Introduction

The Controller General of Accounts (CGA) under the Ministry of Finance has issued an urgent Office Memorandum directing all Pay and Accounts Offices (PAOs) to resolve pending, unaccounted receipts on the Bharatkosh portal. These are instances where individuals or organizations have made payments to the Government via NEFT or RTGS, but the funds have not been properly matched to the correct government accounts due to missing information. This article breaks down the required procedures PAOs must follow to settle these transactions.

Official Order Details

Quick Summary

• Immediate Review Required: PAOs must urgently identify and reconcile pending Bharatkosh NEFT/RTGS transactions using portal reports (BK-02, BK-09, BK-10).
• Three Problem Scenarios Addressed: The SOP provides specific fixes for when payees forget to enter their UTR, when they transfer money without a deposit slip, or when the RBI fails to share a credit notification.
• Current Year Accounting: Reconciled transactions must be accounted for in the current financial year's open consolidation month, regardless of when the NEFT/RTGS was originally credited.
• Strict Deadline: A consolidated status report of pending and settled transactions must be submitted within 15 days from the issue of this order.

Detailed Explanation in Simple Language

When someone makes a payment to the Government of India via Bharatkosh using NEFT or RTGS, they are supposed to generate a deposit slip, transfer the funds, and then return to the portal to enter their Unique Transaction Reference (UTR) number. When users fail to follow this process, the money sits in the RBI receipt account without being properly accounted for.

The CGA has provided a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) addressing three specific scenarios:

Scenario A: Deposit Slip Created, but UTR Not Updated

The Issue: The payee generated a mandate form/deposit slip but forgot to update the UTR number on the Bharatkosh portal.

The Solution:

• The PAO must check the BK-02 (Know Your Transaction) report. If the UTR column is blank, the PAO must contact the payee and request them to track their payment and update the UTR.
• Important Deadline for Payees: If the UTR is not updated within 15 days of generating the deposit slip, the slip expires, and the payee must generate a fresh one.
• If the payee entered the wrong UTR, the PAO should provide the correct one (from the RBI scroll) for the payee to update.

Scenario B: Funds Transferred Directly (No Deposit Slip)

The Issue: The payee transferred money directly to the RBI receipt account without ever creating a deposit slip on Bharatkosh.

The Solution:

• The PAO must use the BK-09 (Reconciliation Report) and BK-10 (Receipt Scroll Report) to identify the transaction and attempt to trace the payee using the debit account number or UTR.
• If the payee cannot be traced, the PAO must log into Bharatkosh using a specially provided pre-created username and password.
• The PAO must update their profile and use a pre-created purpose titled "Settlement of Unaccounted Bharatkosh receipts received through NEFT RTGS".
• The PAO generates an offline deposit slip on behalf of the payee and manually updates the UTR to force the system to reconcile the transaction.

Scenario C: Missing RBI Notification

The Issue: The RBI processed the transaction but did not share the credit notification with the PFMS.

The Solution: The PAO must email the Bharatkosh helpdesk (ntrp-helpdesk@gov.in) with the amount and date of credit so the team can request the missing notification from the RBI.

What Has Changed?

While the reconciliation process itself is an ongoing administrative duty, this order mandates a focused, immediate review and provides a standardized, approved technical workaround (the pre-created purpose mapping) to clear older, untraceable transactions that were previously stuck in limbo.

Practical Implications for PAOs

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who is responsible for carrying out these reconciliations?
The Pay and Accounts Offices (PAOs) of the respective Ministries and Departments are responsible for tracking and settling these transactions.

2. In which financial year should older pending receipts be accounted for?
According to the SOP, these transactions must be accounted for in the month open for consolidation in the current financial year, regardless of the financial year in which the money was originally credited by NEFT/RTGS.

3. What happens if a payee's deposit slip is more than 15 days old and they haven't entered their UTR?
The deposit slip will no longer be accessible on the Bharatkosh portal. The payee will be required to generate a fresh mandate form/deposit slip.

4. Which reports on the Bharatkosh portal are essential for this exercise?
PAOs need to utilize BK-09 (Reconciliation Report), BK-10 (NTRP Receipt Scroll Report), and BK-02 (Know Your Transaction Report).