What is GAR 7?

By Vijay Kumar

A Netizen asked us, “what is the full form of GAR – 7?

It stands for Government Account (Receipts and Payments)

As per Rule 26 of the Central Government Account (Receipts and Payments) Rules, 1983.

26. Grant of receipted challan by the bank.—

(1) Subject as otherwise provided in these rules or unless the Government direct otherwise in relation to any particular class of transactions, any person or party paying money into the bank on Government account under the provisions of rule 19 shall present with it challan (in duplicate, triplicate or quadruplicate as specified by the concerned Ministry or Department) in Form GAR 7 showing distinctly the nature of the payment, the department or office on whose account it is made, particulars of the concerned Pay and Accounts Office, proper account classification of the credit, and where necessary, information relating to its allocation between Government Department concerned. As far as possible separate challans should be used for moneys creditable to different heads of account.

(2) Save where any other arrangement has been authorised by the Government for the supply of challan forms, printed forms of challan, which may with advantage be bi-lingual, shall be supplied by the departmental officer or by the bank free of charge.

NOTE 1.—Receipts relating to direct taxes (such as income tax, corporation tax) and indirect taxes (such as customs and excise duties) administered respectively by the Central Board of Direct Taxes and the Central Board of Excise and Customs, shall be credited or remitted by the tax payers into the Reserve Bank of India and branches of specified public sector banks at a selected centre in accordance with rule 7, using challan forms specifically prescribed under the relevant provisions of the schemes of revenue collection of these Boards.

NOTE 2.—In making rupee deposits to the Government Account in respect of imports financed under Direct Payment Procedure applicable to various foreign loans or credits, Form GAR 8 shall be used invariably in quadruplicate.

What then is Rule 19? It reads as,:

19. Cheque, bank drafts tendered in payment of Government revenues, dues, etc.—

(1) (a) Cheques, bank drafts drawn on local branch of a scheduled bank may be accepted by departmental officers or by the specified branch of the accredited bank or by a bank specially notified for the purpose, in payment of Government dues or in settlement of other transactions with the Government, subject to the provisions of special instructions, if any, issued by a Ministry, Department and, or union territory, in consultation with the Controller General of Accounts, relating to any specific type of dues being followed. The cheques, bank drafts, should be crossed by the drawer before tendering. However, until they are cleared, the Government cannot admit that payment has been received; consequently, the receipt of the cheque alone may be acknowledged when it is tendered. A formal payment receipt shall be given to the tenderer (or sent to his address wherever such an arrangement is envisaged by the department, or bank) after the cheque or draft has been cleared. The preliminary acknowledgement of the receipt of the cheque or draft, will be given in the form indicated below by the departmental Officers:—

"Received cheque/ draft number ------- for Rs -------- drawn on --------- on account of --------".

NOTE 1. —The bank reserves to itself the right to refuse to accept cheques or drafts, collection of which in its opinion cannot reasonably be undertaken. If, however, a bank draft drawn on a branch of a bank is tendered at the same (i.e. the drawee) branch for being credited to Govt. account, the receipted challan may be delivered to the tenderer on the same day, if the draft is otherwise in order.

NOTE 2. —Metal or paper token or a preliminary acknowledgement as above will be issued by the bank to the depositor to facilitate delivery of the receipted challan to him in due course.

(b) In the event of the cheque or draft being dishonoured, the fact shall be reported at once to the tenderer with a demand for payment in cash and the dishonoured cheque or draft should be returned to the tenderer on surrendering the preliminary acknowledgement of the receipt of the cheque or draft or any token previously granted. The Government cannot, however, accept any liability for loss or damage which may possibly occur as a result of delay in intimating that the cheque or draft has been dishonoured.

Rule 7 reads as:-

7. Facility for public to credit Government dues direct into the accredited bank of a Ministry/Department and certain tax receipts in other Nationalised bank also.-

Money due to the Government may also be credited directly into the specified branch of the accredited bank in which a particular departmental officer holds his account, in accordance with the procedure notified by the Ministry, Department and, or Union Territory concerned for the purpose. Tax receipts pertaining to the Central Board of Direct Taxes and Central Board of Excise and Customs (and of any other particular Ministry or Department as may be decided by the Government from time to time) and also sales tax revenue of Delhi Administration are authorised under special procedures notified therefor, to be credited by the tax payers directly into any branch of the authorised bank within the municipal limits at the selected centre notified for the purpose. Form of challan to be used, and related matters are contained in rule 26.

These are the full GAR series:-