Central Civil Services (Joining Time) Rules 1979 – DOPT issued orders

In exercise of the powers conferred by the proviso to Article 309 and Clause (5) of Article 148 of the Constitution and after consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor-General in relation to persons serving in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department, the President hereby makes the following rules, namely:-

(1)    These rules may be called the Central Civil Services (Joining Time) Rules, 1979.

(2)    They shall come into force on the date of issue of this Notification and shall apply to transfers effected on/or after that date.

(3)    These rules shall apply to all Government servants appointed in Civil Services and posts and under the Central Government including work-charged staff but shall not apply to-

2.    (1) When a Government servant to whom these rules apply is transferred to the control of another Government or organization, which has made separate rules prescribing amount of joining time, his Joining Time for the journey to join his post under that Government/organization and for the return journey, will be governed by those rules, unless different provisions are expressly made in the terms of deputation/foreign service by mutual agreement between the lending and borrowing authorities.

(2) The Joining Time of railway employees, Armed Forces Personnel and those paid from Defence Services Estimates  and the employees of State Government or any other organization who are appointed to Civil Services and posts under the Central Government on deputation or on foreign service basis, shall, for joining the Civil Services and posts under the Central Government and for the return journeys, be regulated in accordance with these rules, unless different provisions are expressly made in their respective terms, of deputation/foreign service, by mutual agreement between the lending and borrowing authorities.

Unless there is something repugnant in the subject or context, the terms defined in these rules are used in these rules in the sense hereinafter explained-

(a)    “Department of Government of India” means a Ministry or Department of the Central Government as notified from time to time and any other authority which exercises the powers of a Department/Ministry of the Government of India. 

[In respect of the persons serving in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department, the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India shall exercise the same powers as the Ministries/Departments of Government of India, under these rules.]

(b)    “Head of Department” means the authority declared as such under the Delegation of Financial Powers Rules, 1978. In the case of the Indian Audit and Accounts  Department, Head of Department means the authority declared as such by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.

(c)    “Joining Time” means time allowed to a Government servant in which to join a new post or to travel to a station to which he is posted.

(d)    “Transfer” means the movement of a Government servant from one post to another either within the same station or to another station to take up duties of a new post or in consequences of change of his headquarters.

(1)    Joining time shall be granted to a Government servant on transfer in public interest to enable him to join the new post either at the same or a new station. No joining time is admissible in cases of temporary transfer for a period not exceeding 180 days. Only the actual transit time, as admissible in case of journeys on tour, may be allowed.

(2)    The surplus staff transferred from one post to another under the Scheme Regulating Redeployment of Surplus Staff shall be eligible for joining time.

(3)    Government servants who are discharged due to reduction of establishment from one Central Government office and reappointed to another Central Government office shall be entitled to joining time, if the orders of appointment to the new post are received by them while working in the old post. If they are appointed to the new post after being discharged from the old post, the period of break may be converted into joining time without pay by the Head of Department, provided that the break does not exceed 30 days and the Government servant has rendered not less than 3 years continuous service on the date of his discharge.

(4)    For appointment to posts under the Central Government on the results of a competitive examination and/or interview open to Government servants and others, Central Government employees and permanent/provisionally permanent State Government employees will be entitled to joining time under these rules. But temporary employees of the Central Government who have not completed 3 years of regular continuous service, though entitled to joining time would not be entitled to joining time pay.

(5)    (1) The joining time shall commence from the date of relinquishment of charge of the old post if the charge is made over in the forenoon or the following date if the charge is made over in the afternoon. 

(2) The joining time shall be calculated from old headquarters in all cases including where a Government servant receives his transfer orders or makes over charge of the old post in a place other than his old headquarters, or where the headquarters of a Government servant while on tour is changed to the tour station itself or where his temporary transfer is converted into permanent transfer. 

(3) Not more than one day’s joining time shall be allowed to a Government servant to join a new post within the same station or which does not involve a change of residence from one station to another. For this purpose, the term ‘same station’ will be interpreted to mean the area falling within the jurisdiction of the municipality or corporation including such of suburban municipalities, notified areas or cantonments as are contiguous to the named municipality, etc. 

(4) In cases involving transfer from one station to another and also involving change of residence, the Government servant shall be allowed joining time with reference to the distance between the old headquarters and the new headquarters by direct route and ordinary mode(s) of travel as indicated in the following schedule. When holiday(s) follow(s) joining time, the normal joining time may be deemed to have been extended to cover such holiday(s).

NOTE:- Distance means actual distance and not weighted mileage for which fare is charged by the Railways in certain ghat/hill sections.

(6)    Extension of joining time beyond the limits indicated in Rules 5 (4) can be granted up to the maximum limit of 30 days by the Head of Department and beyond 30 days by the Department of the Government of India, the guiding principle being that the total period of joining time should be approximately equal to 8 days for preparation plus reasonable transit time plus holidays, id any, following the extended joining time. While computing the transit time, allowance could be made for the time unavoidably spent due to disruption of transport  arrangements caused by strike or natural calamities, or the period spent awaiting the departure of the steamer.

6.(1) When a Government servant joins a new post without availing full joining time by reasons that

(a) he is ordered to join the new post at a new place of posting without availing of full joining time to which he is entitled; or

(b) he proceeds alone to the new place of posting and joins the post without availing full joining time and takes his family later within the permissible period of time for claiming Travelling Allowance for the family;

The number of days of joining time admissible under sub-rule (4) of Rules 5 of the Central Civil Services (Joining Time) Rules, 1979, subject to a maximum of 15 days reduced by the number of days of joining time actually availed of shall be credited to his leave account as earned leave: 

Provided that the earned leave at his credit together with the unavailed  joining time allowed to be so credited shall not exceed 240 days.

(2) Joining time may be combined with vacation and/or regular leave of any kind or duration except casual leave.

(3) If a Government servant in transit on transfer is directed to proceed to a place different from that indicated in the initial transfer orders, he shall be entitled to joining time already availed of up to the date of receipt of revises orders plus fresh spell of full joining time from the date following the date of receipt of the revised orders. The fresh spell of joining time in such cases shall be calculated from the place, at which he received the revised orders as if he is transferred from that place.

A Government servant on joining time shall be regarded as on duty during that period and shall be entitled to be paid joining time pay equal to the pay which was drawn before relinquishment of charge in the old post. He will also be entitled to Dearness Allowance, if any, appropriate to the joining time pay. In addition, he can also draw compensatory allowances like House Rent Allowance as applicable to the old station from which he was transferred. He shall not be allowed Conveyance Allowance or permanent Travelling Allowance.

Where any Ministry / Department of Government of India is satisfied that the operation of any of these rules causes undue hardship to any particular case, that Ministry or Department of the Government of India may be order, for reasons to be recorded in writing, dispense with or relax the requirement of that rule to such extent and subject to such exceptions and conditions as it may consider necessary for dealing with the case in a just and equitable manner, provided that no such order shall be made except with the concurrence of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms.

9. If any doubt arises as to the interpretation of these rules, it shall be referred to the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms.

10. All rules and instructions on the subject of joining time in force immediately before commencement of these rules and applicable to Government servants to whom these rules apply, are hereby repealed.

(1)    Transit Time / Joining Time to cover journey from  / to a remote locality while proceeding on/or returning from leave.- With the promulgation of the Central Civil Services (Joining Time) Rules, 1979, certain provisions of FRs and SRs and Government Orders thereunder relating to transit time / joining time admissible to Government servants to cover journeys from/ to a remote locality while proceeding on/or returning from leave or on transfer became inoperative. As regards joining time t remote localities on transfer, no difficulty was anticipated because Heads of Departments could allow joining time under Rule 5 (5) of the  CCS (Joining Time) Rules, 1979. As regards joining time to remote localities during leave, it was proposed to make suitable provisions in the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules. Pending amendment to the Leave Rules, some administrative instructions were issued vide this Department’s Office Memorandum No. 21011/12/79-Akkiwabcesm dated the 13th October, 1981 (not printed). Since revision of the Leave Rules has not ben finalized, the following administrative instructions are issued in supersession of those Office Memorandums to cover cases of journey to/from remote localities while on leave:-

(i)    A Government servant proceeding on leave from/to a place in the remote locality mentioned in Column 1 of the Annexure to this OM or returning from leave to/from the said place shall be entitled, once in a calendar year, to transit time each way to cover the period spent in journey between the said remote locality and the specified station at the scale prescribed in Column 3 of that Annexure.

(ii)    The concession is also admissible, while on leave, to a Government servant—

(a)    Who is domiciled in any part of India other than the remote locality concerned and has been specifically recruited from outside for service in remote locality, and

(b)    Who, though not specially recruited outside the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands or the Union Territory of the Lakshadweep, as the case may be, for service in the respective Union Territory, is domiciled in any part of India other than the Union Territory concerned.

(iii)    A Government servant domiciled in the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands or the Union Territory of Lakshadweep and proceeding on leave to his home town in another Island of the Union Territory concerned, shall be entitled, once in a calendar year, to transit time to cover the period spent in journey by sea to the island in which his home town is located and vice versa while returning from leave. The transit time thus admissible shall be the actual number of days taken in journey by sea subject to a maximum of seven days for each journey.

(iv)    Where the outward journey falls in one calendar year and the return journey falls in the succeeding calendar year, the concession shall be counted against the calendar year in which the leave commences. In calculating transit time, holidays falling before or at the end of it shall be excluded while those falling during transit time shall be included.

(v)    A Government servant domiciled in the UnionTerritory of Andaman and Nicobar islands or the Union Territory  of Lakshadweep and recruited for service in the respective territory, when posted for service on mainland in public interest shall be entitled to joining time, once a year, while proceeding to and returning from the Union Territories of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep on leave.

(vi)    A Government servant, domiciled in any part of India other than Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands or the Union Territory of Lakshadweep and recruited whether within or outside that Union Territory for service there, while proceeding on leave from his post in one island in that Union Territory to his home town on the mainland to join his post in another island in that Union Territory, shall be entitled to joining time on the same scale as provided in Para. 1 (i)above.

2.    When a Central Government servant posted in the remote areas spends his leave outside the Union Territory, the journey time from the place in the remote area to the specified station indicated in the Annexure and vice versa will be treated as free joining time if admissible under this Office Memorandum and in addition, the remaining journey time if any, in excess of 2 days could be allowed as free joining time under the provisions of Finance Ministry, O.M. No. 20014/3/83-E. IV, dated the 14th December, 1983. (See Appendix-9.)

[ G.I., M.H.A., D.P. & A.R., O.M. No. 19011/30/81-Estt. (Allowances), dated the 17th September, 1984.]

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