Revised and consolidated Guidelines for Top Management APARs in CPSEs

Revised and consolidated Guidelines for writing Annual Performance Appraisal Reports (APARs) of top management incumbents of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs)

No. 5(1)/2018-MGMT
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Public Enterprises

Public Enterprises Bhawan
Block No. 14, CGO Complex
Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003

Dated: 9th October, 2023

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Revised and consolidated Guidelines for writing Annual Performance Appraisal Reports (APARs) of top management incumbents of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs).

The undersigned is directed to state that this Department had issued detailed guidelines and procedure for writing of Annual Performance Appraisal Reports (APARs) of top management incumbent of CPSEs vide DPE DO letter No. 9(1)/2000-GM dated 5 April 2010. Some of the provisions of these guidelines were subsequently amended vide DPE OM No. 5(1)/2000-GM dated 6th July, 2010, OM No. 18(1)/2013-GM dated 2.4 March, 2015, 29th November, 2016, 15 June, 2018 & 4th December, 2018, OM No 16(2)/2010-GM dated 79th November, 2015 and OM No. 9(7)/2018 dated 9 April 2019.

2. The implementation of the guidelines on the subject matter are reviewed again in light of above changes stated over the years and following revised / updated consolidated guidelines / procedure for APAR have been approved:

(i) Writing of APAR through DPE SPARROW on-line system:

The electronic Annual Performance Appraisal Report (Smart Performance Appraisal Report Recording Online Window (SPARROWV)) is an online system in place since 2019 based on the comprehensive performance appraisal dossier that is maintained for each officer by a CPSE. The aim of this system is to facilitate the electronic filling of PAR by officers in a way that is not only user friendly but also allows to fill from anywhere anytime as per their convenience. The system also give convenience to the officers at different Stages in the workflow hierarchy of filling and submission process. To reduce delays in submission of completely filled PARs the nodal officers and CPSE’s Board level incumbents have been provided with a unique NIC email ID linked to their mobile number. NIC email ID is user ID for the system and password of email ID is the password, which is a pre-requisite to access the system. For online filing of APAR, either Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) or e-sign with Aadhaar enabled system is required by every user for authentication.

(ii) Procedure for online writing of APARs:

The performance appraisal should commence with the fixation of targets. The deliverables as well as relative weights in respect of each assigned tasks will be decided by the Reporting Authority after consulting the officer reported upon within two months from the Start of the period of report. The on-line system provides for a step-wise workflow oriented movement of APAR through different levels. An online Help manual in the form of Step by step guide is available under the Help tab on the system.

(iii) Schedule of commencement and completion of Online PARs: 

The schedule of commencement and completion of various Stages in the Performance Appraisal exercise which should be Strictly followed:-

Finalization of targets and relative weights by the Reporting Authority in consultation with the officer reported upon and sending a copy thereof to the nodal officer of concerned administrative Ministry/Department for record- will be completed as per extant practice in offline mode (By 15 May of reporting year)

1. 1. Cut-off date from S. No (i) to (vi) will be in the year following the financial year for which PAR is written (2024 for the reporting year 2023-24) and for S. No. (vii) onwards the cut-off date mentioned will be next year of the financial year i.e. 2025 for reporting year 2023-24. In case these dates fall on holidays, the cut-off date will be automatically extended to the next working day.
   2. APAR will be submitted to Accepting Authority for appraisal only after MoU score/achievements have been included in the APAR. The time line would stand amended accordingly depending upon release of MoU scores by the Government.

(iv) Format of PAR: – There would be a common format for Chief Executives, Functional Directors and Executives at E9 & E8 level (Annex A / page-10). The Same format may be used by CPSEs from E-7 to E-5 level also.

(v) Components of PAR and their relative weights:- The proposed weightage for achievement of MOU targets (as determined by DPE), individual targets, personal attributes and functional! competencies for all the levels of management incumbents of CPSEs up-to ES level would be as under:

A. Weightage

@ MoU signing CPSE will devise Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for all Executives up to E-5 level and assessment done on that basis as well as on the overall MoU score. MoU score will carry 50 marks, KPI 25 marks and Individual Attributes will Carry 25 marks.

## Kindly refer para (vi) below.

Non-MoU signing CPSES will have the following distribution of marks:

Key Performance Indicator (KPI) — 75 Marks
Individual Attributes — 29 marks

B. The changes proposed above would be valid for APARs of 2023-24 onwards.

C. KPIs will be notified for each individual executive by CMD by 31-10-2023 in terms of para (ii) above.

D. The necessary changes in this regard will be done in DPE online SPARROW system.

(vi) Channel of Submission:- The channel of submission of PAR for E-8 and above has been recommended in a tabular form (Annexure-I / page-26) so that it is clear and unambiguous. However, the Administrative Ministries, with the concurrence of DPE, can make modification(s) in the prescribed channel, on case by case for valid reasons. The given table specifies the Reporting Authority, Reviewing Authority and Accepting Authorities in respect of Performance Appraisal Report (PAR) of the Chief Executives, Functional Directors, Executive Directors (E9) and General Managers (E8) of CPSEs. CPSEs will decide on the reporting / review / accepting authorities in respect to executives at E-5 to E-7 level.

(vii) Additional Information to be recorded in APR:- The views of superior on the integrity of their Subordinates would be recorded while assessing the performance of the executives. While the prescribed PAR Form, guidelines and Procedure are to be treated as “Core elements” of the Performance Management System in all CPSEs, in order to accommodate existing robust performance management practices, and future requirements unique to some CPSEs, the Boards of CPSEs may supplement the contents in the enclosed PAR form (Annex-A/Page-10), under intimation to DPE and their administrative Ministry/Department. without losing any of its features.

(viii) Grading of executives:- It may also be ensured that ‘Bell Curve approach’ is followed in grading the executives of CPSEs So that not more than 10%-15% executives are graded as Outstanding/Excellent (PAR score of 90 — 100).

(ix) Procedure and guidelines for writing Performance Appraisal Report (PAR) of Chief Executives, Functional! Directors and Executives at EO & E8 level of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and Instructions for filling up the same is at Annexure-II (page/30) & II (page-34) respectively.

(x) Monitoring of PAR process by NODAL OFFICERS: – The PAR process would be monitored closely so that everybody involved in the process adheres to the prescribed time schedule. For the Purpose of close monitoring of the Performance Appraisal exercise, CPSEs and the administrative ministries / departments will nominate their senior officers as Nodal officers as under:

Nodal officers for the Board level and below Board level executives

Responsibilities of Nodal officers:

• Ensure that only one copy of the PAR form in respect of the Chief Executives, Functional Directors, Executive Directors and General Managers is circulated and filled up.
• The PARs are duly completed in time as per the schedule given above and
  copies (hard as well as digital) of the PAR are made and certified by them.
• The Nodal officer should send the certified copies of the PAR to the concerned PAR Repository Authorities within the prescribed time.

(xii) Action plan to avoid delay in completion of the PAR process:

1. APAR will be initiated by the officer reported upon within prescribed time-limits without the MoU score / ratings, in case same are not available, by filling up the remaining APAR and will be submitted to Reporting Authority within prescribed time-limits.
2. Reporting / Reviewing and Accepting Authority will record their remarks in the APAR within prescribed time-limits. In case, MoU score / ratings are available during this period, the same would be recorded in APAR by the nodal officer.
3. In case MoU score / ratings are available after recording of APAR by Reporting / Reviewing and Accepting Authority, the nodal officer will enter the same in the APAR as soon as MoU score / ratings are made available and fill in corresponding MoU grade.
4. In case the Reporting Authority fails to submit the PAR to the Reviewing Authority within the stipulated period i.e. by 15″ November, the Nodal officer shall immediately obtain a copy of the self-appraisal from the officer reported upon and send it directly to the Reviewing Authority and authorize him to initiate the PAR. The Nodal officer shall also keep a note of the failure of the Reporting Authority to submit the PAR of his subordinate in time for making entry in Item No.11 of Section I of the PAR of such Reporting Authorities. In case either the Reviewing Authority or both the Reporting Authority and Reviewing Authority fail(s) to submit the PAR to the Accepting Authority within the stipulated period i.e. by 30th November, the Nodal officer shall immediately obtain a copy of the PAR of the officer reported upon with self-appraisal and appraisal of the Reporting Authority, if available and send them directly to the Accepting Authority and request him to either review or ‘Initiate and review’ the PAR, as the case may be. The Nodal officer shall also keep a note of the failure of the Reporting or / and Reviewing Authority, as the case may be, to submit the PAR of his / their subordinates in time for an appropriate entry in Item No.11 of Section | of the PAR of such Reviewing / Reporting Authorities. When the PAR of an officer of the CPSE reported upon is initiated by the Accepting Authority due to delay in initiation and review by the concerned authorities, it will not be necessary for him to review and accept such report. Similarly, when the PAR of an officer of the CPSE reported upon is reviewed by the Accepting Authority due to delay in review by the Reviewing Authority, it will not be necessary for him to accept such report.
5. The APAR for a year shall be completed by 315 December of the year in which the financial year ended and the system will not allow recording of any remarks thereafter. In case an APAR for a financial year is not recorded by 31st December of the year in the year in which financial year ended, no remarks may be recorded thereafter and the officer may be assessed on the basis of overall record and self-assessment for the year, if he has submitted his self-assessment in time.
6. An Auto-generated message from online system will be prompted regularly for immediate disposal after lapse of schedule time. APAR should be force forwarded to next authority by the Nodal officer of Ministry endorsing the reasons with the approval of Secretary of respective Administrative Ministry as per following timelines:

(xiii) Disclosure of PAR and disposal of the representation, if any, received from the officer reported upon:

a) Once the PAR is completed, the Nodal officer of administrative Ministry / Department concerned shall be responsible for communicating the full PAR including the overall grade and assessment of integrity, to the concerned officer by 31st December of the year following the year of report.

b) In case the concerned officer accepis the PAR, Nodal officer of the concerned administrative Ministry / Department will close the PAR and complete APAR will be auto forwarded to the concerned PAR Repository Authorities.

c) The concerned officer reported upon shall be given an Opportunity to make a representation, if any, within a period of fifteen days from the date of receipt of the PAR against the entries and the fina! grading given in the PAR. While communicating the entries, it should be made clear that in case no representation is received within fifteen days, it shall be deemed that he / she has no representation to make. If the Nodal officer does not receive any representation from the concerned officer reported upon, on or before fifteen days from the date of disclosure, the PAR will be treated as final.

d) The representation, if any, shall be restricted to specific, factual observations contained in the report on the assessment of the achievements against targets, personal attributes, functional competencies and integrity.

e) Accepting Authority shall decide the matter objectively based on the material placed before him within a period of 45 days from the date of receipt of the representation from the officer reported upon. The Accepting Authority after due consideration shall Pass a self-contained, Speaking order on the issue at hand. He may reject the representation or may accept and modify the PAR accordingly. The Nodal officer shall communicate to the officer reported upon, Reporting and Reviewing Authorities, the decision of the Accepting Authority and the final grading within fifteen days of its receipt and shall keep a record thereof in Section VI of PAR form.

f) In exceptional cases where Accepting Authority is same as Reporting or / and Reviewing authority and in the above reporting structure, the officer reported upon is not satisfied with review undertaken by Accepting Authority, a system of Referral Board to provide for a more robust. independent and transparent process of dealing with representations against ACR grading as per following:

The composition of the proposed Referral Board would be as under:

For below Board level executives (E-8 and E-9 level) of CPSEs :- Secretary of the concerned administrative Ministry to constitute a Committee of 2-3 officers from the Board of Directors of the concerned CPSE and decide on the representation on the basis of recommendations of this Committee.

For Board level executives of CPSEs:- Minister-in-charge of the concerned administrative Ministry to constitute a Committee of 3 officers comprising of (a) senior officer of the concerned administrative Ministry (not below the rank of Joint Secretary), (b) senior officer from DPE (not below the rank of Joint Secretary) and (c) non-official/Government Director from the concerned CPSE, and decide on the representation on the basis of recommendations of this Committee.

The Referral Board will consider the representation received from the officer reported upon in consultation with the Reporting and / or Reviewing Authorities and submit their report to the Accepting Authority within one month of the receipt of such representation. The decision of referral Board would be final with no further review.

(xiv) Helpdesk:

A Helpdesk team for addressing the queries regarding SPARROW CPSE portal has been setup which may be contacted for system related issues. The contact details of Helpdesk team are as under:

Landline : 011-24362672
Email : helpdesk-sparrow-dpe[at]gov.in

3. All administrative Ministries / Departments are requested to take necessary action and also bring the contents of this Office Memorandum to the notice of CPSEs under their respective administrative jurisdiction for information and compliance under intimation to this Department.

4. This issues with the approval of the competent authority.

(Rajesh Puri)
Deputy Director
Tel: 24362673