Showing posts with label Gazette. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gazette. Show all posts
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Tuesday, December 26, 2023
THE POST OFFICE ACT, 2023 – Gazette Notification dated 24.12.2023
THE POST OFFICE ACT, 2023 – Gazette Notification dated 24.12.2023 by Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice
The Gazette of India
CG-DL-E-24122023-250875
EXTRAORDINARY
PART IT — Section 1
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
No. 48] NEW DELHI, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2023/PAUSHA 3, 1945 (SAKA)
Separate paging is given to this Part in order that it may be filed as a separate compilation.
MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE
(Legislative Department)
New Delhi, the 24th December, 2023/Pausha 3, 1945 (Saka)
The following Act of Parliament received the assent of the President on the 24th December, 2023 and is hereby published for general information:—
THE POST OFFICE ACT, 2023
No. 43 oF 2023
[24th December, 2023.]
An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to Post Office in India and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
BE it enacted by Parliament in the Seventy-fourth Year of the Republic of India as follows:—
Short title and commencement.
1. (1) This Act may be called the Post Office Act, 2023.
(2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
Definitions.
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) “Director General” means the Director General of Postal Services appointed by the Central Government and includes any officer authorised by the Central Government to perform the duties of the Director General;
(b) “item” means an indivisible article which the Post Office accepts for providing a service;
(c) “notification” means a notification published in the Official Gazette;
(d) “Post Office” means the Department of Posts and includes every house, building, room, place or any other asset used by the Post Office for providing any service;
(e) “prescribe” means prescribe by rules made under this Act and the expression “prescribed” shall be construed accordingly;
(f) “regulations” means the regulations made under this Act.
Services to be provided by Post Office.
3. (1) The Post Office shall provide such services as the Central Government may prescribe.
(2) The Director General may make regulations—
(a) in respect of activities necessary to provide services referred to in sub-section (1); and
(b) to fix charges for, and the terms and conditions in respect of, services referred to in sub-section (1).
(3) Any service provided by the Post Office shall be subject to any other law for the time being in force.
Exclusive privilege in respect of postage stamps.
4. (1) The Post Office shall have the exclusive privilege of issuing postage stamps.
(2) The Director General may make regulations relating to the supply and sale of postage stamps and postal stationery.
(3) In this section, the expressions—
(a) “postage stamp” means any stamp provided by the Central Government, in any form, physical or digital, for denoting sums payable in respect of such service provided by the Post Office, as may be prescribed and includes stamps affixed, printed, embossed, embedded, impressed, or otherwise indicated on an item;
(b) “postal stationery” means stationery, issued by the Post Office such as envelopes, letter cards, postcards, bearing imprinted stamps or inscriptions indicating that sum payable in respect of a service provided by the Post Office has been prepaid.
Addresses and postcodes.
5. (1) The Central Government may prescribe standards for addressing on the items, address identifiers and usage of postcodes.
(2) In this section, “postcode” means a series of digits, letters or digital code or a combination of digits, letters or digital code used to identify a geographic area or location, and ease the process of sorting and delivery of items and for other purposes.
Power to give effect to arrangements with other countries.
6. The Central Government may make rules to give effect to arrangements made with any foreign country or territory for services provided by the Post Office between India and the said foreign country or territory.
Recovery of sums due in respect of services provided by Post Office.
7. (1) Every person who avails a service provided by the Post Office shall be liable to pay the charges in respect of such service.
(2) If any person refuses or neglects to pay the charges referred to in sub-section (1), such amount shall be recoverable as if it were an arrear of land revenue due from him.
Official mark to be evidence of certain facts denoted.
8. The Central Government may prescribe the conditions for denoting the official marks on items to be used as prima facie evidence of the facts so denoted.
Power to intercept, open or detain any item or deliver item to customs authority.
9. (1) The Central Government may, by notification, empower any officer to cause any item in course of transmission by the Post Office to be intercepted, opened or detained in the interest of the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, emergency, or public safety or upon the occurrence of any contravention of any of the provisions of this Act or any other law for the time being in force.
(2) The Central Government may cause any item referred to in sub-section (1) to be disposed of in such manner as it deems appropriate.
(3) The Central Government may, by notification, empower any officer of the Post Office to deliver an item, received from within or beyond the limits of India and reckoned to contain anything liable to duty or which is suspected to contain any prohibited item to such customs authority or any other authority as may be specified in the said notification, and such customs authority or any other authority shall deal with such item in accordance with the provisions of any law for the time being in force.
Exemption from liability.
10. (7) Notwithstanding anything in any other law for the time being in force, the Post Office shall not incur any liability except such liability as may be prescribed with regard to a service provided by the Post Office.
(2) No officer of the Post Office shall incur any liability with regard to a service provided by the Post Office, unless the officer has acted fraudulently or wilfully caused loss, delay or mis-delivery of service.
Delegation of power, other than rulemaking powers to Director General.
11. The Central Government may, by notification, authorise, either absolutely or subject to conditions, the Director General to exercise any of the powers conferred upon the Central Government by this Act, other than the power to make rules.
Power to make rules.
12. The Central Government may, by notification, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
Power to make regulations.
13. The Director General may, with the prior approval of the Central Government, by notification, make regulations for carrying out the provisions of this Act.
Laying of rules and regulations in Parliament.
14. Every rule or regulation made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or regulation or both Houses agree that the rule or regulation should not be made, the rule or regulation shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule or regulation.
Power to remove difficulties.
15. (1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the Central Government may, by order in the Official Gazette, make such provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty:
Provided that no order shall be made under this section after the expiry of two years from the date of commencement of this Act.
(2) Every order made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament.
Repeal and savings.
16. (1) The Indian Post Office Act, 1898 is hereby repealed.
(2) Notwithstanding the repeal of the Act by sub-section (1), all rules, notifications and orders, made or purported to have been made under the Indian Post Office Act, 1898, shall, in so far as they relate to matters for which provision is made in this Act and are not inconsistent therewith, be deemed to have been made under this Act and shall continue in force unless and until they are superseded by any rules or notification or order made under this Act.
S.K.G. RAHATE,
Secretary to the Govt. of India.
Monday, December 25, 2023
Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Monday, November 13, 2023
Senior Citizen’s Savings & Time Deposits (Fourth Amendment) Scheme, 2023 - Gazette dtd 07.11.2023
Senior Citizen’s Savings & Time Deposits (Fourth Amendment) Scheme, 2023 - Gazette dtd 07.11.2023
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(Department of Economic Affairs)
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 7th November, 2023
G.S.R. 829(E). — In exercise of the powers conferred by section 3A of the Government Savings Promotion Act, 1873 (5 of 1873), the Central Government hereby makes the following Scheme to further amend the Senior Citizen’s Savings Scheme, 2019, namely:—
1. (1) This Scheme may be called the SeniorCitizen’s Savings (Fourth Amendment) Scheme 2023.
(2) It shall come into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
2. In the Senior Citizen’s Savings Scheme, 2019 (herein after referred to as the Principal Scheme), in paragraph 3, in sub-paragraph (1), for clause (ii) and the proviso, the following shall be substituted, namely:—
“(ii) who has attained the age of fifty-five years or more but less than sixty years, and who has retired on superannuation or otherwise on the date of opening of an account under this Scheme, subject to the condition that the account is opened by such individual within three months from the date of receipt of the retirement benefits and proof of date of disbursal of such retirement benefits along with a certificate from the employer indicating the details of retirement on superannuation or otherwise, retirement benefits or admissible financial assistance to an eligible government employee who died in harness, employment held and period of such employment with the employer, is attached with the application form: Provided that the retired personnel of Defence Services (excluding Civilian Defence employees) shall be eligible to open an account under this Scheme on attaining the age of fifty years subject to the fulfilment of other specified conditions. Provided further that the spouse of the government employee shall be allowed to open an account under this Scheme, if the government employee who has attained the age of fifty years and has died in harness, subject to the fulfillment of other specified conditions.
Explanation:— For the purposes of this proviso, the Government Employee includes all Central and State Government employees eligible for retirement benefit or death compensation.”
3. In the Principal Scheme, in paragraph 4, for Explanation, the following Explanation shall be substituted, namely:—
‘Explanation.— For the purposes of this sub-paragraph, “retirement benefits” means any payment due to the account holder on account of retirement on superannuation or otherwise and includes Provident Fund dues, retirement or superannuation or death gratuity, commuted value of pension, cash equivalent of leave, savings element of Group Savings Linked Insurance Scheme payable by the employer on retirement, retirement-cum-withdrawal benefit under the Employees’ Family Pension Scheme and ex-gratia payments under a voluntary or a special voluntary retirement scheme and in case, if the employee died in harness, the “retirement benefits” shall also mean the above mentioned benefits to employee who died in harness.’.
4. In the Principal Scheme, in paragraph 5, for sub-paragraph (7), the following sub-paragraph shall be substituted, namely:—
“(7) In case of an account extended after maturity under sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 8, the deposit in such account shall earn interest at the rate applicable to the Scheme on the date of maturity or on the date of extended maturity.”.
5. In the Principal Scheme, in paragraph 6, in sub-paragraph (1) after clause (iii), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:—
“(i) In case the account is closed before expiry of one year from the date of extension as mentioned in subparagraph (2), an amount equal to one per cent. of the deposit shall be deducted and the balance shall be paid to the account holder.”.
6. In the Principal Scheme, in paragraph 7,—
(a) for sub-paragraph (1), the following shall be substituted, namely:—
“(i) The deposit made at the time of opening of account shall be paid on or after the expiry of five years or after the expiry of each block period of three years where account was extended under paragraph 8 from the date of opening of account, on an application made in Form-3: Provided that after closure of the existing account or accounts, new account or accounts may be opened again as required by the depositor subject to the maximum deposit limit as mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 4.”;
(b) In sub-paragraph (2), for the second proviso, the following proviso shall be substituted, namely:—
“Provided further that in case of a joint account, or where the spouse is the sole nominee, the spouse may continue the account by applying to the accounts office, on the same terms and conditions as specified under this Scheme, if the spouse meets eligibility conditions under the Scheme on the date of death of the account holder.”.
7. In the Principal Scheme, in paragraph 8,—
(a) For sub-paragraphs (1) and (2), the following sub-paragraphs shall be substituted, namely:—
“(1) The account holder may extend the account for a further block period of three years by making an application in Form-4 within a period of one year from the date of maturity or from the date of end of each block period of three years.
(2) The extension of the account under sub-paragraph (1) shall be deemed to have been made from the date of maturity or from the date of end of each block period of three years, irrespective of the date of application.”;
(b) In sub-paragraph (3), for the words “only once”, the words “in block period of three years” shall be substituted.
[F. No. 1/4/2023-NS(Pt.)]
ASHISH VACHHANI, Addl. Secy.
Note : The Principal Scheme was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i) vide number G. S. R. 916(E), dated the 12th December, 2019 and subsequently amended vide number G.S.R. 287 (E), dated the 5th May, 2020, G.S.R. 842(E), dated the 23rd November, 2022, G.S.R. 56(E), dated the 27th January, 2023, G.S.R. 240 (E), dated the 31st March, 2023 and G.S.R. 326 (E), dated the 27th April, 2023.
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 7th November, 2023
G.S.R. 830(E). — In exercise of the powers conferred by section 3A of the Government Savings Promotion
Act, 1873 (5 of 1873), the Central Government hereby makes the following Scheme to further amend the National Savings Time Deposit Scheme, 2019, namely:—
1. (1) This Scheme may be called the National Savings Time Deposit (Fourth Amendment) Scheme, 2023.
(2) It shall come into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
2. In the National Savings Time Deposit Scheme, 2019, for paragraph 8, the following paragraph shall be substituted, namely:-
“8. Premature closure of account.- Premature closure of an account shall be allowed on an application by the account holder in Form-4, subject to the following conditions, namely:—
(a) no deposit shall be withdrawn before the expiry of six months from the date of deposit;
(b) where a deposit in a one-year, two-year or three-year account is withdrawn prematurely after six months, but before the expiry of one year from the date of deposit, interest shall be payable to the account holder at the rate applicable to Post Office Savings Account for the completed months;
(c) where a deposit in a two-year or three-year account is withdrawn prematurely after the expiry of one year from the date of deposit, interest on such deposit shall be payable to the account holder for the completed years and months, commencing on the date of deposit and ending with the date of withdrawal, and such interest shall be calculated at the rate which shall be less by two per cent. points than the rate specified for a deposit of one-year or two-year, as the case may be, and interest for the completed year shall be calculated on quarterly compounding basis in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 7, and for any part of a year, interest shall be payable as per the provisions of sub-paragraph (b);
(d) Where a deposit in a five -year account is withdrawn prematurely after four years from the date of opening of account, interest shall be payable at the rate applicable to Post Office Savings Account; and
(e) any interest already paid on the deposit under paragraph 7 shall be recovered from the amount of repayment of deposit and the interest payable under this paragraph.”.
[F. No. 1/4/2023-NS(Pt.)]
ASHISH VACHHANI, Addl. Secy.
Note :The Principal Scheme was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i),vide number G.S.R. 922(E), dated the 12th December, 2019 and subsequently amended vide number G.S.R. 289(E), dated the 9th May, 2020, G.S.R. 838(E), dated the 22nd November, 2022, G.S.R. 53(E), dated the 27th January, 2023, G.S.R. 327(E), dated the 27th April, 2023 and G.S.R. 620(E), dated the 23rd August, 2023.
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 7th November, 2023
G.S.R. 831(E).—In exercise of the powers conferred by section 3A of the Government Savings Promotion
Act, 1873 (5 of 1873), the Central Government hereby makes the following Scheme to further amend the Public Provident Fund Scheme, 2019, namely: —
1.(1) This Scheme may be called the Public Provident Fund (Amendment) Scheme, 2023.
(2) It shall come into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
2. In the Public Provident Fund Scheme, 2019, in paragraph 13, in the second proviso, for the words “or the date of extension of the account”, the words “or from the date of commencement of the current block period of five years” shall be substituted.
[F. No. 1/4/2023-NS(Pt.)]
ASHISH VACHHANI, Addl. Secy.
Note :
The Principal Scheme was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Subsection (i) vide number G. S. R. 915(E) dated the 12th December, 2019 and subsequently amended vide number G.S.R. 290(E) dated the 5th May, 2020.
