the spouse of the railway servant failing which by a member of the family of the railway servant may also be accepted, if the Head of Department is satisfied that the railway servant himself is not in a position to submit such application on account of the bodily or mental infirmity: Provided further that where a railway servant, who has acquired a disability and in whose case the provisions of section 20 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016) are applicable, intends to retire under this rule, the railway servant shall be advised that he has the option of continuing in service with the same pay scale and service benefits which he is otherwise entitled to and in case the railway servant does not withdraw his request for retirement under this rule, his request may be processed in accordance with the provisions of this rule. (3) On receipt of an application under sub-rule (2), the Head of Office or Head of Department shall, within fifteen days of the receipt of such application, request the concerned authority for examination of the railway servant, not later than thirty days from the date of receipt of such request by the following medical authority, namely:- (a) a Medical Board in the case of a Gazetted railway servant and of a non-Gazetted railway servant whose pay, as defined in rule 1303 of the Code exceeds fifty- four thousand rupees per month; and (b) Civil Surgeon or a District Medical Officer or Medical Officer of equivalent status in other cases. (4) The medical authority shall also be furnished by the Head of the Office or Head of Department in which the applicant is employed with a statement of what appears from official records to be the age of the applicant, and if a service book is being maintained for the applicant, the age recorded therein should be reported and a copy of the letter requesting for examination by the medical authority shall be endorsed to the railway servant. (5) The railway servant shall appear before the concerned medical authority for medical examination on the date fixed by that authority and the medical authority shall examine the railway servant to ascertain whether or not the railway servant is fit for further service or whether he is fit for further service of less laborious character than that which he had been doing. (6) No medical certificate of incapacity for service may be granted unless the medical authority has received a request from the Head of his Office or Head of Department for medical examination of the railway servant. (7) A lady doctor shall be included as a member of the Medical Board when a woman candidate is to be examined. (8) Where the medical authority referred to in sub-rule (3) has found a railway servant mentioned in sub-rule (2) not fit for further service or has found him fit for further service of less laborious character than that which he had been doing, it shall issue a Medical Certificate in Format 5 and if the railway servant is found to be unfit for further service, he may be granted invalid pension in accordance with rule 44 not later than forty- five days from the date of the receipt of medical certificate in Format 5. (9) A railway servant, who retires from service even before completing qualifying service of ten years, shall also be granted invalid pension and, in his case, the amount of pension shall also be calculated at fifty per cent. of emoluments or average emoluments, whichever is more beneficial to him in accordance with rule 44: Provided that in such cases the railway servant - (a) has been examined by the appropriate medical authority either before his appointment or after his appointment to the railway service and declared fit by such medical authority for railway service; and (b) fulfils all other conditions mentioned in this rule for grant of invalid pension. (10) In case, the railway servant has been found to be fit for further service of less laborious character than that which he had been doing, he shall, if, he is willing to be so employed, be employed on lower post and if there be no means of employing him even on a lower post, he may be admitted to invalid pension. (11) Notwithstanding anything contained in this rule, if a railway servant is unfit for his post but is retained in service in an alternative appointment under the provisions of the Indian Railway Establishment Code and subsequently becomes entitled to receive retirement gratuity and pension or service gratuity, he shall be given the option of accepting either of following, whichever, he may prefer- (a) the retirement gratuity and pension or service gratuity which he would normally be granted with reference to his total service taken together, or (b) the sum of- (i) retirement gratuity and pension or service gratuity which he would have been granted if he had been medically invalidated out of service instead of being retained in an alternative appointment at the end of the first spell of his service; and (ii) the retirement gratuity and pension or service gratuity which he would normally have been granted for the second spell of his service rendered in the alternative appointment: Provided that if total qualifying service of the railway servant in both the spells of service taken together exceeds thirty-three years, the qualifying service in the second spell shall be reduced by the number of years by which total qualifying service in both the spells taken together exceeds thirty-three years and in such cases, retirement gratuity and pension or service gratuity for the second spell of service shall be calculated with reference to the reduced qualifying service so calculated. 40. Compulsory retirement pension.- (1) A railway servant compulsorily retired from service as a penalty may be granted, by the authority competent to impose such penalty, pension or retirement gratuity or both at a rate notless than two-thirds and not more than full retiring pension or gratuity or both admissible to him on the date of his compulsory retirement. (2) Whenever in the case of a railway servant the President passes an order (whether original, appellate or in exercise of power of review) awarding a pension less than the full retiring pension admissible under these rules, the Union Public Service Commission shall be consulted before such order is passed. Explanation.- For the purpose of this sub-rule, the expression "pension" includes retirement gratuity. (3) The order regarding the quantum of pension and gratuity to be granted under sub-rule (1) may be issued simultaneous with the order of imposition of penalty of compulsory retirement. (4) Where such an order regarding the quantum of pension and gratuity to be granted under sub-rule (1) is not issued simultaneous with the order of imposition of penalty of compulsory retirement, a provisional pension and a provisional gratuity at a rate of two-thirdsof full retiring pension and gratuity shall be sanctioned to the railway servant immediately. (5) Where a provisional pension and a provisional gratuity is sanctioned to the railway servant under sub-rules (3) and (4), order for grant of final pension and gratuity under sub-rule (1) shall be issued in consultation with Union Public Service Commission, where necessary, not later than three months after the date of issue of the order imposing the penalty of compulsory retirement and the provisional pension shall continue to be paid till the payment of final pension and gratuity in accordance with the order issued under sub-rule (1). (6) A pension or provisional pension granted or awarded under sub-rule (1) or, as the case may be, under sub- rule (2), shall not be less than the amount of minimum pension mentioned in rule 44. 41. Compassionate allowance.-(1) A railway servant who is dismissed or removed from service shall forfeit his pension and gratuity: Provided that the authority competent to dismiss or remove him from service may, if the case is deserving of special consideration, sanction a compassionate allowance not exceeding two - thirds of retiring pension or gratuity or both which would have been admissible to him on the date of his dismissal or removal from service. (2) The competent authority shall, either on its own or after taking into consideration the representation of the railway servant, if any, examine whether any compassionate allowance is to be granted and take a decision in thisregard in accordance with the proviso to sub-rule (1) not later than three months after the date of issue of the order imposing the penalty of dismissal or removal from service. (3) The competent authority shall consider, - (a) each case of dismissal and removal from service on its merit to decide whether the case deserves of special consideration for sanction of a compassionate allowance and, if so, the quantum thereof. (b) the actual misconduct which occasioned the penalty of dismissal or removal from service and the kind of service rendered by the railway servant. (c) in exceptional circumstances, factors like family members dependent on the railway servant along with other relevant factors. (4) Where an order imposing the penalty of dismissal or removal from service was issued before the date of commencement of these rules and the competent authority, at that time, did not examine or decide whether or not any compassionate allowance was to be granted in that case, that authority shall take a decision in this regard not later thansix months from the date of commencement of these rules. (5) No compassionate allowance shall be sanctioned after the expiry of the aforesaid period of six months, to a railway servant on whom a penalty of dismissal or removal from service was imposed before the date of commencement of these rules. (6) A compassionate allowance sanctioned under the proviso to sub-rule (1) shall not be less than the amountof minimum pension under rule 44. CHAPTER VI Premature Retirement and Voluntary Retirement 42. Retirement on completion of thirty years’ qualifying service.- (1) At any time after a railway servant has completed a qualifying service of thirty years, he may be required by the appointing authority to retire in the public interest and in the case of such retirement, the railway servant shall be entitled to a retiring pension calculated in accordance with rule 44. (2) The appointing authority may give a notice in writing to a railway servant at least three months before the date on which he is required to retire in the public interest or three months' pay and allowances in lieu of such notice. (3) For retirement of a railway servant under this rule, the same procedure, as provided in chapter 18 of the Code shall be applicable. Explanation.- For the purposes of this rule, the expression 'appointing authority' shall mean the authority which is competent to make appointments to the service or post from which the railway servant retires. 43. Retirement on completion of twenty years’ qualifying service.-(1) At any time after a railway servant has completed twenty years' qualifying service, he may, by giving notice of not less than three months in writing to the appointing authority, retire from service and in the case of such retirement the railway servant shall be entitled to a retiring pension calculated in accordance with rule 44: Provided that before giving notice of voluntary retirement, a railway servant shall request the appropriate administrative authority for a certificate regarding completion of qualifying service of twenty years on the intended date of retirement and the administrative authority shall issue the required certificate within fifteen days of such request by the railway servant and if no such certificate is issued by the administrative authority within the prescribed period of fifteen days, the railway servant may give the notice of voluntary retirement without such certificate: Provided further that before accepting the notice for voluntary retirement and passing orders in this regard, the appointing authority shall satisfy itself that the railway servant has completed the qualifying service of twenty years: Provided also that this sub-rule shall not apply to a railway servant, including scientist or technical expert who is,- (i) on assignments under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme of the Ministryof External Affairs and other aid programmes; or (ii) posted abroad in foreign based offices of the Ministries or Departments; or (iii) on a specific contract assignment to a foreign Government, unless, after having been transferred to India, he has resumed the charge of the post in India and served for a period of not less than one year: Provided also that a railway servant shall be eligible to retire under this rule only if he has completed or shall complete a qualifying service of twenty years on the intended date of retirement and the provision in sub-rule (7) of rule 44 for treating fraction of a year equal to three months and above as a completed six monthly period, shall not be applicable for the purpose of determining the qualifying service under this rule. (2) The notice of voluntary retirement given under sub-rule (1) shall require acceptance by the appointing authority: Provided that where the appointing authority does not refuse to grant the permission for retirement before the expiry of the period specified in the said notice, the retirement shall become effective from the date of expiry of the said period. (3) It shall be open to the appropriate appointing authority to withhold permission to a railway servant who seeks to retire under this rule in the following circumstances namely,- (a) if the railway servant is under suspension; or (b) if a charge sheet has been issued and the disciplinary proceedings are pending; or (c) if judicial proceedings on charges which may amount to grave misconduct, are pending: Provided that in cases where the appointing authority proposes to accept the notice of voluntary retirement inspite of the circumstances referred to in this sub-rule, approval of President shall be obtained. Explanation.- For the purposes of this sub-rule, judicial proceedings shall be deemed to be pending, if a complaint or report of a police officer, of which the Magistrate takes cognizance, has been made or filed in a criminal proceedings. (4)(a) Railway servant referred to in sub-rule (1) may make a request in writing to the appointing authority to accept notice of voluntary retirement of less than three months giving reasons therefor. (b) On receipt of a request under clause (a), the appointing authority, subject to the provisions of sub-rule (2), may consider such request for the curtailment of the period of notice of three months on merits and if it is satisfied that the curtailment of the period of notice shall not cause any administrative inconvenience, the appointing authority may relax the requirement of notice of three months on the condition that the railway servant shall not apply for commutation of a part of his pension before the expiry of the period of notice of three months. (5) If a railway servant acquiring a disability, where the provisions of section 20 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016) are applicable, gives a notice of voluntary retirement under this rule, the railway servant shall be advised that he has the option of continuing in service with the same pay scale and service benefits which he is otherwise entitled to and in case the railway servant does not withdraw the notice for voluntary retirement, his request for voluntary retirement may be processed. (6) Railway servant, who has elected to retire under this rule and has given the necessary notice to that effectto the appointing authority, shall be precluded from withdrawing his notice except with the specific approval of such authority: Provided that the request for withdrawal shall be made not less than fifteen days before the intended date of voluntary retirement. (7) This rule shall not apply to a railway servant who - (a) retires under the Special Voluntary Retirement Scheme relating to voluntary retirement of surplus employees; or (b) retires from railway service for being absorbed permanently in an autonomous body or a public sector undertaking to which he is on deputation at the time of seeking voluntary retirement or for joining an autonomous body or a public sector undertaking on immediate absorption basis. Explanation.- For the purposes of this rule the expression “ appointing authority” shall mean the authority which is competent to make appointments to the service or post from which the railway servant seeks voluntary retirement. CHAPTER VII Regulation of pension and gratuity 44. Amount of Pension.- (1) A railway servant, who retires under rule 33, rule 34, rule 35, rule 36, rule 37, rule 38 or rule 39, after completing a qualifying service of not less than ten years, shall become eligible for grant of a pension calculated at fifty per cent. of emoluments or average emoluments, whichever is more beneficial to him, subject to a minimum of nine thousand rupees per month and maximum of one lakh twenty-five thousand rupees per month: Provided that a railway servant who retires under rule 39 before completing a qualifying service of ten years but fulfils the conditions mentioned in sub-rule (9) of rule 39, shall also be eligible for an invalid pension calculated at fifty per cent. of emoluments or average emoluments, whichever is more beneficial to him and the condition of completion of minimum qualifying service of ten years shall not be applicable for grant of pension in his case. (2) A railway servant, who retires under any of the rules referred to in sub-rule (1) but has not become eligible for grant of pension in accordance with that sub-rule, shall be eligible for grant of a service gratuity and the amount of service gratuity in such cases shall be calculated at the rate of half month's emoluments for every completed six monthly period of qualifying service. (3) In case the emoluments of a railway servant have been reduced during the last ten months of his service, average emoluments as referred to in rule 32 shall be treated as emoluments for the purpose of sub-rule (2): Provided that the dearness allowance admissible on the date of retirement shall also be treated as part of emoluments for the purpose of this sub-rule and sub-rule (2). (4)(a) Where a railway servant is compulsorily retired from service after completing a qualifying service of not less than ten years and has become eligible for grant of compulsory retirement pension under rule 40, the amount of compulsory retirement pension shall be such portion or percentage of the retiring pension calculated under sub-rule (1), as the competent authority may sanction under rule 40. (b) A railway servant, who is compulsorily retired from service before completing a qualifying service of ten years, shall be eligible for grant of a compulsory retirement service gratuity under rule 40 and the amount of service gratuity in such cases shall be such portion or percentage of the superannuation service gratuity calculated under sub- rule (2), as the competent authority may sanction under rule 40. Provided that a railway servant who is compulsorily retired shall also be entitled to gratuity sanctioned under rule 40 in addition to compulsory retirement pension or service gratuity determined in accordance with clause (a) or clause (b.) (5)(a) Where a railway servant is dismissed or removed from service after having completed a qualifying service of not less than ten years and is sanctioned a compassionate allowance under rule 41, the amount of compassionate allowance shall be such portion or percentage of the pension which would have been admissible to him if he had retired on retiring pension, as the competent authority may sanction under rule 41. (b) A railway servant, who is dismissed or removed from service before completing a qualifying service of ten years and is sanctioned a compassionate allowance under rule 41, the amount of compassionate allowance in such cases shall be such portion or percentage of the service gratuity which would have been admissible to him if he had retired on retiring service gratuity, as the competent authority may sanction under rule 41. (6) After completion of eighty years of age or above by a retired railway servant, in addition to a pension or a compassionate allowance admissible under this rule, additional pension or additional compassionate allowance shall be payable to the retired railway servant in the following manner, namely:- TABLE +-----+---------------------------------+------------------------------------------+ |Sl.No.| Age of pensioner | Additional pension/ additional compassionate allowance | +=====+=================================+==========================================+ | 1. | From 80 years to less than 85 years | 20% of basic pension/ compassionate allowance | +-----+---------------------------------+------------------------------------------+ | 2. | From 85 years to less than 90 years | 30% of basic pension/ compassionate allowance | +-----+---------------------------------+------------------------------------------+ | 3. | From 90 years to less than 95 years | 40% of basic pension/ compassionate allowance | +-----+---------------------------------+------------------------------------------+ | 4. | From 95 years to less than 100 years| 50% of basic pension/ compassionate allowance | +-----+---------------------------------+------------------------------------------+ | 5. | 100 years or more | 100% of basic pension/ compassionate allowance | +-----+---------------------------------+------------------------------------------+ (b) The additional pension or additional compassionate allowance shall be payable from first day of the calendar month in which it falls due. Illustration: A pensioner born on the 20th day of August, 1942 shall be eligible for additional pension at the rate of twenty percent of the basic pension with effect from the 1st day of August, 2022. A pensioner born on the 1st day of August, 1942 shall also be eligible for additional pension at the rate of twenty per cent. of the basic pension with effect from the 1st day of August, 2022. (7) In calculating the length of qualifying service, fraction of a year equal to three months and above shall be treatedas a completed six monthly period and reckoned as qualifying service. (8) In the case of a railway servant who has rendered a qualifying service of nine years and nine months or more but less than ten years, his qualifying service for the purpose of this rule shall be treated as ten years and he shall be eligible for pension in accordance with sub-rule (1). (9) The amount of pension or service gratuity or compassionate allowance or additional pension or additional compassionate allowance finally determined under this rule, shall be expressed in whole rupees and where it containsa fraction of a rupee, each such amount shall be rounded off to the next higher rupee separately for arriving at the finalamount payable to the retired railway servant. (10) In cases where pension is discontinued in the middle of a calendar month, the amount of pension payable for the fraction of that month shall also be rounded off to the next higher rupee. 45. Retirement Gratuity and Death Gratuity.-(1)(a) A railway servant, who has completed five years’ qualifying service and has become eligible for service gratuity or pension under rule 44 shall, on his retirement, be granted retirement gratuity equal to one-fourth of his emoluments for each completed six monthly period of qualifying service, subject to a maximum of 16½ times of the emoluments. (b) If a railway servant dies while in service, the death gratuity shall be paid to his family in the manner providedin sub- rule (1) of rule 47 at the rates given in the Table below, namely:- TABLE +-----+------------------------------+---------------------------+ |Sl. No.| Length of qualifying service | Rate of death gratuity | +=====+==============================+===========================+ | 1. | Less than 1 year | 2 times of emoluments. | +-----+------------------------------+---------------------------+ | 2. | One year or more but less than 5 years | 6 times of emoluments. | +-----+------------------------------+---------------------------+ | 3. | 5 years or more but less than 11 years | 12 times of emoluments. | +-----+------------------------------+---------------------------+ | 4. | 11 years or more but less than 20 years | 20 times of emoluments. | +-----+------------------------------+---------------------------+ | 5. | 20 years or more | Half of emoluments for every completed six-monthly period of qualifying service subject to a maximum of 33 times of emoluments. | +-----+------------------------------+---------------------------+ Provided that the amount of retirement gratuity or death gratuity payable under this rule shall in no case exceed twenty-five lakh rupees: Provided further that where the amount of retirement gratuity or death gratuity, as finally calculated, contains a fraction of a rupee, it shall be rounded off to the next higher rupee. (2) The provision of clause (b) of sub-rule (1) shall also be applicable in the case of death of a railway servant by suicide. (3) In case a railway servant, who, on retirement, became eligible for a service gratuity or pension, dies within five years from the date of his retirement from service including compulsory retirement as a penalty and the sums actually received by him at the time of his death on account of such gratuity or pension, together with the retirement gratuity admissible under sub-rule (1) and the commuted value of any portion of pension commuted by him are less than the amount equal to 12 times of his emoluments, a residuary gratuity equal to the deficiency may be granted to his family in the manner provided in sub-rule (1) of rule 47. (4) In calculating the length of qualifying service under this rule, fraction of a year equal to three months and above shall be treated as a completed six monthly period and reckoned as qualifying service. (5) In the case of a railway servant who had rendered a qualifying service of four years and nine months or more but less than five years, his qualifying service for the purpose of this rule shall be five years and he shall be eligible for retirement gratuity in accordance with clause (a) of sub-rule (1). (6) The emoluments for the purpose of gratuity admissible under this rule shall be reckoned in accordance with rule 31: Provided that if the emoluments of a railway servant have been reduced during the last ten months of his service, average emoluments as referred to in rule 32 shall be treated as emoluments. Provided further that the dearness allowance admissible on the date of retirement or death, as the case may be, shall also be treated as emoluments for the purpose of this rule. Explanation.- For the purposes of this rule and rules 46, 47, 48 and 49, ‘family’, in relation to a railway servant, means,- (i) wife or wives including judicially separated wife or wives in the case of a male railway servant; (ii) husband, including judicially separated husband in the case of a female railway servant; (iii) sons including stepsons and adopted sons; (iv) unmarried daughters including stepdaughters and adopted daughters; (v) widowed or divorced daughters including stepdaughters and adopted daughters; (vi) father including adoptive parents in the case of individuals whose personal law permits adoption; (vii) mother including adoptive parents in the case of individuals whose personal law permits adoption; (viii) brothers including stepbrothers who are suffering from any disorder or disability of mind including the mentally retarded or physically crippled or disabled without any limit of age and brothers, including stepbrothers, below the age of eighteen years, in other cases; (ix) unmarried sisters, widowed sisters and divorced sisters including stepsisters; (x) married daughters; and (xi) children of a pre-deceased son. 46. Nominations.-(1) A railway servant shall, on his initial appointment in a service or post, make a nomination in Form 3 conferring on one or more persons the right to receive the retirement gratuity and death gratuity payable under rule 45. (2) In case at the time of making the nomination, (a) the railway servant has one or more members of family as referred to in the Explanation below sub-rule (6) of rule 45, the nomination shall be in favour of any member or members of his family referred to in that rule; or (b) the railway servant has no family as referred to in the Explanation below to sub-rule (6) of rule 45, the nomination may be made in favour of a person or persons, or a body of individuals, whether incorporated or not. (3) If a railway servant nominates more than one person under sub-rule (2), he shall specify in the nomination the share payable to each of the nominees, in such manner as to cover the entire gratuity. (4) A railway servant may provide in the nomination,- (a) that in respect of any specified nominee who predeceases the railway servant, or who dies after the death of the railway servant but before receiving the payment of gratuity, the right conferred on that nominee shall pass on to such other person as may be specified in the nomination: Provided that if at the time of making the nomination the railway servant has a family consisting of more than one member, the person so specified shall not be a person other than a member of his family: Provided further that where a railway servant has only one member in his family, and a nomination has been made in his favour, it is open to the railway servant to nominate any person or a body of individuals, whether incorporated or not as alternate nominee or nominees; (b)that the nomination shall become invalid in the event of the happening of the contingency provided therein. (5) (a) Where a railway servant has no family, as referred to in the Explanation below to sub-rule (6) of rule 45, at the time of making a nomination, the nomination made by the railway servant in favour of a person or a body of individuals under clause (b) of sub-rule (2) shall become invalid in the event of the railway servant subsequently acquiring a family. (b) Where a railway servant has only one member in his family at the time of making a nomination and a nomination has been made in his favour, in the event of the railway servant subsequently acquiring an additional member in the family, the alternate nomination made by the railway servant in favour of a person or a body of individuals under the second proviso to clause (a) of sub-rule (4), if any, shall become invalid but the nomination made by the railway servant in favour of a member of the family under clause (a) of proviso to sub-rule (2) shall not be affected. (6) Nomination made by an unmarried railway servant, under clause (a) of sub-rule (2), in favour of any member of his family specified in the Explanation below to sub-rule (6) of rule 45 shall not become invalid on his or her marriage, unless the railway servant cancels the earlier nomination and files a fresh nomination in accordance with sub-rule (7). (7) A railway servant may, at any time, cancel a nomination by sending a notice in writing to the Head of Office: Provided that he shall, along with such notice, send a fresh nomination made in accordance with this rule. (8) Immediately on the death of a nominee in respect of whom no special provision has been made in the nomination under clause (a) of sub-rule (4) or on the occurrence of any event by reason of which the nomination becomes invalid in pursuance of clause (b) of sub-rule (4), the railway servant shall send to the Head of Office a notice in writing cancelling the nomination together with a fresh nomination made in accordance with this rule. (9) (a) Every nomination made (including every notice of cancellation, if any, given) by a railway servant under this rule, shall be sent to the Head of Office. (b) The Head of Office shall, immediately on receipt of such nomination, verify that the nomination made by the railway servant is in accordance with the provisions of this rule and, if the railway servant has a family, the nomination made is in favour of one or more members of the family as referred to in the Explanation below to sub-rule (6) of rule 45 and the Head of Office shall, thereafter, countersign the nomination indicating the date of receipt and keep it under his custody: Provided that the Head of Office may authorise his subordinate Gazetted Officers to countersign nomination forms of non-gazetted railway servants. (c) Suitable entry regarding receipt of nomination shall be made in the service book of the railway servant concerned. (d) A duly signed copy of the nomination form shall be returned to the railway servant for keeping it in his safe custody. (10) Every nomination made, and every notice of cancellation given, by a railway servant shall, to the extent that it is valid, take effect from the date on which it is received by the Head of Office. 47. Persons to whom gratuity is payable.-(1)(a) The gratuity payable under rule 45 shall be paid to the person or persons on whom the right to receive the gratuity is conferred by means of a nomination under rule 46. (b) In case there is no such nomination or if the nomination made does not subsist, the gratuity shall be paid in the following manner namely,- (i) if there are one or more surviving members of the family as in clauses (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v) of the Explanation below to sub-rule (6) of rule 45, to all such members in equal shares; or (ii)if there are no such surviving members of the family as in sub-clause (i) above, but there are one or more membersas in clauses (vi), (vii), (viii), (ix), (x) and (xi) of the Explanation below to sub-rule (6) of rule 45, to all such members in equal shares. (2)In case a nominee pre-deceases the railway servant and the right conferred on that nominee has not been passed on to any other person under sub-rule (4) of rule 46 or the nomination made in respect of such person does not subsist or the nomination has become invalid on account of happening of any contingency mentioned therein, theshare of gratuity in respect of such nominee shall be disbursed equally to all other members of the family who were eligible and alive on the date of death of the railway servant, including the members of the family in whose favour nomination has been made for payment of remaining amount of gratuity. (3)In case a railway servant dies after retirement without receiving the retirement gratuity admissible under sub- rule (1) of rule 45, the gratuity shall be disbursed to the family in the manner indicated in sub-rule (1) of this rule. (4)The right of a female member of the family, or that of a brother, of a railway servant who dies while in service or after retirement, to receive the share of gratuity shall not be affected if the female member marries or re- marries, or the brother attains the age of eighteen years, after the death of the railway servant and before receiving her or his share of the gratuity. (5) Where gratuity is granted under rule 45 to a minor member of the family of the deceased railway servant, it shall be payable to the guardian on behalf of the minor. (6) Payment of the minor’s share of gratuity shall be made to the natural guardian of the minor, if any. In the absence of a natural guardian, the payment of minor’s share of gratuity shall be made to the person who furnishes a certificate of guardianship. (7) In the absence of a natural guardian, payment of an amount not exceeding twenty percent of minor’s share of gratuity may be made to the guardian without the production of a guardianship certificate but on production of an indemnity bond in Format 6 and the balance amount of minor’s share of gratuity may be paid to the guardian on production of the certificate of guardianship. (8) If there are more than one member of the family eligible to receive gratuity under this rule and if a member of the family has not submitted his claim for gratuity in Form 9, the case for sanction of gratuity to him may be processed after his claim has been received and the case of other eligible members of the family for sanction of gratuity may be processed without linking it with the case of the family member who has not submitted the claim in Form 9. 48. Debarring a person from receiving gratuity.- (1) If a person who in the event of death of a railway servant while in service is eligible to receive gratuity in terms of rule 47, is charged with the offence of murdering the railway servant or for abetting in the commission of such an offence, his claim to receive his share of gratuity shall remain suspended till the conclusion of the criminal proceedings instituted against him. (2) If on the conclusion of the criminal proceedings referred to in sub-rule (1), the person concerned, - (a) is convicted for the murder or abetting in the murder of the railway servant, he shall be debarred from receiving his share of gratuity which shall be payable to other eligible members of the family, if any, (b) is acquitted of the charge of murdering or abetting in the murder of the railway servant, his share of gratuity shall be payable to him. (3) The provisions of sub-rules (1) and (2) shall also apply to the undisbursed gratuity referred to in sub-rule (3) of rule 47. Explanation.- For the purposes of this rule, the charge of murder or abetting in the murder of railway servant shall include the charge of abetting death by suicide. 49. Lapse of retirement gratuity and death gratuity.- Where a railway servant dies while in service or after retirement without receiving the amount of gratuity and leaves behind no family and (a) has made no nomination; or (b) the nomination made by him does not subsist, the amount of retirement gratuity or death gratuity payable in respect of such railway servant under rule 45 shalllapse to the Government: Provided that the amount of death gratuity or retirement gratuity shall be payable to the person in whose favour a Succession Certificate in respect of the gratuity in question has been granted by a Court of Law. CHAPTER VIII Family Pension 50. Family Pension.- (1) Where a railway servant dies,- (a) after completion of one year of continuous service; or (b) before completion of one year of continuous service, provided the deceased railway servant concerned immediately prior to his appointment to the service or post was examined by the appropriate medicalauthority and declared fit by that authority for railway service; or (c) after retirement from service and was on the date of death in receipt of a pension, or compassionate allowance, referred to in these rules, the family of the deceased shall be entitled to a family pension from the date following the date of death of the railway servant or the retired railway servant, as the case may be. Explanation- For the purposes of this sub-rule, ‘continuous service’ means service rendered in a temporary or permanent capacity in a pensionable establishment and does not include period of suspension, if any and period of service, if any, rendered before attaining the age of eighteen years. (2)(a)(i) Subject to sub-clauses (ii) and (iii), the amount of family pension shall be determined at auniform rate of thirty per cent. of pay subject to a minimum of nine thousand rupees per month and a maximum of seventy-five thousand rupees per month. (ii) Where a railway servant dies while in service, the rate of family pension payable to the family shall be equal to fifty per cent. of the pay and the amount so admissible shall be payable from the date following the date of death of the railway servant for a period of ten years. (iii)In the event of death of a railway servant after retirement, the family pension as determined under sub- clause (ii) shall be payable for a period of seven years, or for a period up to the date on which the retired deceased railway servant would have attained the age of sixty seven years had he survived, whichever is less: Provided that in no case the amount of family pension determined under this sub-clause shall exceed the pension authorised on retirement or dismissal from railway service: Provided further that where the amount of pension authorised on retirement or dismissal is less than the amount of family pension admissible under sub-clause (i), the amount of family pension determined under this sub-clause shall be limited to the amount of family pension admissible under sub-clause (i). (iv)The amount of family pension payable under sub-clause (ii) or sub-clause (iii) shall be subject to a minimum ofnine thousand rupees per mensem and a maximum of one lakh twenty-five thousand rupees per mensem. Explanation.-1. Pay for the purposes of sub-clauses (i) and (ii) means – (a) emoluments as referred to in rule31 or ; (b) average emoluments as referred to in rule 32, whichever is more. Explanation.-2. For the purposes of sub-clause (iii), pension authorised on retirement includes the part of the pension which the retired railway servant may have commuted before death. Explanation.-3. For the purposes of sub-clause (iii), the expression ‘pension authorised on retirement’ includes the pension authorised on compulsory retirement and compassionate allowance sanctioned on dismissal or removal from railway service. (b) After the expiry of the period referred to in sub-clauses (ii) and (iii) of clause (a), the family, in receiptof family pension under those sub-clauses, shall be entitled to family pension at the rate admissible under sub-clause (i) of clause (a). (3)(a) In addition to family pension admissible in accordance with sub-rule (2), additional family pension shall bepayable to the family pensioner after completion of age of eighty years in the following manner, namely:- TABLE +-----+---------------------------------+------------------------------------------+ |Sl. No.| Age of family pensioner | Additional family pension | +=====+=================================+==========================================+ | 1. | From 80 years to less than 85 years | 20 per cent. of basic family pension. | +-----+---------------------------------+------------------------------------------+ | 2. | From 85 years to less than 90 years | 30 per cent. of basic family pension. | +-----+---------------------------------+------------------------------------------+ | 3. | From 90 years to less than 95 years | 40 per cent. of basic family pension. | +-----+---------------------------------+------------------------------------------+ | 4. | From 95 years to less than 100 years| 50 per cent. of basic family pension. | +-----+---------------------------------+------------------------------------------+ | 5. | 100 years or more | 100 per cent. of basic family pension. | +-----+---------------------------------+------------------------------------------+ (b) The additional family pension shall be payable from first day of the calendar month in which it falls due. Illustration: A family pensioner born on the 20th day of August, 1942 shall be eligible for additional family pension at the rate of twenty percent of the basic family pension with effect from the 1st day of August, 2022. A family pensioner born on the 1st day of August, 1942 shall also be eligible for additional family pension at the rate of twenty percent of the basic family pension with effect from the 1st day of August, 2022. (4) The amount of family pension admissible under sub-rule (2) and additional family pension admissible under sub-rule (3), where applicable, shall be fixed at monthly rates and shall be expressed in whole rupees and where the familypension or the additional family pension contains a fraction of a rupee, it shall be rounded off to the next higher rupee: Provided that in no case a family pension under sub-rule (2) shall be allowed in excess of the maximum prescribed under this rule. (5)(a) Where an award of family pension under the Railway Services (Extraordinary Pension) Rules, 1993 is authorised, no family pension under this rule shall be payable during the currency of award. (b) Where a claim for an award of family pension under the Railway Services (Extraordinary Pension) Rules, 1993 is under consideration, a family pension may be authorised in accordance with these rules and if, subsequently, it is decided to authorise family pension under the Railway Services (Extraordinary Pension) Rules, 1993, a revised Pension Payment Authority shall be issued for payment of family pension under those Rules and the family pension authorised under these rules shall be discontinued. (c) The family pension payable under this rule shall not be subject to any limitation with reference to the family pension admissible to a member of the family in respect of the same railway servant or pensioner for the service rendered by him in any other organisation, including the service rendered in the armed forces. (6) The family pension shall be payable to the members of the family of the deceased railway servant or pensioner in the following order, namely:- (a) subject to provisions of sub- rule (8), widow or widower, (including a post-retiral spouse and judicially separated wife or husband); (b)subject to provisions of sub-rule (9), children (including adopted children, step children and children born after retirement of the pensioner); (c) subject to provisions of sub-rule (10), dependent parents (including adoptive parents) of the deceased railway servant or pensioner; (d)subject to provisions of sub-rule (11), dependent siblings ( i.e. brother or sister) of the deceased railway servant or pensioner, suffering from a mental or physical disability; Explanation.- For the purposes of this rule, ‘widow’ and ‘widower’, shall means a spouse, legally wedded to the deceased railway servant or the pensioner. (7)(a) Subject to the proviso to clause (b), clauses (c), (d), (e), (f) and (g) of sub-rule (8) and clause (g), proviso to sub-clause (iii) of clause (h) and clause (k) of sub-rule (9), the family pension shall not be payable to more than one member of the family of the deceased railway servant or the pensioner at the same time. (b) Where the family pension is payable to more than one member of the family at the same time, it shall be paid in equal shares and if the share of the family pension contains a fraction of a rupee, it shall be rounded off to the next higher rupee: Provided that a family pension in excess of the maximum prescribed under this rule shall not be allowed and if,as a result of rounding off fraction of a rupee on division of family pension among two or more members of the family, total amount of family pension exceeds the maximum prescribed under this rule, such fraction of a rupee shall be ignored. (8)(a) If the deceased railway servant or the pensioner is survived by a widow or widower, family pension at the rate specified in sub-rule (2) shall be payable to such widow or widower, up to the date of death or re-marriage, whichever is earlier and the eligibility of widow or widower for family pension shall not be affected by the amount of her or his income from other sources. (b)Where a deceased railway servant is survived by a childless widow, on re-marriage by the childless widow, family pension shall continue to be payable to her, if her income from all other sources is less than the amountof minimum family pension under sub-rule (2) and the dearness relief admissible thereon: Provided that if, after re-marriage, income of childless widow from all other sources becomes equal to or exceeds the amount of minimum family pension under sub-rule (2) of this rule and the dearness relief admissible thereon, family pension payable to her shall be stopped and shall become payable to the other eligible member of the family, if any, of the deceased railway servant. (c) Where the deceased railway servant or pensioner is survived by more widows than one, the family pension shall be paid to the widows in equal shares and on the death or ineligibility of a widow, her share of the family pension shall become payable to her child or children who fulfil the eligibility conditions mentioned in sub- rule(9). (d)In case, the widow is not survived by any child, her share of the family pension shall not lapse but shall be payable to the other widows in equal shares, or if there is only one such other widow, in full, to her. (e) Where the deceased railway servant or pensioner is survived by a widow without any child eligible for family pension but has left behind eligible child or children from another wife who is not alive, the child or children who fulfill the eligibility conditions mentioned in sub-rule (9) shall be entitled to the share of family pension which themother would have received if she had been alive at the time of the death of the railway servant or pensioner and on the share or shares of family pension payable to such a child or children or to a widow or widows ceasing to be payable, such share or shares shall not lapse, but shall be payable to the other widow or widows or to other childor children otherwise eligible in accordance with sub-rule (9), in equal shares, or if there is only one widow or child, in full, to such widow or child: Provided that if the deceased railway servant or pensioner is survived by the widow with child or children eligible for family pension, on the share of family pension payable to the widow ceasing to be payable, such share shall be payable to her child or children in accordance with clause (c) and sub-rule (9). (f) Where the deceased railway servant or pensioner is survived by a widow without any child eligible for family pension but has left behind eligible child or children from a divorced wife or wives, the child or children who fulfill the eligibility conditions mentioned in sub-rule (9) shall be entitled to the share of family pension which the mother would have received at the time of the death of the railway servant or pensioner had she not been so divorced. On the share or shares of family pension payable to such a child or children or to a widow or widows ceasing to be payable, such share or shares, shall not lapse, but shall be payable to the other widow or widows or to the other child or children otherwise eligible in accordance with sub-rule (9), in equal shares, or if there is only one widow or child, in full, to such widow or child: Provided that if the deceased railway servant or pensioner is survived by the widow with child or children eligible for family pension, on the share of family pension payable to the widow ceasing to be payable, such share shall be payable to her eligible child or children in accordance with clause (c) and sub-rule (9). (g) Where the deceased railway servant or pensioner is survived by a widow without any child eligible for family pension but has left behind eligible child or children from a void or voidable marriage, the child or children from the void or voidable marriage who fulfill the eligibility conditions mentioned in sub-rule (9) shall be entitled to the share of family pension which the mother would have received at the time of the death of the railway servant or pensioner had the marriage not been void or voidable and on the share or shares of family pension payable to such achild or children or to a widow ceasing to be payable, such share or shares, shall not lapse, but shall be payable to the widow or to the child or children otherwise eligible, in equal shares, or if there is only one widow or child, in full, to such widow or child. Provided that if the deceased railway servant or pensioner is survived by the widow with child or children eligible for family pension, on the share of family pension payable to the widow ceasing to be payable, such share shall be payable to her eligible child or children in accordance with clause (c) sub-rule (9). (h) Where a male railway servant or pensioner or female railway servant or pensioner dies leaving behind a judicially separated widow or widower and no child or children, the family pension in respect of the deceasedshall be payable to the person surviving. (i) Where a male railway servant or pensioner or female railway servant or pensioner dies leaving behind a judicially separated widow or widower with a minor child or children or a child or children suffering from disorder or disability of mind including the mentally retarded, the family pension in respect of deceased shall be payable to the surviving person provided he or she is the guardian of such child or children and if the surviving person ceases to be the guardian of such child or children, such family pension shall be payable to the person who is the actual guardian of such child or children: Provided that where the minor child, after attaining the age of majority, remains eligible for family pension, thefamily pension shall become payable to such child from the date on which he attains the age of majority and after the child ceases to be eligible for family pension under this rule, such family pension shall become payable to the surviving judicially separated spouse of the deceased railway servant till his or her death or remarriage, whichever is earlier. (j) Where a male railway servant or pensioner or female railway servant or pensioner dies leaving behind a judicially separated widow or widower with a child who has attained the age of majority but is eligible for family pension, the family pension shall become payable to such child after the death of the railway servant. After the child or children cease to be eligible for family pension under this rule, such family pension shall become payable to the surviving judicially separated spouse of the deceased railway servant ant till his or her death or remarriage, whichever is earlier. (k) It shall be the duty of a childless widow after her re-marriage to furnish a certificate to the Pension Disbursing Authority once in a year that she has not started earning her livelihood. Explanation.- For the purposes of this rule, a childless widow shall be deemed to be earning her livelihood if her income from other sources is equal to or more than the minimum family pension under sub-rule (2) and the dearness relief admissible thereon. (9)(a) If the deceased railway servant or the pensioner is not survived by a widow or widower or if the widow or widower dies or ceases to be eligible for family pension, family pension at the rate specified in sub-rule (2) shall be payable to the child or children who fulfill the following conditions, namely :- (i) In the case of a son (other than a son suffering from a mental or physical disability) (including adopted son, step son and son born after retirement of the pensioner) – unmarried, below the age of twenty five years and not earning his livelihood; (ii) In the case of a daughter (other than a daughter suffering from a mental or physical disability) (including adopted daughter, step daughter and daughter born after retirement of the pensioner) – unmarried or widowed or divorced and not earning her livelihood (iii) In the case of a son or daughter suffering from a mental or physical disability (including adopted son or daughter, step son or daughter and son or daughter born after retirement of the pensioner) – not earning his or her livelihood. (b) A son or a daughter, other than a son or a daughter suffering from a mental or physical disability, shall be deemed to be earning his or her livelihood if his or her income from other sources is equal to or more than the minimum family pension under sub-rule (2) and the dearness relief admissible thereon. (c) A child suffering from a mental or physical disability shall be deemed to be not earning his or her livelihood, if his or her overall income from sources other than family pension is less than the entitled family pension under sub- clause (i) of clause (a) of sub-rule (2) and the dearness relief admissible thereon, payable on death of the railway servant or pensioner concerned. (d)Where a deceased railway servant or pensioner leaves behind more children than one, family pension shall first be payable to children below the age of twenty-five years, who fulfill the eligibility conditions for grant of family pension, in the order of their birth. (e) The elder child shall be entitled to the family pension till he or she has attained the age of twenty-five years or has got married or remarried or has started earning his or her livelihood, whichever is the earliest and the younger of the children will be eligible for family pension after the elder next above him or her has attained the age of twenty-five years or has got married or remarried or has started earning his or her livelihood or has died. (f) Where family pension is granted under thisrule to a minor, itshall be payable to the minor through the guardian. (g)Where the family pension is payable to twin children it shall be paid to such children in equal shares and when one such child ceases to be eligible, his or her share shall revert to the other child and when both of them cease to be eligible the family pension shall be payable to the next eligible single child or twin children. (h)Where a deceased railway servant or pensioner is not survived by a son or daughter below the age of twenty- five years and eligible for family pension or where such son or daughter has died or has ceased to be eligible for family pension, the family pension shall be payable for life to a son or daughter who is suffering from any disorderor disability of mind including the mentally retarded or is physically disabled or suffering from any other disability referred to in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016) so as to render him or her unable to earn aliving even after attaining the age of twenty-five years, subject to the following conditions, namely:- (i) the disability existed before the death of the railway servant or pensioner and his or her spouse; (ii)if such son or daughter is one among two or more children of the railway servant, the family pension shall be initially payable to the children below the age of twenty-five years in the order set out in clause (d) until the last child attains the age of twenty-five and thereafter the family pension shall be resumed in favour of the son or daughter suffering from a disability referred to in clause (h) and shall be payable to him or her, for life; (iii) if there are more than one such children suffering from a disability referred to in clause (e), the family pension shall be paid in the order of their birth and the younger of them will get the family pension only after the elder next above him or her ceases to be eligible or dies: Provided that where the family pension is payable to such twin children it shall be paid in the manner provided in clause (g); (iv) the family pension shall be paid to a son or daughter, who is suffering from any disorder or disability of mind including the mentally retarded, through the guardian as if he or she were a minor except in the case of the physically disabled son or daughter who has attained the age of majority; (v) before allowing the family pension for life to any such son or daughter, the appointing authority shall satisfy that the disability is of such a nature so as to prevent him or her from earning his or her livelihood and the same shall be evidenced by a certificate obtained from,- (A) an authority competent to issue disability certificate in accordance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016), the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017 and the guidelines and notifications issued by the Central Government or a State Government or a Union territory administration; or (B) a Medical Board comprising of a Chief Medical Superintendent or Medical Superintendent or a Principal or a Director or Head of the Institution or his nominee as Chairman and two other members, out of which at least one shall be a Specialistin the particular area of disability, setting out, as far as possible, the exact mental or physical condition of the child; or (C) a Medical Board comprising of a Medical Director or a Chief Medical Superintendent or incharge of a Zonal Hospital or Division or his nominee as Chairperson and two other members, out of which at least one shall be a specialist in the particular area of mental or physical disability including mental retardation setting out, as far as possible, the exact mental or physical condition of the child; (vi) the person receiving the family pension as guardian of such son or daughter or such son or daughter not receiving the family pension through a guardian shall produce a certificate, from,- (A) an authority competent to issue disability certificate in accordance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016), the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017 and the guidelines and notifications issued by the Central Government or a State Government or a Union territory administration; or (B) a Medical Board comprising of a Chief Medical Superintendent or Medical Superintendent or a Principal or a Director or Head of the Institution or his nominee as Chairman and two other members, out of which at least one shall be a Specialistin the particular area of disability including mental retardation; or (C) a Medical Board comprising of a Medical Director or a Chief Medical Superintendent or incharge of a Zonal Hospital or Division or his nominee as Chairperson and two other members, out of which at least one shall be a specialist in the particular area of mental or physical disability including mental retardation setting out, as far as possible, the exact mental or physical condition of the child, once, if the disability is permanent and if the disability is temporary, once in every five years, to the effect that he or she continues to suffer from a disability referred to in clause (h); (vii) in the case of a mentally retarded son or daughter, the family pension shall be payable to a person nominated by the railway servant or the pensioner, as the case may be, and in case no such nomination has been furnished to the Head of Office by such railway servant or pensioner during his lifetime, to the person nominated by the spouse of such railway servant or family pensioner, as the case may be, later on and the Guardianship Certificate issued under section 14 of the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 (44 of 1999), by a local level Committee, shall also be accepted for nomination or appointment of guardian for grant of family pension in respect of the person suffering from Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities as indicated in the said Act; (i) Marriage by a child who is suffering from a disability referred to in clause (h) shall not render him or her ineligible for family pension under this sub-rule; (j) Where a deceased railway servant or pensioner is not survived by a son or daughter eligible for family pension under clause (d) or clause (h) or if a son or daughter eligible for family pension under clause (d) or clause (h) dies or ceases to fulfill the eligibility conditions for family pension prescribed in those clauses, the family pension shallbe granted or continued to be payable to an unmarried or widowed or divorced daughter beyond the age of twenty-fiveyears for life or until she gets married or re-married or until she starts earning her livelihood, whichever is the earliest subject to the following conditions, namely:- (i) the family pension shall be initially payable to the children in the order set out in clause (d) until the last child attains the age of twenty-five years; (ii) there is no disabled child eligible to receive family pension in accordance with clause (e); (iii)the unmarried or widowed or divorced daughter was dependant on her parent or parents when he or she or they were alive; (iv)where a deceased railway servant or pensioner leaves behind more than one unmarried or widowed ordivorced daughter beyond the age of twenty-five years, family pension shall first be payable to such daughter, who fulfil the eligibility conditions for grant of family pension under this sub-rule, in the order of their birth; (v) The elder daughter shall be entitled to the family pension till she has got married or remarried or has startedearning her livelihood, whichever is earlier and the younger of the daughters shall be eligible for family pensionafter the elder next above her has got married or remarried or has started earning his or her livelihood or has died; (vi)in the case of widowed daughter, death of her husband and in the case of divorced daughter, her divorce took place during the lifetime of the railway servant or pensioner or his or her spouse: Provided that the family pension shall be payable to a divorced daughter from the date of divorce if the divorce proceedings were filed in a competent court during the life time of the railway servant or pensioner or his or her spouse but the divorce took place after their death: Provided further that if, consequent on the death of the railway servant or pensioner and his or her spouse, the family pension to any other eligible member of the family has become payable before the date of divorce of daughter, the family pension to such divorced daughter shall not commence before the aforesaid member of the family ceases to be eligible for family pension or dies; (k)Where a deceased railway servant or pensioner leaves behind children from more than one widow or froma widow and a divorced wife or from a widow or a divorced wife and void or voidable marriage, the child or children who fulfill the eligibility conditions mentioned in this sub-rule shall be entitled to the share of family pension which their mother would have received at the time of the death of the railway servant or pensioner if she had been aliveor if she had not been so divorced or if the marriage had not been void or voidable, as the case may be. (l) Where there are more than one child from a widow or a divorced wife and void or voidable marriage, the share of family pension to such children shall be payable in the manner specified in this sub-rule. (m) Where the share or shares of family pension payable to such a child or children ceasing to be payable, such share or shares, shall not lapse, but shall be payable to the child or children from other widow or divorced wife or voidor voidable marriage, otherwise eligible, in equal shares, or if there is only one child, in full, to such child. (n) An unmarried son or an unmarried or widowed or divorced daughter, except a disabled son or daughter, shall become ineligible for family pension from the date he or she gets married or remarried. (o)The family pension payable to a son or a daughter shall be stopped if he or she starts earning his or her livelihood. (p)It shall be the duty of son or daughter or the guardian to furnish a certificate to the Pension Disbursing Authority once in a year that,- (i) he or she has not started earning his or her livelihood; and (ii) he or she has not yet married or remarried and a similar certificate shall be furnished by the son or daughtersuffering from a mental or physical disability to the Pension Disbursing Authority once in a year that he or she has not started earning his or her livelihood. Explanation. - The expressions ‘son’ or ‘daughter’ will include a posthumous son or posthumous daughter, respectively. (10)(a) Where a deceased railway servant or pensioner is not survived by a widow or widower or a child eligible for family pension or if the widow or widower and all children cease to be eligible for family pension, the family pension at the rate specified in sub-rule (2) shall be payable to the parents for life, if the parents were dependent on the railway servant or pensioner immediately before his or her death. (b)The family pension, wherever admissible to parents shall be payable to the mother of the deceased railway servant or pensioner failing which to the father of the deceased railway servant or pensioner. Explanation.- Parents shall be deemed to be dependent on the railway servant if their combined income is less than the minimum family pension under sub-rule (1) and the dearness relief admissible thereon. (c) It shall be the duty of parents to furnish a certificate to the Pension Disbursing Authority once in a year that they have not started earning their livelihood and the family pension payable to parents shall be stopped if they start earning their livelihood. (11)(a) Where a deceased railway servant or pensioner is not survived by a widow or widower or a child or parents eligible for family pension or if the widow or widower, children and parents of the railway servant or pensioner cease to be eligible for family pension, the family pension at the rate specified in sub-rule (2) shall be payable to the dependent siblings suffering from a mental of physical disability, of the railway servant or pensioner for life if the siblings were wholly dependent upon the railway servant or pensioner immediately before his or her death. (b) Such a sibling shall be eligible for family pension for life in the same manner and subject to same eligibility conditions and following the same disability criteria, as laid down in clause (h) and clause (i) of sub-rule (9) in the case of son or daughter of a railway servant or pensioner suffering from any disability referred to in clause (h), so as to render him or her unable to earn a living even after attaining the age of twenty- five years: Provided that the family pension to such sibling shall be payable if the disability existed before the death of therailway servant or pensioner. Explanation.- A sibling suffering from a mental or physical disability shall be deemed to be dependent on the railway servant if his or her overall income from sources other than family pension is less than the entitled familypension under sub-clause (i) of clause (a) of sub-rule (2) and the dearness relief admissible thereon,payable on death of the railway servant/pensioner concerned. (c) It shall be the duty of such a sibling to furnish a certificate to the Pension Disbursing Authority once in a year that he or she has not started earning his or her livelihood and the family pension payable to such a sibling shall be stopped if he or she starts earning his or her livelihood. Explanation.- For the purposes of this rule,- (a) a member of the family, other than a child or a sibling, suffering from a mental or physical disability, shall bedeemed to be earning his or her livelihood if his or her income from other sources is equal to or more than theminimum family pension under sub-rule (2) and the dearness relief admissible thereon. (b) in the case of a child or a sibling suffering from a mental or physical disability shall be deemed to be not earning his or her livelihood, if his or her overall income from sources other than family pension is less than the entitled family pension under sub-clause (i) of clause (a) of sub-rule (2) and the dearness reliefadmissible thereon, payable on death of the railway servant or pensioner concerned. (12)(a) The family pension admissible to a person consequent on death of a railway servant or pensioner shall not be considered as income for the purpose of determination of eligibility for a family pension under this rule consequent on death of another railway servant or pensioner, subject to the condition that the sum of both the family pensions shall not exceed the limits specified in sub-rule (13). (b) (i) In order to decide the eligibility for family pension under this rule, a member of the family, other than the widow or widower of the deceased railway servant or pensioner, shall be required to submit, along with the claim for family pension, a copy of the last Income tax Return filed by the said member of the family with the Income tax Department. (ii) In case the said member of the family informs that he or she has not filed the Income tax Return with the Income tax Department, he or she shall submit a certificate of income from a sub-divisional magistrate. (iii) In case the member of the family is not able to submit either a copy of the Income tax Return or a certificateof income from a sub-divisional magistrate, the Head of Office may rely on any other document produced by the said member of the family in support of his or her claim regarding income and decide the eligibility of the said member of the family for family pension accordingly. (c) A person, while claiming family pension on death of a railway servant or a pensioner or a family pensioner, shall indicate against the specific column in Form 10 whether or not he or she is already in receipt of a family pension in respect of another railway servant or pensioner and, if so, the amount of family pension being received by him or her. (d) The Head of Office, while determining the amount of family pension payable to such person, shall take into account the information furnished by the claimant in this regard and ensure that the sum of family pensions payable to that person does not exceed the limits specified in sub-rule (13). (13) In case, both wife and husband are railway servants and are governed by the provisions of this rule and one of them dies while in service or after retirement, the family pension in respect of the deceased shall become payable to the surviving husband or wife and in the event of the death of the husband or wife, the surviving child or children shall be granted the two family pensions in respect of the deceased parents, subject to the limits specified below, namely,- (i) if the surviving child or children is or are eligible to draw two family pensions at the rate mentioned in sub-clause (ii) or sub-clause (iii) of clause (a) of sub-rule (2), the amount of both the family pensions shall be limited to one lakh twenty-five thousand rupees per mensem; (ii) if one of the family pensions ceases to be payable at the rate mentioned in sub-clause (ii) or sub- clause (iii) of clause (a) of sub-rule (2), and in lieu thereof the family pension at the rate mentioned in sub-clause (i) ofclause (a) of sub-rule (2) becomes payable, the amount of both the pensions shall also be limited to one lakh twenty-five thousand rupees per mensem; (iii) if both the family pensions are payable at the rates mentioned in sub-clause (i) of clause (a) of sub-rule (2), the amount of two family pensions shall be limited to seventy-five thousand rupees per mensem. (14)(a) A child of a railway servant or a pensioner, while claiming family pension on death of the said railway servant or pensioner, shall indicate against the specific column in Form 10 whether or not he or she is eligible for another family pension under this rule in respect of the other parent and, if so, the amount of family pension admissible to him or her from that source. (b) The Head of Office, while determining the amount of family pension payable to such person, shall take into account the information furnished by the claimant in this regard and ensure that the sum of family pensions payable tothat person in respect of both parents does not exceed the limits specified in sub-rule (13). (c) If a person, who in the event of death of a railway servant while in service, is eligible to receive family pension under this rule, is charged with the offence of murdering the railway servant or for abetting in the commission of such an offence, the family pension shall not be paid to such a person till the conclusion of the criminal proceedings instituted against him. (d) During the period the family pension is not paid to a person under clause (c), the family pension shall be paid to other eligible member of the family, if any, from the date following the date of death of the railway servant: Provided that if the spouse of the railway servant is charged with the offence of murdering the railway servant or for abetting in the commission of such an offence and the other member of the family eligible for family pension is a minor child of the deceased railway servant, the family pension to such minor child shall be payable through a duly appointed guardian, and the mother or father of the minor child shall not act as guardian for the purpose of drawal of family pension. (e) If on the conclusion of the criminal proceedings referred to in clause (c), the person concerned,- (i) is convicted for the murder or abetting in the murder of the railway servant, such a person shall be debarred from receiving the family pension which shall be continued to be paid to other eligible member of the family, if any; (ii) is acquitted of the charge of murder or abetting in the murder of the railway servant, the family pension shall become payable to such a person-from the date of such acquittal and the family pension to other member of the family shall be discontinued from that date: Provided that if there was no other eligible member of the family or the family pension ceased to be payable to the other eligible member of the family before the date of acquittal of the person concerned, the family pension shall be payable to such a person from the date following the date of death of the railway servant or from the date on which family pension ceased to be payable to the other eligible member of the family, as the case may be. (f) The provisions of clauses (c) to (e) shall also apply for the family pension becoming payable on the death of a railway servant after his retirement. Explanation.- For the purposes of this sub-rule, the charge of murdering or abetting in the murder of railway servant shall include the charge of abetting death by suicide. (15)(a)(i) As soon as a railway servant enters railway service, he shall give details of his family in Form 4 to the Head of Office, which shall include all relevant details relating to spouse, all children, parents and disabled siblings (whether or not eligible for family pension). (ii) If the railway servant has no family, he shall furnish the details in Form 4 as soon as he acquires a family. (b) The railway servant shall communicate to the Head of Office any subsequent change in the size of his family, including the fact of marriage of his child. (c) As and when the disability referred to in clause (h) of sub-rule (9) manifests itself in a child or dependant sibling which makes him or her unable to earn his or her living, the fact shall be brought to the notice of the Head of Office duly supported by a Medical Certificate from, - (i) an authority competent to issue disability certificate in accordance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016), the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017 and the guidelines and notifications issued by the Central Government or a State Government or a Union territory administration; or (ii) a Medical Board comprising of a Chief Medical Superintendent or Medical Superintendent or a Principal or a Director or Head of the Institution or his nominee as Chairman and two other members, out of which at least one shall be a Specialist in the particular area of disability including mental retardation; or (iii) a Medical Board comprising of a Medical Director or a Chief Medical Superintendent or incharge of a Zonal Hospital or Division or his nominee as Chairperson and two other members, out of which at least one shall be a specialist in the particular area of mental or physical disability including mental retardation setting out, as far as possible, the exact mental or physical condition of the child; (d) (i) The Head of Office shall, on receipt of the said Form 4 verify that it has been properly filled by the railway servant in accordance with this rule and acknowledge receipt of the said Form 4 indicating the date of itsreceipt and get it pasted on the service book of the railway servant concerned and all further communications received from the railway servant in this behalf shall also be acknowledged by the Head of Office indicating the date of their receipt; (ii) The Head of Office on receipt of communication from the railway servant regarding any change in the size offamily shall have such a change incorporated in Form 4 under his signature and the fact regarding disability or change of marital status of a family member should also be indicated in the ‘Remarks’ column of Form 4; (e) The railway servant shall submit the up to date details of the family in Form 4 again along with the pension papers, before retirement from service. (f) Where a railway servant marries or remarries or a child is born to the railway servant after retirement,he shall give an intimation to this effect to the Head of Office in Form 5 along with a copy of the marriage certificate or birth certificate, as the case may be, from an authority competent to issue such certificate. (g) Where the family of a railway servant undergoes a change after his retirement rendering a member of the family to be eligible for family pension on account of events such as birth of a child or disability of a child or sibling or divorce of a daughter or death of husband of a daughter, the retired railway servant or, if the railway servant has already died, his or her spouse or any other member of the family in receipt of the family pension, may give an intimation to this effect along with the supporting documents to the Head of Office and the Head of Office shall return a copy of the intimation acknowledging the receipt of the said intimation. (h) The details of the following members of the family shall be included in Form 4,- (i) Wife or husband, including a judicially separated wife or husband; (ii) Son or daughter, whether or not eligible for family pension on the date of submission of Form 3 and the details of all children (including those from a deceased or divorced wife or from a void or voidable marriage); (iii) Parents; (iv) Disabled siblings. (i) The claim of a member of the family of the deceased railway servant shall not be rejected on the ground that the details of such member of the family are not available in Form 4 or office records, if the Head of Office is otherwise satisfied about the eligibility of the member of the family for grant of family pension under these rules. (16) Nothing contained in this rule shall apply to a re-employed railway servant who had retired from railway service or military service if, on such reemployment, he is not eligible for a pension or service gratuity under these rules. 51. Entitlements of family of a missing railway servant or pensioner or family pensioner.- (1)(a) In the case of a railway servant who goes missing, family pension shall be payable to a member or members of the family at a rate specified in sub-rule (2) of rule 50, and in the manner and subject to the eligibility conditions as applicable in the case of death of a railway servant during service. (b) The family pension under clause (a) shall be payable from the date following the date up to which leave was sanctioned to the railway servant before he went missing or from the date up to which pay and allowances have been paid to the railway servant or from the date on which a report has been lodged with the concerned Police Station in the form of First Information Report or a Daily Diary Entry or a General Diary Entry, whichever is the latest. (2)(a) In the case of a pensioner who goes missing, family pension shall be payable to an eligible member or members of the family at a rate specified in sub-rule (2) of rule 50, and in the manner and subject to the eligibility conditions as applicable in the case of death of a pensioner. (b) The family pension under clause (a) shall be payable from the date following the date up to which pension has been paid to the pensioner who went missing or from the date on which a report was lodged with the concerned Police Station in the form of First Information Report or a Daily Diary Entry or a General Diary Entry, whichever is later. (3)(a) In the case of a family pensioner who goes missing, family pension shall be payable to a member of the family who is eligible to receive the family pension after the death of the family pensioner, at a rate specified in sub- rule (2) of rule 50, and in the manner and subject to the eligibility conditions as applicable on death of a family pensioner. (b) The family pension under clause (a) shall be payable from the date following the date up to which family pension has been paid to the family pensioner before he went missing or from the date on which a report was lodged with the concerned Police Station in the form of First Information Report or a Daily Diary Entry or a General Diary Entry, whichever is later. (4) In the case of a railway servant who goes missing or a retired railway servant who goes missing without receiving the retirement gratuity admissible under sub-rule (1) of rule 45, the amount of retirement gratuity shall be payable to a member or members of the family in the manner and subject to the conditions applicable in the case of a railway servant who dies after retirement without receiving the retirement gratuity. (5)(a) Claims for payment of family pension and gratuity shall be submitted to the Head of Office by the member or members of the family eligible for family pension and nominees or members of family eligible to receive the amount of gratuity, after a report has been lodged with the concerned Police Station in the form of a First Information Report or a Daily Diary Entry or a General Diary Entry. (b) The claims shall be accompanied by an Indemnity Bond in Format 7 along with a copy each of the report lodged with the concerned Police Station and the report obtained from the police to the effect that the railway servant or pensioner or family pensioner could not be traced so far despite all efforts made in that regard. (6) In the case of a railway servant referred to in clause (a) of sub-rule (1), the pay for family pension and emoluments for retirement gratuity shall be determined in accordance with Explanation-1 below to sub- rule (2) of rule50 and sub-rule (6) of rule 45, respectively, based on the pay and emoluments on the last date on which he was onduty before he went missing or, if he was on leave, the date on which leave sanctioned to him expired. (7) In the case of a retired railway servant referred to in sub-rule (4) the emoluments for the purpose of retirement gratuity shall be reckoned in accordance with sub-rule (6) of rule 45. (8)(a) The payment of family pension (including the arrears of family pension for the period from the date specified in sub-rule (1) or sub-rule (2) or sub-rule (3), as the case may be, up to the date of commencement of payment of family pension) and the amount of gratuity shall not be made before the expiry of a period of six months from the dateof lodging of report with the concerned Police Station: Provided that if the payment of gratuity is delayed and the delay is attributable to administrative lapses or reasons, interest shall be payable for the period of delay beyond a period of six months from the date of submissionof claim and responsibility shall be fixed for such delayed payment of gratuity, in accordance with rule 65. (b) In the case of a railway servant referred to in clause (a) of sub-rule (1), death gratuity shall become payable after the death of the railway servant is conclusively established or on expiry of a period of seven years from the date of lodging of the report with the police, whichever is earlier. (c) The difference between the amount of death gratuity and retirement gratuity shall be paid to the person or persons eligible for payment of death gratuity in accordance with these rules, not later than three months from the dateof submission of claim for difference between the amount of death gratuity and retirement gratuity. (d) If the payment of difference between the amount of death gratuity and retirement gratuity is delayed and the delay is attributable to administrative lapses or reasons, interest shall be payable for the period of delay beyond a period of six months from the date of submission of claim for difference between the amount of death gratuity and retirement gratuity. (9) In addition to the family pension and retirement gratuity, the family of the railway servant shall also be entitled to receive arrears of pay and allowances or leave salary, if any, cash equivalent to leave salary and amount available in the State Railway Provident Fund Account of the railway servant in accordance with the rules as applicableto a railway servant who dies during service. (10) Nothing in this rule shall apply in the case of a railway servant or a pensioner or a family pensioner who disappears and against whom allegation of fraud or embezzlement or any other crime is under investigation or who has been charged or convicted for such crimes. (11) No payment under this rule shall be authorised to be paid to a person or persons other than a member or members of the family eligible to receive that payment. CHAPTER IX Dearness Relief 52. Dearness Relief on pension and Family Pension.-(1) Relief against price rise may be granted to the pensioners, including the persons drawing compassionate allowance under rule 41 and family pensioners, in theform of dearness relief at such rates and subject to such conditions as the Government may specify from time to time. (2) If a pensioner drawing pension or compassionate allowance under these rules is re-employed under the Central Government or State Government or a Corporation or Company or Body or Bank under them in Indiaor abroad including permanent absorption or immediate absorption in such Corporation or Company or Body or Bank, he shall not be eligible to draw dearness relief on the pension or compassionate allowance during the period of such re- employment or permanent absorption or immediate absorption: Provided that the dearness relief shall continue to be payable to a pensioner on re-employment or on permanent absorption or immediate absorption if,- (i) before such re-employment, including permanent absorption or immediate absorption, he was not holding a post included or classified as Group ‘A’; and (ii) in accordance with the relevant rules or orders, his pay was fixed at the minimum of the scale of pay of the post in which he was so re-employed or absorbed and such minimum of the scale of pay was less than the pay which he was drawing immediately before his retirement or absorption; and (iii) while fixing his pay in the post in which he was so re-employed or absorbed, the entire amount of pension sanctioned by the Government was ignored. (3) For claiming dearness relief on pension or compassionate allowance, a pensioner who is re-employed, including permanent absorption or immediate absorption, under the Central or State Government or a Corporation or Company or Body or Bank under them in India or abroad, shall be required to obtain a certificate from the said Central or State Government Department or office or the Corporation or the Company or the Body or the Bank to the effect that,- (a) the re-employed pensioner or absorbee pensioner was holding a civil post not included or classified as Group ‘A’ in the Government before such re-employment; and (b) the pay of the re-employed pensioner or absorbee pensioner was fixed at the minimum of the pay scale of the post in which he is so re-employed or absorbed and such minimum of the pay scale is less than the pay which the pensioner was drawing immediately before his retirement or absorption; and (c) the entire amount of pension or compassionate allowance sanctioned by the Government was ignored in fixation of the pay on re-employment or absorption and no part of the pension or compassionate allowance was taken into account in such fixation of pay in the pay scale of the post in which the pensioner is re-employed or absorbed. (4) Nothing in sub-rule (2) or sub-rule (3) shall be applicable in the case of a family pensioner who is employed under the Central or State Government or a Corporation or Company or Body or Bank under them in India or abroad and is eligible to draw a family pension from the Government in respect of a deceased member of his family in accordance with rule 50 and such family pensioner shall continue to be eligible to drawdearnessrelief on family pension during the period of such employment in accordance with sub-rule (1). CHAPTER X Determination and authorization of the amounts of pension and gratuity 53. Processing of pension cases in the online pension sanctioning system.- (1) Unless otherwise exempted by a general or special order of the Government, the pension case of a railway servant shall be processed through ‘Human Resource Management System’ and ‘Integrated Payroll and Accounting System’. (2)(a) In the case of a department or office or person exempted from the purview of Human Resource Management System and Integrated Payroll and Accounting System’ in accordance with sub-rule (1), the details or documents in respect of the person due to retire shall be transmitted in physicalmode and his pension case shall be processed manually. (b) In a case or cases where a particular action or activity cannot be performed under Human Resource Management System & Integrated Payroll and Accounting System’, such action or activity shall be performed manually. 54. Preparation of list of railway servants due for retirement.- (1) Every Head of Department or Head of Office shall have a list prepared by 15th day of every month, of all railway servants who are due to retire within the next fifteen months of that date. (2) A copy of every such list shall be furnished to the Accounts Officer concerned before the last day of every month. (3) In the case of a railway servant retiring for reasons other than by way of superannuation, the Head of Office shall inform the Accounts Officer concerned not later than ten days from the date of issue of order regarding retirement of railway servant. 55. Intimation to the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned regarding issue of “No Demand Certificate”.- (1) Immediately after preparing the list of railway servants due to retire within the next fifteen months, the Head of Office shall obtain from each such railway servant, who was or is in occupation of a railway or Government accommodation (hereinafter referred to as the allottee), the complete details regarding the railway or Government accommodation, as prescribed by the concerned office of Railway or the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned, as the case may be, and shall send these details to the concerned office of Railway or the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned, as the case may be, at least one year before the anticipated date of retirement of the railway servant for issuing a ‘Vacation Certificate’ or `No demand certificate' in respect of the period preceding eight months of the retirement of the allottee. (2) Immediately after the orders for retirement of a railway servant for reasons other than by way of superannuation, the Head of Office shall also obtain from such railway servant, the details regarding the railway orGovernment accommodation held by him from time to time, if any. (3) The Head of Office shall, within ten days of receipt of the details from the railway servant, send these details to the concerned office of Railway or the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned, as the case may be, along with a copy of intimation sent by him to the Accounts Officer under sub-rule (3) of rule 54 for issuing a ‘Vacation Certificate’ or `No demand certificate', if the Railway servant concerned was or is an allottee of railway or Government accommodation. (4) A railway servant, referred to in sub-rule (1), if he is not in occupation of any residential accommodation and had also not been allotted any residential accommodation during his service, shall submit a declaration to the Head of Office to this effect one year before his retirement on superannuation. (5) A railway servant, referred to in sub-rule (2), if he is not in occupation of any residential accommodation and had also not been allotted any residential accommodation during his service, shall submit a declaration to the Head of Office to this effect immediately after the competent authority has approved such retirement or the retirement has become effective, as the case may be. (6) The Head of Office, after verification of the records, shall issue the ‘No Demand Certificate’ in respect of a railway servant referred to in sub-rules (4) and (5) and no separate ‘No Demand Certificate’ from the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned shall be necessary in such a case. Explanation.- For the purposes of this rules, the term ‘Directorate of Estates’ shall also include any other office or agency concerned with allotment and maintenance of accommodation for railway servants in a Department or office but shall not include the office or agency concerned with allotment or maintenance of railway accommodation. 56. Preparation for processing of pension case.- Every Head of Office shall undertake the preparatory work for processing of pension case one year before the date on which a railway servant is due to retire on superannuation, or on the date on which he proceeds on leave preparatory to retirement, whichever is earlier. 57. Stages for the processing of pension case on superannuation.- (1) The Head of Office shall divide the period of preparatory work of one year referred to in rule 56 in the following three stages, namely:- (a) First Stage – Verification of Service,- (i) the Head of Office shall go through the service book of the railway servant and satisfy himself as to whether the certificates of verification for the service subsequent to the service verified under rule 30 are recorded therein; (ii) in respect of the unverified portion or portions of service, he shall verify the portion or portions of such service, as the case may be, based on pay bills, acquittance rolls or other relevant records, such as last pay certificate and pay slip for month of April (which shows verification of service for the previous financial year) and record necessary certificates in the service book; (iii) If the service for any period is not capable of being verified in the manner specified in sub-clauses (i) and (ii), that period of service having been rendered by the railway servant in another office or Department, the Head of Office under which the railway servant is at present serving shall refer the said period of service to the Head of Office in which the railway servant is shown to have served during that period for the purpose of verification; (iv) on receipt of communication referred to in sub-clause (iii), the Head of Office in that office or Department shall verify the portion or portions of such service, in the manner as specified in sub-clause (ii), and send necessary certificates to the referring Head of Office within two months from the date of receipt of such a reference: Provided that in case a period of service is incapable of being verified, it shall be brought to the noticeof the referring Head of Office simultaneously; (v) if no response is received within the time referred to in sub-clause (iv), such period or periods shallbe deemed to qualify for pension; (vi) if at any time thereafter, it is found that the Head of Office and other concerned authorities had failed to communicate any non-qualifying period of service, the Railway Board shall fix responsibility for such non-communication; (vii) the process specified in sub-clauses (i) to (v) shall be completed eight months before the dateof superannuation; (viii) if any portion of service rendered by a railway servant is not capable of being verified in the manner specified in sub-clause (i) or sub-clause (ii) or sub-clause (iii) or sub-clause (iv) or sub-clause (v), the railway servant shall be asked to file a written statement on plain paper within a month, stating that he had in fact rendered service for that period, and shall, at the foot of the statement, make and subscribe to a declaration as to the truth of that statement; (ix) the Head of Office shall, after taking into consideration the facts in the written statement referred to in sub- clause (viii) admit that portion of service as having been rendered for the purpose of calculating the pension of that railway servant; and (x) if a railway servant is found to have given any incorrect information willfully, which makes him or her entitled to any benefits which he or she is not otherwise entitled to, it shall be construed as a grave misconduct. (b) Second Stage.- Making good the omissions in the service book,- (i) the Head of Office while scrutinising the certificates of verification of service, shall also identify if there are any other omissions, imperfections or deficiencies which have a direct bearing on the determination of emoluments and the service qualifying for pension; (ii) every effort shall be made to complete the verification of service, as specified in clause (a) and to make goodthe omissions, imperfections or deficiencies referred to in sub-clause (i); (iii) any omission, imperfection or deficiency which is incapable of being made good and the periods of service about which the railway servant has submitted no statement and the portion of service shown as unverified in the service book which it has not been possible to verify in accordance with the procedure laid down in clause (a) shall be ignored and service qualifying for pension shall be determined on the basis of the entries in the service book; (iv) for the purpose of calculation of emoluments and average emoluments, the Head of Office shall verify from the service book the correctness of the emoluments drawn or to be drawn during the last ten months of service; (v) in order to ensure the emoluments during the last ten months of service have been correctly shown in the service book, the Head of Office shall verify the correctness of emoluments only for the period of twenty-four months proceeding the date of retirement of a railway servant, and not for any period prior to that date. (c) Third Stage.- As soon as the second stage is completed, but not later than eight months prior to the date of retirement of the railway servant, the Head of Office shall, - (i) furnish to the retiring railway servant a certificate regarding the length of qualifying service proposed tobe admitted for the purpose of pension and gratuity and also the emoluments and the average emoluments proposed to be reckoned for retirement gratuity and pension; (ii) direct the retiring railway servant to furnish to the Head of Office the reasons for non-acceptance, supported by the relevant documents in support of his claim within two months if the certified service and emoluments as indicated by the Head of Office are not acceptable to him; (iii) advise the retiring railway servant to submit Form 4 and Form 6 along with an undertaking to the Bank in Format 8, a common nomination form for arrears of pension and commuted value of pension in Form A appended to the Payment of Arrears of Pension (Nomination) Rules, 1983 and an option form for availing Fixed Medical Allowance or out-patient medical facility provided by the Government. (2)(a) The railway servant shall submit to the Head of Office duly completed Form 4 and Form 6 along with an undertaking to the Bank in Format 8, a common nomination form for arrears of pension and commuted value of pension in Form A appended to the Payment of Arrears of Pension (Nomination) Rules, 1983 and an option form for availing Fixed Medical Allowance or out-patient medical facility provided by the Government, not later than six months prior to his date of retirement. (b) The railway servant shall also apply in Form 6, if he so desires, for commutation of a percentage of pension in accordance with the Railway Services (Commutation of Pension) Rules, 1993. (3)(a) Where the Head of Office is satisfied that the railway servant is not in a position to submit the forms referred to in sub-rule (2) on account of any bodily or mental infirmity, the Head of Office may allow the spouse of the railway servant or, in the absence of the spouse, the member of the family eligible to receive family pension on death of railway servant, to submit Form 4 and Form 6. (b) If there is no member of the family eligible to receive family pension on death of railway servant, a member of the family in whose favour a nomination was made by the railway servant for payment of gratuity, may be allowed to submit Form 4 and Form 6: Provided that where the said Forms are submitted by the spouse or any other member of the family, the railway servant shall not be entitled to the benefit of commutation of a percentage of pension until he himself subsequently applies for such commutation in accordance with the Railway Services (Commutation of Pension) Rules, 1993. 58. Submission of Forms by railway servant retiring for reasons other than superannuation.-(1) A railway servant, who is retiring or has retired for reasons other than superannuation, shall submit to the Head of Office duly completed Form 4 and Form 6 along with an undertaking to the Bank in Format 8, a common nomination form for arrears of pension and commuted value of pension in Form A appended to the Payment of Arrears of Pension (Nomination) Rules, 1983 and an option form for availing Fixed Medical Allowance or out-patient medical facility provided by the Government, immediately after the competent authority has approved such retirement or the retirement has become effective, as the case may be. (2)(a) Where the Head of Office is satisfied that the railway servant is not in a position to submit the Forms referred to in sub-rule (1) on account of any bodily or mental infirmity, the Head of Office may allow the spouse of the railway servant or, in the absence of the spouse, any other member of the family eligible to receive family pension on death of railway servant, to submit Form 4 and Form 6. (b) If there is no member of the family eligible to receive family pension on death of railway servant, a member of the family in whose favour a nomination was made by the railway servant for payment of gratuity, may be allowed to submit Form 4 and Form 6: Provided that where the forms are submitted by the spouse or any other member of the family, the railway servant shall not be entitled to the benefit of commutation of a percentage of pension until he himself subsequently applies for such commutation in accordance with the Railway Services (Commutation of Pension) Rules, 1993. 59. Completion of pension case.-(1) In cases under rule 57, the Head of Office shall complete Part I of Form7 along with the check list and the pension calculation sheet not later than four months before the date of retirement ofa railway servant. (2) In cases under rule 58, the Head of Office shall complete Part I of Form 7 along with the checklist and the pension calculation sheet within two months after submission of Form 4 and Form 6 by a railway servant or his or her spouse or member of his or her family, as the case may be. (3) In the case of a railway servant who has died after retirement and in respect of whom Forms referred to in rule 57 or rule 58 have not been submitted, action shall be taken in accordance with sub-rule (5) of rule 80. 60. Forwarding of pension case to Accounts Officer.- (1) After complying with the requirement of rules 57, 58 and 59, the Head of Office shall forward the pension case to the Accounts Officer and also send to the Accounts Officer,- (a) copies of Form 4, Form 6 and an undertaking to the Bank in Format 8 , signed and submitted by the railway Servant; (b) copies of Form 7 (including the check list and the pension calculation sheet) and the covering letter in Format 9, and (c) duly completed and up-to-date service book of the railway servant along with any other documentsrelied upon for the verification of service. (2) The particulars of the Government dues referred to in rule 67 ascertained and assessed by the Head of Office and the amount to be withheld, if any, as per the intimation of Directorate of Estates or the office concerned under sub- rule (5) of rule 68 in the case of Government accommodation or as per the intimation of the concerned office in the case of railway accommodation shallalso be furnished to the Accounts Officer in Format 9 so that the dues are recovered out of the gratuity before its payment is authorized; Provided that further action for the purpose of recovery of dues pertaining to railway accommodation in the case of Government servants, who are in occupation of railway accommodation and who do not vacate such accommodation on retirement or cessation of service, shall be taken in accordance with sub-rule (9) of rule 68. (3)The Head of Office shall retain a copy of each of the Forms referred to in sub-rule (1) and sub-rule (2) for his records. (4)The pension case and the papers referred to in sub-rule (1) and sub-rule (2) shall be forwarded to the Accounts Officer not later than four months before the date of superannuation of a railway servant and in cases other than retirement on superannuation not later than two months after the date of submission of Form 4 and Form 6. 61. Intimation to Accounts Officer regarding any event having bearing on pension or any railway dues.- (1) If, after the pension case and pension papers have been forwarded to the Accounts Officer under rule 60, any event occurs which has a bearing on the amount of pension admissible, the fact shall be promptly reported to the Accounts Officer by the Head of Office. (2) If, after the particulars of railway dues have been intimated to the Accounts Officer under sub-rule (2) of rule 60, any additional railway dues come to the notice of the Head of Office, such dues shall be promptly reported to the Accounts Officer. 62. Provisional pension for reasons other than Departmental or Judicial proceedings.-(1) Where, in a case of retirement on superannuation, after a railway servant or his or her spouse or a member of his or her family, as the case may be, has submitted the Forms in accordance with sub-rule (2) or sub-rule (3) of rule 57 but,- (a) in spite of following the procedure laid down in rule 57, it is not possible for the Head of Office to forward the pension case and pension papers referred to in rule 60 to the Accounts Officer within the period specified insub-rule (4) of that rule; or (b) the pension case and pension papers forwarded to the Accounts Officer have been returned by the AccountsOfficer to the Head of Office for eliciting further information before issuing pension payment order and order for the payment of gratuity, and the railway servant is likely to retire before his pension and gratuity or both can be finally assessed and settled in accordance with the provisions of these rules, the Head of Office shall rely upon such information as may beavailable in the official records and shall determine the amount of provisional pension and the amount of provisional retirement gratuity. (2) In a case of retirement otherwise than on superannuation, on receipt of Forms from railway servant or his or her spouse or a member of his or her family in accordance with sub-rule (1) or sub-rule (2) of rule 58, the Head of Office shall rely upon such information as may be available in the official records and shall determine the amount of provisional pension and the amount of provisional retirement gratuity. (3) Where the amount of pension and gratuity cannot be determined for reasons other than the departmental or judicial proceedings and a provisional pension and provisional gratuity is required to be sanctioned in accordance withsub-rule (1) or sub-rule (2), the Head of Office shall do the following, namely:- (a) issue a letter of sanction addressed to the railway servant endorsing a copy thereof to the Accounts Officer authorizing - (i) 100 per cent. of pension as provisional pension from the date following the date of retirement; and (ii) 100 per cent. of the gratuity as provisional gratuity withholding ten per cent of gratuity in the case of non-vacation of Government accommodation and withholding of 100 per cent. gratuity in case of non-vacation of railway accommodation. (b) specify in the letter of sanction, the amount recoverable from the gratuity as assessed under rule 67 and afterissuing the letter of sanction referred to in clause (a), the Head of Office shall draw , (i) the amount of provisional pension; and (ii) the amount of provisional gratuity after deducting there from the amount specified in sub-clause (ii) of clause (a) and the dues, if any, specified in rule 68, in respect of Government accommodation or railway accommodation, in the same manner as pay and allowances of the establishment are drawn by him. (4)A sanction for provisional pension under sub-rule (3) shall be issued not later than ten days after the date of retirement of railway servant in cases covered under sub-rule (1) and within one month from the date of submission of forms in cases covered under sub-rule (2). (5)The amount of provisional pension and gratuity payable under sub-rule (2) or sub-rule (3) shall, if necessary, be revised on the completion of the detailed scrutiny of the records. (6)(a) The payment of provisional pension shall not continue beyond the period of six months from the date of retirement of a railway servant or from the date of submission of Form 4 and Form 6 by the railway servant, whichever is later, and if the amount of final pension and the amount of final gratuity had been determined by the Head of Office in consultation with the Accounts Officer before the expiry of the said period of six months, the Accounts Officer shall,- (i) issue the pension payment order; and (ii) direct the Head of Office to draw and disburse the difference between the final amount of gratuity and the amount of provisional gratuity paid under sub-clause (ii) of clause (b) of sub-rule (3) after adjusting the Government or railway dues, if any, which may have come to notice after the payment of provisional gratuity. (b) If the amount of provisional pension disbursed to a railway servant under sub-rule (3) is, on its final assessment, found to be in excess of the final pension assessed by the Accounts Officer, it shall be open to the Accounts Officer to adjust the excess amount of pension out of gratuity withheld under sub-clause (ii) of clause (a) of sub-rule (3) or recover the excess amount of pension in instalments by making short payments of the pension payable in future. (c)(i) If the amount of provisional gratuity disbursed by the Head of Office under sub-rule (3) is more than the amount finally assessed, the retired railway servant shall not be required to refund the excess amount actually disbursed to him. (ii) The Head of Office shall ensure that chances of disbursing the amount of gratuity in excess of the amount finally assessed are minimised and the officials responsible for the excess payment shall be accountable for the over- payment. (7) If the final amount of pension and gratuity have not been determined by the Head of Office in consultation with the Accounts Officer within a period of six months referred to in clause (a) of sub-rule (6), the Accounts Officer shall treat the provisional pension and gratuity as final and issue pension payment order immediately on the expiry of the period of six months. (8) As soon as the pension payment order has been issued by the Accounts Officer under clause (a) of sub-rule (6) or sub-rule (7), the Head of Office shall release the amount of withheld gratuity under sub-clause (ii) of clause (a) of sub-rule (3) to the retired railway servant after adjusting Government or railway dues which may have come to notice after the payment of provisional gratuity under sub-clause (ii) of clause (b) of sub-rule (3). (9) If a railway servant is or was an allottee of Government accommodation, the withheld amount should be paid on receipt of `No Demand Certificate' from the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned or ‘Vacation Certification’ in respect of railway accommodation from the concerned office. (10)It shall be the responsibility of the Head of Office to ensure that in cases where there is a delay in issue of Pension Payment Order, a provisional pension and provisional gratuity is sanctioned in accordance with this rule. 63. Authorisation of pension and gratuity by the Accounts Officer.- (1)(a) On receipt of pension case and pension papers referred to in rule 60, the Accounts Officer shall apply the requisite checks, record the account enfacement in Part II of Form 7 and assess the amount of pension, family pension and gratuity and issue the pension payment order not later than two months in advance of the date of the retirement of a railway servant on attaining the age of superannuation. (b) In the cases of retirement otherwise than on attaining the age of superannuation, the Accounts Officer shall apply the requisite checks, complete Part II of Form 7, assess the amount of pension, family pension and gratuity, assess dues and issue the pension payment order within forty five days of the date of receipt of pension papers from the Head of Office. (c) While applying the requisite checks, the Accounts Officer shall verify the correctness of emoluments only for the period of twenty-four months preceding the date of retirement of a railway servant, and not for any period prior to that date. (d) The Accounts Officer shall indicate in the Pension Payment Order, the name of the spouse of the railway servant, if alive, as family pensioner: Provided that in the case of a railway servant whose family includes more than one wife who is alive, the Accounts Officer shall indicate, in the Pension Payment Order, the names of all the wives with their respective share in the family pension: Provided further that in the case of a railway servant whose family includes a wife, who is alive, and a child or children from a wife who is not alive or from a divorced wife or from a void or voidable marriage, the Accounts Officer shall indicate, in the Pension Payment Order, only the name of wife who is alive with her share in the family pension, then on death of the pensioner, the share of family pension indicated in the Pension Payment Order shall initially become payable to the surviving widow and on receipt of a communication from the Head of Office, the Accounts Officer shall issue a revised Pension Payment Authority, indicating the names of all the membersof family who are eligible for family pension on the date of death of the pensioner with their respective share in the family pension, in accordance with rule 50. (e) The Accounts Officer shall also indicate in the Pension Payment Order, the names of the permanently disabled child or children and dependent parents and disabled siblings as family pensioners if there is no other member of family to whom family pension may become payable before such disabled child or children or dependent parents or disabled siblings. (f) On receipt of a written communication from the Head of Office on an application in Form 8 from an existing pensioner or family pensioner, the Accounts Officer shall also indicate in the Pension Payment Order, the names ofthe permanently disabled child or children and dependent parents and disabled siblings as family pensioners if there is no other member of family to whom family pension may become payable before such disabled child or children or dependent parents or disabled siblings. (g) Where an intimation regarding marriage or remarriage after retirement has been received from a retired railway servant in accordance with clause (f) of sub-rule (15) of rule 50, the Head of Office, after dueverification, forward the papers to the Account Officer and the Account Officer shall take the said intimation on record and, if there is no child or children from an earlier marriage or if the child or children from an earlier marriage are not eligible for family pension, issue a Revised Pension Payment Authority including the name of such spouse as family pensioner in the pension payment order. (h) The Pension Disbursing Authority shall commence disbursement of family pension, as authorised in the Pension Payment Order, to the members of family referred to in clauses (c), (d), (e) or (f), in accordance with the provisions of rule 79 and in the order indicated in rule 50. (2) The amount of gratuity as determined by the Accounts Officer under clause (a) of sub-rule (1) shall be intimated to the Head of Office with the remarks that the amount of the gratuity may be drawn and disbursed by the Head of Office to the retired Government servant after adjusting the Government dues, if any, referred to in rule 67 and the amount to be withheld, if any, as per the intimation of Directorate of Estates or the office concerned under sub-rule (5) of rule 68 in respect of Government accommodation or vacation certificate from the concerned office in case of Railway accommodation; Provided that further action for the purpose of recovery of dues pertaining to railway accommodation in the case of railway servants, who are in occupation of railway accommodation and who do not vacate such accommodation on retirement or cessation of service, shall be taken in accordance with sub-rule (9) of rule 68. (3) The amount of gratuity withheld under sub-rule (5) of rule 68 shall be adjusted by the Head of Office against the outstanding licence fee intimated by the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned or the concerned office in case of Railway accommodation and the balance, if any, refunded to the retired Government servant. (4)(a) The Accounts Officer shall forward a copy of the Pension Payment Order or the Revised Pension Payment Authority issued under this rule along with the undertaking in Format 8 to the authorised office of Financial Advisor and Chief Accounts Officer, not later than two months from the date of receipt of pension papers from the Head of Office, for issuing a Special Seal of Authority. (b) The authorised office of Financial Advisor and Chief Accounts Officer shall issue the Special Seal of Authority and forward the same to the Pension Disbursing Authority along with the copy of the Pension Payment Order or the Revised Pension Payment Authority issued by the Accounts Officer and the undertaking in Format 8, not later than twenty one days from the date of receipt of the Pension Payment Order or the Revised Pension Payment Authority from the Accounts Officer, inaccordance with the orders issued by the the Ministry of Railways and the authorised office of Financial Advisor and Chief Accounts Officer. (c) The Pension Disbursing Authority shall take action to disburse the pension to the retired railway servanton the date on which it becomes due, in accordance with the orders issued by the the Ministry of Railways and the authorised office of Financial Advisor and Chief Accounts Officer. (5)(a) In case, any departmental or judicial proceedings are pending against the railway servant, a provisional pension as provided in sub-rule (5) of rule 8 shall be authorised by the Accounts Officer and no gratuity shall be paid to the railway servant until the conclusion of the departmental or judicial proceedings and issue of final orders thereon and after the conclusion of departmental or judicial proceedings and issue of final orders thereon, the Head of Office shall forward the copy of final orders passed by the competent authority along with the details in Form 14, notlater than thirty days from the date of issue of the said orders. (b) On receipt of the copy of final orders passed by the competent authority and the details in Form 14 from the Head of Office, the Accounts Officer shall take further action to authorise the final pension to the retired railway servant in accordance with the orders passed by the competent authority in regard to the departmental or judicial proceedings within thirty days of the date of receipt of the said Form 14. 64. Railway servants on deputation.- (1) In case of a Railway servant who retires while on deputation to any other Central Government Department or in the case of a Government servant belonging to any other Central Government Department who retires while on deputation to Ministry of Railways, action to authorise pension and gratuity in accordance with the provisions of these rules shall be taken by the Head of Office of the parent Department. (2) If, a railway servant retires from service, while on deputation to a State Government or while on Foreign Service, action to authorise pension and gratuity in accordance with the provisions of these rules shall be taken by the Head of Office or the Cadre authority which sanctioned deputation to the State Government or to foreign service. 65. Interest on delayed payment of gratuity, pension and family pension.- (1) In all cases where provisional pension or provisional family pension or provisional gratuity has not been sanctioned in accordance with these rules or where the payment of pension or family pension or gratuity has been authorised later than the date when its payment becomes due, including in the cases of retirement otherwise than on superannuation, and it is clearly established that the delay in payment was attributable to administrative reasons or lapses, interest shall be paid on arrears of pension or family pension or gratuity at the rate and in the manner as applicable to State Railway Provident Fund amount in accordance with the instructions issued from time to time: Provided that no interest under this sub-rule shall be payable if the delay in payment was caused on account of failure on the part of the railway servant or the pensioner or the member of the family of the railway servant to comply with the procedure laid down by the Government for processing the pension or family pension case. (2) Every case of delayed payment of pension or family pension or gratuity (including provisional pension or family pension or gratuity) shall be considered by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Railway Board/General Manager of the concerned Zonal Railway, as the case may be, or by an officer not below the rank of Senior Administrative Grade authorised by him for this purpose and where he is satisfied that the delay in payment of pension or family pension or gratuity was caused on account of administrative reasons or lapse, payment of interest shall be sanctioned by him. (3)(a) The Ministry of Railways or the Zonal Railways or the concerned Office shall issue order for the payment of interest after it has been sanctioned under sub-rule (2). (b) The payment of interest on delayed payment of gratuity or pension or family pension shall be paid within two months from the date on which payment of interest has been sanctioned under sub-rule (2). (4) In all cases where the payment of interest has been sanctioned by the Ministry of Railways or the Zonal Railways or the concerned Office shall fix the responsibility and take disciplinary action against the railway servant or servants who are found responsible for the delay in the payment of gratuity or pension or family pension on account of administrative lapses: Provided that payment of interest under sub-rule (3) shall be made without waiting for the outcome of the disciplinary proceedings, if any. (5) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of sub-rule (1), the period for which interest shall be payable for the delay in payment of pension or gratuity shall be determined in the following manner, namely:- (a) In the case of a railway servant who retires on superannuation, interest shall be payable from the date following the date of expiry of a period of three months from the date of retirement, up to the date of payment of arrears of pension or gratuity or both; (b) In the case of a railway servant who retires or is retired otherwise than on superannuation or is absorbed in a public sector undertaking or an autonomous body or dies during service or after retirement, interest shall be payable from the date following the date of expiry of a period of three months from the date of retirement or absorption or death, as the case may be, up to the date of payment of arrears of pension or gratuity; (c) In the case of a railway servant to whom provisional pension was paid and retirement gratuity was not paid on retirement in accordance with clause (c) of sub-rule (5) of rule 8 on account of departmental or judicial proceedings pending against him on the date of retirement and who is exonerated of all charges on conclusion of such departmental or judicial proceedings, interest shall be payable on retirement gratuity and arrears of pension, if any, from the date following the date of expiry of a period of three months from the date of retirement up to the date of payment of arrears of pension and gratuity; (d) In the case of a railway servant to whom provisional pension was paid and retirement gratuity was not paid on retirement in accordance with clause (c) of sub-rule (6) of rule 8 on account of departmental or judicial proceedings pending against him on the date of retirement and despite him not having been fully exonerated of all charges on conclusion of such departmental or judicial proceedings, the competent authority decides to allow paymentof pension and retirement gratuity, either in full or in part, interest shall be payable on retirement gratuity and arrears of pension, if any, from the date of expiry of a period of three months from the date on which the order for payment ofpension and gratuity is issued by the competent authority up to the date of payment of pension and gratuity. (e) In the case of a railway servant to whom provisional pension was paid and gratuity was not paid on retirement in accordance with clause (c) of sub-rule (6) of rule 8 on account of departmental or judicial proceedings pending against him on the date of retirement and such departmental or judicial proceedings are dropped consequent on his death, interest shall be payable on arrears of pension, family pension and gratuity from the date of expiry of a period of three months from the date of death up to the date of payment of such arrears of pension, family pension and gratuity. (f) Where arrears of pension or gratuity become payable to a railway servant on account of enhancement of the amount of pension authorised or the amount of gratuity paid on retirement consequent on retrospective revision of emoluments or liberalisation in the provisions relating to grant of pension or gratuity, interest shall be payable on arrears of pension or gratuity to the railway servant from the date of expiry of a period of three months from the date of issue of the order revising the emoluments or liberalising the provisions relating to grant of pension or gratuity,as the case may be, up to the date of payment of arrears of pension or gratuity. 66. Revision of pension after authorisation.- (1) The pension authorised under rule 44 and family pension authorised under rule 50 may be revised by the Government in accordance with any general order issued in implementation of decisions taken on the recommendations of the Central Pay Commissions, or otherwise, and the pension or family pension so revised shall thereafter be the basic pension or basic family pension for grant of additional pension under sub-rule (5) of rule 44 or additional family pension under sub-rule (3) of rule 50 or dearness relief under rule 52. (2) Subject to the provisions of rules 7 and 8, pension or family pension once authorised after final assessment or revised under sub-rule (1) shall not be revised to the disadvantage of the railway servant, unless such revision becomes necessary on account of detection of a clerical error subsequently: Provided that no revision of pension or family pension to the disadvantage of the pensioner or family pensioner shall be ordered without the concurrence of the Railway Board if the clerical error is detected after a period of two years from the date of authorisation or revision of pension or family pension. (3) The question whether the revision has become necessary on account of a clerical error or not shall be decided by the Ministry of Railways. (4) If, consequent on revision of pension or family pension under sub-rule (2), an excess payment of pension or family pension is found to have been made to the pensioner or family pensioner and if such excess payment is not on account of any misrepresentation of facts by the pensioner or family pensioner, Ministry of Railways shall examine in consultation with the Ministry of Finance (Department of Expenditure) whether or not recovery of such excess payment can be waived off and issue appropriate orders in accordance with the relevant rules and instructions in this regard. (5) Where the Ministry of Railways decides not to waive off the excess payment of pension or family pension, the retired railway servant concerned or family pensioner shall be served with a notice by the Head of Office requiring him to refund the excess payment of pension within a period of two months from the date of receipt of notice by him. (6) In case the railway servant fails to comply with the notice, the Head of Office shall, by order in writing, direct that such excess payment shall be adjusted in instalments by short payments of pension in future, in one or more installments, as the Head of Office may direct. 67. Recovery and adjustment of Government dues or railway dues.- (1) It shall be the duty of the Head of Office to ascertain and assess Government dues payable by a railway servant due for retirement on superannuation and by the railway servant who has retired or is retiring otherwise than on attaining the age of superannuation. (2) The Government dues as ascertained and assessed by the Head of Office which remain outstanding till the date of retirement of the railway servant, shall be adjusted against the amount of the retirement gratuity becoming payable. Explanation.- For the purposes of this rule, the expression ‘Government dues’ includes – (a) dues pertaining to Government accommodation including arrears of licence fee as well as damages (for the occupation of the Government accommodation beyond the permissible period after the date of retirement of the allottee, subletting, unauthorised occupation, transfer to an ineligible office, etc.) and dues or arrears in respect of electricity, water and PNG charge, if any; (b) dues other than those pertaining to Government accommodation, namely, balance of house building or conveyance or any other advance, overpayment of pay and allowances or leave salary and arrears of income tax deductible at source under the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961); (c) dues pertaining to short collection in freight charges and shortage in stores etc. [in addition to clauses (a) and (b)]. (3) Only the Government dues as referred to in sub-rule (2) shall be adjusted against the amount of retirement gratuity payable to the retired railway servant and any other dues which are not Government dues in terms of sub-rule (2) shall not be recoverable from the amount of retirement gratuity. 68. Adjustment and recovery of dues pertaining to Government accommodation including railway accommodation.- (1)(a) In the case of a railway servant who is due for retirement on superannuation, the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned, on receipt of intimation and details from the Head of Office under sub-rule (1) of rule 55 for issue of a No Demand Certificate, shall scrutinise its records and inform the Head of Office within two months, if any licence fee was recoverable from the railway servant in respect of the period prior to eight months of his retirement. (b) In the case of a railway servant who has retired or is retiring otherwise than on attaining the age of superannuation, the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned shall inform the Head of Office within one month from the date of receipt of intimation and details from Head of Office under sub-rule (2) of rule 55, if any licence fee was recoverable from the railway servant up to the date of retirement. (c) If no intimation in regard to recovery of outstanding licence fee is received by the Head of Office by the stipulated date, it shall be presumed that no licence fee was recoverable from the allottee in respect of the period preceding eight months of the date of his superannuation or up to the date of retirement in other cases. (2) In the case of retirement on superannuation, the Head of Office shall ensure that licence fee for the next eight months, that is upto the date of retirement of the allottee, is recovered every month from the pay and allowances of the allottee. (3) Where the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned intimates the amount of licence fee recoverable in respect of the period mentioned in sub-rule (1), the Head of Office shall ensure that outstanding licence fee is recovered in instalments from the current pay and allowances of the allottee and where the entire amount is not recovered from the pay and allowances, the balance shall be recovered out of the gratuity before its payment is authorised. (4) The Directorate of Estates or the office concerned shall also inform the Head of Office the amount of licence fee for the retention of Government accommodation for the permissible period beyond the date of retirement of the allottee and the Head of Office shall adjust the amount of that licence fee from the amount of the gratuity together with the unrecovered licence fee, if any, mentioned in sub-rule (3). (5) If in any particular case, it is not possible for the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned or the concerned office of Railway to determine the outstanding licence fee, that Directorate or the concerned office of Railway shall inform the Head of Office that ten per cent. of the gratuity may be withheld pending receipt of further information. (6) The recovery of licence fee (where it is not possible for the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned to determine the outstanding license fee) as well as damages (for occupation of the Government accommodation other than railway accommodation beyond the permissible period after the date of retirement of allottee) shall be the responsibility of the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned and the withheld amount of gratuity shall be paid immediately on production of ‘No Demand Certificate’ from the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned after actual vacation of the Government accommodation other than railway accommodation. (7)(a) The Directorate of Estates or the office concerned shall ensure the No Demand Certificate shall be given to the railway servant within a period of fourteen days from the date of submission of application for the said certificate after actual vacation of the Government accommodation other than railway accommodation. (b) If the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned fails to issue the No Demand Certificate in respect of Government accommodation other than railway accommodation within fourteen days from the date of the application, the allottee shall be entitled to payment of interest (as per the rate and manner applicable to State Railway Provident Fund deposit determined from time to time by the Ministry of Railways) on the excess withheld amount of gratuity which is required to be refunded after adjusting the arrears of licence fee and damages, if any, payable by the allottee till the date of issue of No Demand Certificate or the date of expiry of the period of fourteen days from the date of application for No demand certificate, whichever is earlier. (c) The interest shall be payable by the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned through the concerned Account Officer of the retired railway servant from the date of application for the said certificate after vacation of the Government accommodation other than railway accommodation, up to the date of refund of excess withheld amount of gratuity. (8) If after adjustment from the withheld amount of gratuity, if any, mentioned under sub-rule (5) in respect of Government accommodation other than railway accommodation, or if no amount of gratuity was withheld under sub- rule (5), any amount on account of licence fee or damages (for overstay or unauthorised occupation or subletting or transfer to an ineligible office etc.) or dues on account of electricity, water or Piped Natural Gas charges, remaining unpaid, may be ordered by the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned to be recovered through the concerned Account Officer from the dearness relief without the consent of the pensioner and in such case no dearness relief shall be disbursed until full recovery of such dues has been made. (9)(a) In case where a railway accommodation is not vacated after superannuation of the railway servant or after cessation of his service such as on voluntary retirement, compulsory retirement or medical invalidation, the full amount of retirement gratuity shall be withheld. (b) The amount withheld under clause (a) shall remain with the railway administration in the form of cash. (c) In case the railway accommodation is not vacated even after the permissible period of retention after the superannuation, retirement or cessation of service, as the case may be, the railway administration shall have the right to withhold, recover, or adjust from the retirement gratuity, the normal rent, special licence fee or damage rent, as may be due from the former railway servant and return only the balance, if any, on vacation of the railway accommodation. (d) Any amount remaining unpaid after the adjustment made under clause (c), may also be recovered without the consent of the pensioner by the concerned Accounts Officer from the dearness relief of the pensioner until full recovery of such dues has been made. (e) Dispute, if any, regarding recovery of damages or rent from the former railway servant shall be subject to adjudication by the concerned Estate Officer appointed under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act,1971 (40 of 1971). Explanation.- For the purposes of this rule, the licence fee shall also include any other charges payable by the allottee for any damage or loss caused by him to the accommodation or its fittings. 69. Adjustment and recovery of dues other than dues pertaining to Government accommodation including railway accommodation. – (1) For the dues other than the dues pertaining to occupation of Government accommodation or Railway accommodation, as the case may be, as referred to in clauses (b) and (c) of sub-rule (2) of rule 67, the Head of Office shall take steps to assess the dues one year before the date on which a railway servant is due to retire on superannuation or on the date on which he proceeds on leave preparatory to retirement, whichever is earlier, in the case of retirement on superannuation and immediately on retirement or when the fact of retirement of the railway servant is known to the Head of Office, whichever is earlier, in the case of retirement otherwise than on superannuation. (2) The assessment of Government dues referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be completed by the Head of Office eight months prior to the date of the retirement of the railway servant, in the case of retirement on superannuation, and within thirty days after the date of retirement in the case of retirement otherwise than on superannuation. (3) The dues as assessed under sub-rule (2) including those dues which come to notice subsequently and which remain outstanding till the date of retirement of the railway servant, shall be adjusted against the amount of retirement gratuity becoming payable to the railway servant on his retirement. 70. Date of retirement to be notified.- (1) When a railway servant retires from service, (a) a notification in the Official Gazette in the case of a Gazetted railway servant; or (b) an office order in the case of a non-gazetted railway servant, shall be issued specifying the date of retirement within a week of such date and a copy of every such notification or office order, as the case may be, shall be forwarded immediately to the Accounts Officer: Provided that where a notification in the Official Gazette or an office order, as the case may be, regarding the grant of leave preparatory to retirement to a railway servant is issued, a further notification or office order that the railway servant has actually retired on the expiry of such leave shall not be necessary unless the leave is curtailed and the retirement is for any reason ante-dated or postponed. (2) Unless specific orders for extension of service are issued by the competent authority, the railway servant shall be deemed to have retired from service on the date on which he attains the age of superannuation and failure on the part of the office to issue a notification or office order under sub-rule (1) shall not make the railway servant entitled to continue in service beyond the date of superannuation. CHAPTER XI Determination and authorisation of the amounts of family pension and gratuity in respect of a Railway servant who dies or goes missing while in service 71. Obtaining of claims for family pension and gratuity.-(1)Where the Head of Office has received an intimation or information about the death of a railway servant while in service, he shall ascertain whether any death gratuity or family pension or both is or are payable in respect of the deceased railway servant. (2)(a) Where the family of the deceased railway servant is eligible for the death gratuity under rule 45, the Head of Office shall ascertain, - (i) if the deceased railway servant had nominated any person or persons to receive the gratuity; and (ii) if the deceased railway servant had not made any nomination or the nomination made does not subsist, the person or persons to whom the gratuity may be payable. (b) The Head of Office shall, then, address the persons concerned in Format 10 and send the letters to those persons for making a claim for gratuity in Form 9. (3) Where the family of the deceased railway servant is eligible for family pension under rule 50, the Head of Office shall address the eligible member of the family or the guardian, as the case may be, in Format 11 for making a claim for family pension in Form 10 and to submit an undertaking to the Bank in Format 8. (4)(a) If on the date of death, the railway servant was an allottee of Government accommodation or railway accommodation, as the case may be, the dues pertaining to outstanding licence fee payable in respect of the period before the date of death of the railway servant shall stand waived off. (b) Any dues relating to damages in respect of the Government accommodation or railway accommodation, as the case may be shall be recovered from the death gratuity payable to the family and if the Government accommodation or railway accommodation is retained by the family of the deceased railway servant, the licence fee for the month in which the railway servant has died and the first three months thereafter, shall not be recovered from the family. (c) The Head of Office shall address the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned or the concerned office of Railways, as the case may be within seven days of the date of receipt of intimation or information of death of a railway servant for the issue of "No Demand Certificate" in accordance with the provisions of sub-rule (1) of rule 77. (5) Where the Head of Office has received an intimation that a railway servant has gone missing, he shall ascertain whether any gratuity or family pension or both is or are payable in respect of the missing railway servant in accordance with sub-rule (1) of rule 51 and sub-rule (4) of rule 51. (6)(a) In the case of a missing railway servant, the Head of Office shall take action in accordance with sub-rule (2) and sub-rule (3) in respect of the missing railway servant and shall address the member of the family eligible to receive the amount of gratuity in Format 10 advising him or her for making a claim for gratuity in Form 9. (b) The Head of Office shall also address the eligible member of the family or the guardian, as the case may be, in Format 11 for making a claim for family pension in Form 10. (c) The Head of office shall inform the eligible members of the family that claims for payment of family pension and gratuity shall be submitted to the Head of Office after a report has been lodged with the concerned Police Station in the form of a First Information Report or a Daily Diary Entry or a General Diary Entry and a report has been obtained from the police to the effect that the railway servant could not be traced so far despite all efforts made in that regard. (d) The claims shall be accompanied by an undertaking to the Bank in Format 8, an Indemnity Bond in Format 7, acopy each of the report lodged with the concerned Police Station and a copy of the report obtained from the police to the effect that the railway servant could not be traced so far despite all efforts made in that regard. (e) The Head of Office shall not wait for a death certificate issued by an appropriate authority and shall initiate action under this rule on receipt of an intimation or a credible information, in any form, about the death of the railway servant. (f) The Head of Office shall make special efforts to get the claims from the family of the deceased railway servant in the respective forms as early as possible and where the family is residing in the place of duty of the deceased railway servant, the forms and documents may be got completed by the family personally and if the family is residing outside the place of duty, all the blank forms and other documents should be forwarded to the familywith clear instructions, so as to avoid unnecessary correspondence and consequent delay. (g) In order to decide the eligibility for family pension, a member of the family, other than the widow or widower of the deceased railway servant or pensioner, shall be required to submit, along with the claim for family pension, the documents referred to in the clause (b) of sub-rule (12) of rule 50. 72. Verification of service and emoluments for family pension and gratuity.- (1)(a) The Head of Office shall go through the service book of the deceased or missing railway servant and satisfy himself as to whether certificates of verification of service for the entire service are recorded therein. (b)(i)If there are any periods of unverified service, the Head of Office shall accept the unverified portion of service as verified on the basis of the available entries in the service book; (ii) the Head of Office may rely on any other relevant material to which he may have ready access; (iii) while accepting the unverified portion of service, the Head of Office shall ensure that service was continuous and was not forfeited on account of dismissal, removal or resignation from service, or for participation in strike. (2)(a) For the purpose of determination of emoluments for family pension and gratuity, the Head of Office shall confine the verification of the correctness of emoluments for a maximum period of one year preceding the date of death or disappearance of the railway servant. (b) In case the railway servant was on extraordinary leave on the date of death or disappearance, the correctness of the emoluments for a maximum period of one year which he drew preceding the date of the commencement of the extraordinary leave shall be verified. (3) The process of determination of qualifying service and qualifying emoluments shall be completed within one month of the receipt of intimation or information regarding the death of the railway servant or within one month of the receipt of intimation regarding disappearance of the railway servant, as the case may be. 73. Action to be taken in cases where service records are incomplete.-(1) Subject to the provisions ofsub- rules (2) and (3), and sub-rule (7) of rule 75 there shall not be any case where service book has not been maintained properly. (2) Notwithstanding anything in sub-rule (1), if the service book has not been maintained properly despite the orders of the Government on the subject, and it is not possible for the Head of Office to accept the unverified portion of service as verified on the basis of entries in the service book, the Head of Office shall take action as follows, namely :- (a) For the purpose of Family Pension, if the family of the deceased or missing railway servant has become eligible for family pension in accordance with sub-rule (1) of rule 50 or sub-rule (1) of rule 51, the amount of family pension and the period for which it is payable shall be determined in accordance with sub-rule (2) of rule 50 within one month from the date of receipt of intimation or information regarding death of the railway servant or the date of receipt of intimation regarding disappearance of the railway servant. (b) For the purpose of gratuity, - (i) In respect of the unverified portion or portions of service the Head of Office shall verify the portion or portions of such service, as the case may be, based on pay bills, acquittance rolls or other relevant records, such as last pay certificate and pay slip for the month of April (which shows verification of service for the previous financial year) and record necessary certificates in the service book; (ii) If the service for any period is not capable of being verified in the manner specified in sub-clause (i), that period of service having been rendered by the railway servant in another office or Department, the Head of Office under which the railway servant is at present serving shall refer the said period of service to the Head of Office in which the railway servant is shown to have served during that period for the purpose of verification; (iii) On receipt of communication referred to in sub-clause (ii), the Head of Office in that office or Department shall verify the portion or portions of such service, in the manner as specified in sub-clause (i), and send necessary certificates to the referring Head of Office within one month from the date of receipt of such a reference: Provided that in case a period of service is incapable of being verified, it shall be brought to the notice of the referring Head of Office simultaneously; (iv) If no response is received within the time referred to in the preceding sub-clause, such period or periods shall be deemed to qualify for pension; (v) If at any time thereafter, it is found that the Head of Office and other concerned authorities had failed to communicate any non-qualifying period of service, the Railway Board shall fix responsibility for such non- communication; (vi) Every effort shall be made to complete the verification of service, as specified in sub-clauses (i) to (iv) and to make good any omissions, imperfections or deficiencies and if any omission, imperfection or deficiency is incapable of being made good and the portion of service shown as unverified in the service book which it has not beenpossible to verify in accordance with the procedure laid down in sub-clauses (i) to (iv), shall be ignored and service qualifying for gratuity shall be determined on the basis of the entries in the service book. (3) Notwithstanding anything in sub-rule (1), where in the case of a deceased railway servant, the entire service is not capable of being verified and accepted immediately and there is likely to be a delay in determination of final amount of gratuity, the amount of gratuity shall be provisionally determined and drawn on the basis of the spell of qualifying service which is verified and accepted immediately preceding the date of death of the railway servant, in accordance with sub-rule (7) of rule 75. 74. Forwarding the family pension case to the Accounts Officer.-(1) On receipt of claim or claims, the Head of Office shall complete the Form 11 in respect of a deceased railway servant or a missing railway servant and send the said Form 11 to the Accounts Officer, with a covering letter in Format 9 along with the undertaking to the Bank in Format 8, duly completed and up-to-date service book of the railway servant and any other documents relied upon for the verification of the service claimed. This shall be done not later than one month of the receipt of claim by the Head of Office. (2)The claim of a member of the family of the deceased or missing railway servant shall not be rejected on the ground that the details of such member of the family are not available in Form 4 or office records, if the Head of Office is otherwise satisfied about the eligibility of the member of the family for grant of family pension under these rules. (3)The Head of Office shall retain one copy of the aforesaid Format 9, Form 10 and Form 11 for his office record. (4)The Head of Office shall draw the attention of the Accounts Officer to the details of Government or railway duesoutstanding against the deceased or missing railway servant, namely:- (a) Government or railway dues as ascertained and assessed in term of rule 77 and recoverable out of the gratuity before payment is authorised; (b) amount of gratuity to be held over partly for adjustment of Government or railway dues which have not been assessed so far and partly as margin for adjustment in the light of the final determination of the gratuity; (c) the maximum amount of gratuity to be held over for the purpose of clause (b) shall be limited to ten per cent of the amount of gratuity: Provided that in a case where a railway accommodation is not vacated immediately after the death or disappearance of a railway servant, the recovery of the outstanding dues in respect of such railway accommodation shall be made in the following manner, namely :- (i) The entire amount of gratuity shall be withheld and the amount so withheld shall remain with the railway administration in the form of cash. (ii) The railway administration shall have the right to withhold, recover or adjust the normal rent, special licence fee or damage rent, as may be due, from the gratuity and return only the balance, if any, on vacation of the railway accommodation. (iii) Any amount remaining unpaid after the adjustment made under clause (ii), may also be recovered, without the consent of the family pensioner, by the concerned Accounts Officer from the dearness relief of the family pensioner until full recovery of such dues has been made. (iv) Any dispute regarding recovery of damages or rent from the former railway servant shall be subject to adjudication by the concerned Estate Officer appointed under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act,1971 (40 of 1971). 75. Sanction, drawal and disbursement of provisional family pension and provisional gratuity on death of a Railway servant.- (1) In the case of death of a railway servant, after a claim for family pension has been received by the Head of Office in accordance with rule 71 and the Head of Office is satisfied regarding the eligibility of the claimant for family pension, he shall draw provisional family pension not exceeding the maximum family pension as determined in accordance with the provisions of these rules, within fifteen days of the receipt of the claim and for this purpose, the Head of Office shall adopt the following procedure, namely :- (a) he shall issue a sanction letter in favour of claimant or claimants endorsing a copy thereof to the Accounts Officerconcerned indicating the amount of provisional family pension as determined; (b) after issue of the sanction letter he shall draw the amount of the provisional family pension in the same manner as pay and allowances of the establishment are drawn by him. (2) The Head of Office shall disburse the provisional family pension (including arrears, if any) immediately after thesame has been drawn under sub-rule (1). (3) Unless the period of provisional family pension is extended under the proviso to sub-rule (1) of rule 76, the payment of provisional family pension shall continue for a period of six months from the date following the date of death of the railway servant. (4) The Head of Office shall inform the Accounts Officer as soon as provisional family pension has been paid for a period mentioned in sub-rule (3) or for the period extended under proviso to sub-rule (1) of rule 76, as the case maybe. (5) In the case of death of a railway servant, after the family pension and gratuity case has been forwarded by the Head of Office to the Accounts Officer concerned in accordance with rule 74, the Head of Office shall draw hundred per cent of the gratuity as determined in accordance with the provisions of these rules and for this purpose theHead of Office shall adopt the following procedure, namely:- (a) he shall issue a sanction letter in favour of claimant or claimants endorsing a copy thereof to the Accounts Officer concerned indicating the amount of hundred per cent of the death gratuity as determined; (b) he shall indicate in the sanction letter the amount recoverable out of the death gratuity under sub-rule (4) of rule 74; (c) after issue of the sanction letter he shall draw the amount of hundred per cent of the death gratuity after deducting there from the dues mentioned in clause (b). (6) The Head of Office shall disburse the death gratuity immediately after the same has been drawn under sub-rule (5). Provided that in cases where the family of a deceased railway servant, who was in occupation of railway accommodation, does not vacate the said accommodation, further action shall be taken in accordance with clause (c) of sub-rule (4) of rule 74. (7)(a) Notwithstanding anything in sub-rule (1) of rule 73, if in a case of death of a railway servant, where the entire service rendered by the deceased railway servant is not capable of being verified and accepted immediatelyand there is likely to be a delay in determination of final amount of gratuity and forwarding the case to the Accounts Officer, the amount of gratuity shall be provisionally determined in accordance with clause (b) of sub-rule (1) of rule 45 on the basis of the spell of qualifying service which is verified and accepted immediately preceding the date of death of the railway servant. (b) If a claim in Form 9 has been received by the Head of Office, the amount of gratuity, so determined shall be authorised by the Head of Office, on provisional basis, within one month from the date of receipt of intimation or information about the death of the railway servant: Provided that in cases where the family of a deceased railway servant, who was in occupation of railway accommodation, does not vacate the said accommodation, further action shall be taken in accordance with clause (c) of sub-rule (4) of rule 74. (c) The final amount of the gratuity shall be determined by the Head of Office on the acceptance and verification of the entire spell of service by him within a period of three months from the date on which the authority for the payment of provisional gratuity was issued and the balance, if any, becoming payable as a result of determination of the final amount of gratuity shall then be authorised to the beneficiaries. (8) The Head of Office shall inform the Accounts Officer as soon as the provisional gratuity has been paid to the claimant or claimants in accordance with sub-rule (6) or sub-rule (7). 76. Authorisation of final family pension and balance of the gratuity by the Accounts Officer.- (1) On receipt of the family pension case and the documents referred to in sub-rule (1) of rule 74, the Accounts Officer shall, within a period of one month from the date of receipt of the family pension case and the documents, apply the requisite checks and complete Section I of Part II of Form 11 and assess the amount of family pension and gratuity: Provided that while applying the requisite checks, the Accounts Officer shall confine the verification of the correctness of emoluments for a maximum period of one year preceding the date of death or disappearance of the railway servant. Provided further that, in the case of a deceased railway servant, if the Accounts Officer is, for any reason, unable to assess the amount of family pension within the period aforesaid, he shall communicate the fact to the Head of Office to continue to disburse the provisional family pension to the claimant for such period as may be specified by the Accounts Officer. (2) The Head of Office shall submit the case to the Head of Department for extension of the period of provisional family pension. After approval of the Head of Department, the Head of Office shall issue a sanction for extension of the period of provisional family pension for the period as specified by the Accounts Officer and approved by the Head of Department. (3)(a) The Accounts Officer shall prepare the pension payment order not later than one month of the receipt of family pension case from Head of Office. (b) Where on death of a railway servant, provisional family pension was sanctioned in accordance with rule 75, the payment of family pension shall be effective from the date following the date on which the payment of provisional family pension ceased. (c) The Accounts Officer shall, after taking into consideration the time likely to be taken to issue Special Seal of Authority by the authorised office of Financial Advisor and Chief Accounts Officer and disbursal of family pension by the Pension Disbursing Authority, indicate in the Pension Payment Order the date up to which the provisional family pension shall continue tobe paid and the date from which the payment of family pension by the Pension Disbursing Authority shall become effective. (d) The arrears of family pension, if any, in respect of the period for which provisional family pension was drawn and disbursed by the Head of Office shall also be authorised by the Accounts Officer to be paid by the Head of Office. (e) In the case of a missing railway servant, the payment of family pension shall be effective from the date following the date up to which leave was sanctioned to the railway servant before he went missing or from the date up to which pay and allowances have been paid to the railway servant or from the date on which a report has been lodged with the concerned Police Station in the form of First Information Report or a Daily Diary Entry or a General Diary Entry, whichever is the latest. (f) Payment of family pension shall be authorised with a condition that the payment of family pension and the arrears of family pension for the period from the date specified in clause (e) up to the date of commencement of payment of family pension shall be made by the Pension Disbursing Authority only after the expiry of a period of six months from the date of lodging of report with the concerned Police Station. (4) The Accounts Officer shall, while authorising the family pension for the first eligible member of the family, indicate the names of the permanently disabled child or children and dependent parents and disabled siblings of deceased railway servant as family pensioners in the Pension Payment Order, if there is no other member of family to whom family pension may become payable before such disabled child or children or dependent parents or disabled siblings. (5)(a) The Accounts Officer shall determine the amount of the balance of the gratuity after adjusting the amount, if any, outstanding against the deceased railway servant. (b) The Accounts Officer shall intimate to the Head of the Office, the amount of the balance of the death gratuity determined under clause (a) with the remarks that the amount of the balance of the death gratuity may be drawn and disbursed by the Head of Office to the person or persons to whom the provisional gratuity has been paid in accordance with rule 75. Provided that in cases where the family of a deceased railway servant, who was in occupation of railway accommodation, does not vacate the said accommodation, further action shall be taken in accordance with clause (c) of sub-rule (4) of rule 74. (c) In the case of a missing railway servant, the Accounts Officer shall determine the amount of the gratuity payable after adjusting the amount, if any, outstanding against him or her. (d) The Accounts Officer shall, within one month of the date of receipt of case, intimate to the Head of the Office, theamount of gratuity determined under clause (c) with the remarks that the amount of the gratuity may be drawn and disbursed by the Head of Office to the person or persons to whom the gratuity is payable in accordance with rule 47, only after the expiry of a period of six months from the date of lodging of report with the concerned Police Station. Provided that in cases where the family of a missing Government servant, who was in occupation of railway accommodation, does not vacate the said accommodation, further action shall be taken in accordance with clause (c) of sub-rule (4) of rule 74. (e) The amount of gratuity withheld under sub-clause (b) of clause (i) of sub-rule (1) of rule 77 shall be adjusted by the Head of Officeagainst the outstanding licence fee mentioned in clause (viii) of sub-rule (1) of rule 77 and the balance, if any, refunded to the person or persons to whom gratuity has been paid. (6) The fact of the issue of the pension payment order shall be promptly reported to the Head of Office by the Accounts Officer and the documents which are no longer required shall also be returned to him. (7) If the amount of provisional family pension as disbursed by the Head of Office is found to be in excess of the final family pension assessed by the Accounts Officer, it shall be open to the Accounts Officer to adjust the excess amount from the gratuity failing which, in instalments, from family pension payable in future. (8)(a) If the amount of provisional gratuity disbursed by the Head of Office proves to be larger than the amount finally assessed by the Accounts Officer, the beneficiary shall not be required to refund the excess. (b) The Head of Office shall ensure that chances of disbursing the amount of gratuity in excess of the amount actually admissible are minimized. In all cases where the amount of gratuity paid is more than the amount of gratuity finally assessed by the Accounts Officer, the Head of Department shall fix the responsibility for the excess payment. (9)(a) The Accounts Officer shall forward a copy of the Pension Payment Order issued under this rule along with the undertaking to the Bank in Format 8 to the authorised office of Financial Advisor and Chief Accounts Officer, not later than one month of the date of receipt of family pension case from the Head of Office, for issuing a Special Seal of Authority. (b) The authorised office of Financial Advisor and Chief Accounts Officer shall issue the Special Seal of Authority and forward the same to the Pension Disbursing Authority along with the copy of the Pension Payment Order issued by the Accounts Officer and the undertaking in Format 8 within ten days of the date of receipt of the Pension Payment Order from the Accounts Officer, in accordance with the orders issued by the Ministry of Railways. (c) The Pension Disbursing Authority shall take action to disburse the family pension to the family pensioner from the date on which it becomes due, in accordance with the orders issued by the Ministry of Railways and the authorised office of Financial Advisor and Chief Accounts Officer, not later than fifteen days of the date of receipt of Special Seal of Authority from the authorised office of Financial Advisor and Chief Accounts Officer. (d) If there are more than one member of the family eligible to receive family pension in accordance with these rules and if a member of the family has not submitted his or her claim for family pension in Form 10, the case for issuing Pension Payment Order in favour of such member of family may be processed after his or her claim has been received and the case of other eligible members of the family for grant of family pension may be processed without linking it with the case of the family member who has not submitted the claim in Form 10. (e) If there are more than one member of the family eligible to receive gratuity and if a member of the family has not submitted his claim for gratuity in Form 9, the case for drawal of gratuity in his favour may be processed after his claim has been received and the case of other eligible members of the family for sanction of gratuity may be processed without linking it with the case of the family member who has not submitted the claim in Form 9. 77. Adjustment of Government dues or railways dues.- (1) In case of dues pertaining to Government accommodation, the following action shall be taken, namely:- (i) If on the date of death or disappearance, the railway servant was allottee of Government accommodation, the Head of Office, on receipt of intimation or information regarding the death or disappearance of the railway servant shall, within seven days of the receipt of such intimation or information, forward the available details regarding the Government accommodation, to the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned and request the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned for issuing a `No demand certificate' in respect of the deceased or missing railway servant so that authorisation of family pension and gratuity is not delayed and the Head of Office shall also furnish the following information to the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned, namely:- (a) name of the deceased or missing railway servant with designation; (b) particulars of the existing accommodation along with available details of any other accommodation, which was in occupation of the railway servant in the past (Quarter number, type and locality); (c) date of death or disappearance of railway servant; (d) whether the railway servant was on leave at the time of his death or disappearance and, if so, the period andnature of leave; (e) whether the railway servant was enjoying rent-free accommodation; (f) the period up to which licence fee had been recovered from the pay and allowances of the deceased or missing railway servant and the monthly rate of recovery and particulars of the pay bill under which last recovery was made; (g) if the licence fee had not been recovered up to the date of death or disappearance and the family intends to retain Government or railway accommodation for the permissible period thereafter, details of the - (A) period for which licence fee has not been recovered; (B) the amount of licence fee in respect of the period at item (A) to be determined on the basis of the standard rent bill; (C) the amount of licence fee for the retention of Government accommodation or the railway accommodation, as the case may be, by the family of the deceased or missing railway servant for the permissible concessional period beyond the date of death or disappearance of the railway servant to be determined on the basis of standard bill; (D) the amount of licence fee mentioned at item (C) proposed to be recovered out of gratuity; (E) details of any previous reference from the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned having bearing on the recovery of licence fee outstanding against the allottee and action taken thereon. (ii) While calculating the dues in respect of the Government including railway accommodation, the dues pertaining to outstanding licence fee payable in respect of the period before the date of death of the railway servant shall be waived off andif the Government or railway accommodation is retained by the family of the deceased railway servant after his death, the licence fee for the month in which the railway servant has died and the first three months thereafter, shall not be recovered from the family. (iii)The Head of Office shall recover from the gratuity the amount of licence fee as intimated to the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned under clauses (i) clause (ii). (iv)The recovery of licence fee for the occupation of Government accommodation other than the railway accommodation beyond the permissible concessional period shall be the responsibility of the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned. (v) The Directorate of Estates or the office concerned shall scrutinise their records with a view to determine if any dues other than the licence fee referred to in clause (i) was outstanding against deceased or missing railway servant and if any recovery is found, the amount and the period or periods to which such recovery or recoveries relate shall be communicated to the Head of Office within a period of one month of the receipt of intimation from Head of Office under clause (i) regarding the death or disappearance of the railway servant. (vi)Pending receipt of information under clause (v), the Head of Office shall withhold ten per cent of the death gratuity. Provided that in cases where the family of a deceased or missing railway servant, who was in occupation of railway accommodation, does not vacate the said accommodation, further action shall be taken in accordance with proviso to clause (c) of sub-rule (4) of rule 74. (vii) If no intimation is received by the Head of Office regarding recovery of outstanding dues or the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned expresses its inability to assess the outstanding dues within the period specified under clause (v), it shall be presumed that nothing was recoverable from the deceased or missing railway servant and the amount of gratuity withheld shall be paid to the person or persons to whom the amount of gratuity was paid: Provided that in cases where the family of a deceased or missing railway servant, who was in occupation of railway accommodation, does not vacate the said accommodation, further action shall be taken in accordance with proviso to clause (c) of sub-rule (4) of rule 74. (viii) If the Head of Office has received intimation from the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned under clause (v) regarding dues outstanding against the deceased or missing railway servant, the Head of Office shall verify from the acquaintance rolls if the outstanding amount was recovered from the pay and allowances of the deceased railway servant and if as a result of verification, it is found that the amount of dues shown as outstanding by the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned, had already been recovered, the Head of Office shall draw the attention of the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned to the paybills under which the necessary recovery of the licence fee was made and subject to the provisions of sub-rule (2) take steps to pay the amount of the gratuity withheld under clause (vi) to the person or persons to whom the gratuity was paid: Provided that in cases where the family of a deceased or missing railway servant, who was in occupation of railway accommodation, does not vacate the said accommodation, further action shall be taken in accordance with proviso to clause (c) of sub-rule (4) of rule 74. (ix) If the outstanding amount of dues was not recovered from the pay and allowances of the deceased or missing railway servant, the outstanding amount shall be adjusted against the amount of the gratuity withheld under clause (vi) and the balance, if any, repaid to the person or persons to whom the amount of gratuity was paid: Provided that in cases where the family of a deceased or missing railway servant, who was in occupation of railway accommodation, does not vacate the said accommodation, further action shall be taken in accordance with proviso to clause (c) of sub-rule (4) of rule 74. (x) Any amount of licence fee or damages, remaining unpaid after adjustment from the withheld amount of gratuity and any dues intimated by the Directorate of Estates or the office concerned, in respect of Government accommodation other than railway accommodation, after the amount of gratuity has been paid, may be ordered to be recovered by the Head of Office through the Accounts Officer concerned from the dearness relief without the consent of the family pensioner and in such cases no dearness relief shall be disbursed until full recovery of such dues has been made. (2) In case of dues other than those referred to in sub-rule (1), the Head of Office shall, within fifteen days of the receipt of intimation regarding death or disappearance of a railway servant, take steps to ascertain if any dues as referred to in rule 67, excluding the dues pertaining to the allotment of Government accommodation or railway accommodation, as the case may be, were recoverable from the deceased or missing railway servant and such ascertainable dues shall be recovered from the amountof gratuity becoming payable to the family of the deceased or missing railway servant. 78. Payment of family pension and death gratuity when a railway servant dies or goes missing while on deputation.-(1) In the case of a Railway servant who dies or goes missing while on deputation to any other Central Government Department or in the case of a Government servant belonging to any other Central Government Department who dies or goes missing while on deputation to Ministry of Railways, action to authorize family pension and gratuity in accordance with the provision of these rules shall be taken by the Head of Office of the parent Department. (2) In the case of a railway servant who dies or goes missing while on deputation to a State Government or while on foreign service, action to authorise the payments of family pension and gratuity in accordance with the provisions of these rules shall be taken by the Head of Office or the cadre authority which sanctioned the deputation ofthe railway servant to the State Government or to the foreign service. CHAPTER XII Sanction of family pension and residuary gratuity in respect of deceased or missing pensioners or family pensioners 79. Sanction of family pension and residuary gratuity on the death or disappearance of a pensioner or family pensioner.- (1) Where the Head of Office has received an intimation or information regarding the death or disappearance of a pensioner or death or disappearance or ineligibility of a family pensioner, he shall ascertain whether any family pension or residuary gratuity or both in respect of the deceased pensioner or any family pension inrespect of the missing pensioner or any family pension in respect of the deceased or missing family pensioner are payable and proceed as hereinafter provided. (2)(a)(i) In the case of death of a pensioner, if the deceased pensioner is survived by a widow or widower who is eligible for the grant of family pension under rule 50, the amount of family pension as indicated in the Pension Payment Order shall become payable to the widow or widower, as the case may be, from the date following the date of death of the pensioner. (ii) The Pension Disbursing Authority shall commence disbursement of family pension, as authorised in the Pension Payment Order, to the widow or widower, whose name has been included in the Pension Payment Order, within one month of the receipt of a claim in Form 12 from the widow or widower along with a copy of the death certificate and an undertaking to the Bank in Format 8. (iii) Subject to the provisions of clause (b), if the deceased pensioner is survived by a permanently disabled child or children or dependent parents or disabled siblings, whose names have been included in the Pension Payment Order as family pensioners under clause (e) of sub-rule (1) of rule 63, the Pension Disbursing Authority shall, on receipt of a claim in Form 12 along with a copy of the death certificate and an undertaking to the Bank in Format 8, commence disbursement of family pension, as authorised in the Pension Payment Order, to the member of family who is eligible to receive family pension in accordance with the provisions of rule 50, within one month of the date of receipt of the claim. (iv) Where the deceased pensioner is survived by spouse and permanently disabled children or dependent parents or disabled siblings, whose names had not been included in the Pension Payment Order previously, the Accounts Officer shall include their names in the Pension Payment Order on receipt of a written communication from the Head of Office on the basis of a request made by the spouse of the deceased pensioner in Form 8. (v) The Pension Disbursing Authority shall, on death or ineligibility of the family pensioner and on receipt of a claim in Form 12 along with a copy of the death certificate and an undertaking to the Bank in Format 8, commence disbursement of family pension, as authorised in the Pension Payment Order, to a permanently disabled child or dependent parent or disabled sibling whose name has been included in the Pension Payment Order as family pensionerand who is eligible to receive family pension in accordance with the provisions of rule 50, within one month of the date of receipt of the claim. (b)(i) Where the Pension Payment Order does not include name of any member of the family for payment of family pension or where the Head of Office is of the opinion that in accordance with the provisions of rule 50, on death of a pensioner or family pensioner, the family pension in respect of a deceased pensioner or family pensioner has become payable to a member of the family other than that whose name has been included in the Pension Payment Order under sub-rule (1) of rule 63 or sub-clause (i) or sub-clause (iv) of clause (a), including a person who became member of the family of the pensioner after his retirement, he shall, within one month of the date of receipt of a claim in Form 10, sanction the family pension in Format 12, to such member of family to whom family pension has become payable. (ii) If family pension is sanctioned under sub-clause (i), the Head of Office shall include the names of any permanently disabled child or children and dependent parents and disabled siblings as family pensioners if there is no other member of the family to whom family pension may become payable before such disabled child or children or dependent parents or disabled siblings. (3)(i) Where the Head of Office has received an intimation that a pensioner or family pensioner has gone missing, he shall ascertain whether any family pension is payable in respect of the missing pensioner or family pensioner in accordance with sub-rules (2) and (3) of rule 51. (ii) The Head of Office shall address the eligible member of the family or the guardian, as the case may be, in Format 11 for making a claim for family pension in Form 10. (iii) A claim for payment of family pension shall be submitted by the eligible member of family to the Head of Office in Form 10 after a report has been lodged with the concerned Police Station in the form of a First Information Report or a Daily Diary Entry or a General Diary Entry and the claim shall be accompanied by an Indemnity Bond in Format 7, a copy of the report lodged with the concerned Police Station, a copy of the report obtained from the police to the effect that the railway servant or pensioner or family pensioner could not be traced so far despite all efforts made in that regard and an undertaking to the Bank in Format 8. (iv) On receipt of a claim in Form 10, the Head of Office shall sanction the family pension in Format 12, to such member of family to whom family pension has become payable. The family pension in such a case shall become payable from the date following the date up to which pension or family pension has been paid to the pensioner or family pensioner who went missing or from the date on which a report was lodged