Misappropriation/manipulation of PF Ledgers: Railway Board RBA No. 46/2022

Misappropriation/manipulation of PF Ledgers – Railway Board RBA No.46/2022. Railway Board advised to take extreme precautions while providing access to officials for different modules in IPAS

भारत सरकार Government of India
रेल मंत्रालय Ministry of Railways
रेलवे बोर्ड (Railway Board)

RBA.No.46 /2022

No. 2022/ACII/25/4

New Delhi, dated 14.9.2022.

Principal Financial Advisers,
All Zonal Railways/PUs.

Sub: Misappropriation/manipulation of PF Ledgers.

A case of misappropriation/manipulation of PF Ledgers has been reported by one of the Zonal Railways.

The modus operandi followed involved the fol lowing routes-

• Fraudulent posting of unlinked amounts lying in the account of the Unit (un-posted items), in ledger accounts of certain working employees
• Preparation of fraudulent JVs by debiting Revenue Demand heads with contra credit to the PF head and then posting to PF ledgers of certain employees.
• Fraudulent withdrawal of amount by such employees from their PE account

Prima facie the following acts of omission and commission facilitated the fraud:

• Non implementation of provisions under RBA No. 56/2021 dated 27.10.2021, which emphasises the countersigning of JVs above Rs 1,00,000/ by a JAG officer.
• Weak internal checks- thorough test checks were not carried out, at prescribed intervals,
• Lack of proper scrutiny of unlinked balances, suspense heads
• Sharing of Login IDs/password/OTPs.

To preclude similar occurrences in future, all JVs produced within a unit, which are not supported by transfer transaction certificate, will now be accepted in IPAS only with digital signature of Accounts Officer as per RBA No. 56/2021. Officials concerned may be advised suitably to ensure strict compliance.

Further investigations in the matter are in progress. In the meantime it is desired that-

• Special checks may be carried out on your Railway/ unit to rule out similar incidents, – scrutiny of unlinked balances and Suspense heads
• All Staff may also be sensitised for not sharing their IPAS credentials.
• Extreme precautions to be followed while providing access to officials for different modules in IPAS. Maker- checker principle to be followed at all times

A feedback on the action taken may please be advised to the undersigned, early.

(Ajay Bartwal)
Joint Director Finance (CCA)
Railway Board