File No. FS-10/14/2021-FS-DOP
Govt. of India
Ministry of Communications
Department of Posts
(F.S. Division)
Dak Bhawan, New Delhi — 110001
Dated: 05.07.2022
Subject: Complete verification of SB work in Branch Post Offices — Reg.
Download Complete verification of SB work in BO in PDF
The functioning of Savings Bank work at Branch Post Offices has evolved over the years particularly after implementation of RICT. Branch Post Offices have been allowed to open accounts under all the National (Small) Savings Schemes and accounts holders of PO Savings Accounts standing in Branch Post Offices have been allowed to operate the accounts in various channels viz. ATM, IPPB, e-Banking and M-Banking.
2. All India Association of Inspectors and Assistant Superintendents Posts in its letter No. CHQ/AIAIPASP/Corr-01-97/2021 dated 13th September 2021, requested to issue a Standard Verification Procedure (SVP) for complete verification of SB work of selected RICT-CBS Branch Post Office.
3. Accordingly, a draft procedure for verification of savings bank passbooks during inspection and cent percent verification has been finalized on the basis of the draft procedure received from Kerala and Tamilnadu Circles.
4. A copy of the draft verification procedure is attached herewith for perusal. It is requested to provide your valuable inputs, comments and suggestions on the draft verification procedure, keeping in view of various aspects of inspection and investigations related to savings bank, so as to enable this office to release the final version of the standard verification procedure. The inputs, comments and suggestions may be submitted on or before 25.07.2022 and if not received within 25.07.2022, it will be treated as NIL.
5. This is issued with the approval of competent authority.
Draft — Standard Verification Procedure
The functioning of the Savings Bank related works at Branch Post Offices has been evolved due to introduction of Finacle CBS in Departmental Post Offices and RICT CBS Application in the Branch Post offices.
Earlier, the Branch Post Offices were most commonly authorized to operate only Post Office Savings Account, RD and TD. In the year 2015, operation of Sukanya Samriddhi Account scheme has been extended to Branch Post Offices. In order to provide the benefits of National Small Savings Schemes up to last mile connectivity, operation of remaining schemes viz. PPF, MIS, SCSS, KVP and NSC was extended to the Branch Post Offices w.e.f. 27.07.2020. Further, facilities like cheque book, ATM, Internet Banking, Mobile Banking, linking of Savings Accounts with IPPB Accounts were extended to the accounts standing in the BOs.Before introduction of RICT CBS in BOs,
All the transactions happened in the BOs were accounted in to the Government
Accounts by the Account Offices. Transactions in the accounts standing in any BO were allowed only in the same BO or its AO.
Presentation of Passbooks of the accounts standing in the BOs was mandatory and thereby the passbooks were updated as and when transactions happen.
All the transactions happening in the accounts standing in the BOs were updated in the BO Journals so that the balances in the passbooks tally with the records of the BOs.After introduction of RICT CBS in BOs,
All the transactions happened in the BOs are accounted in to the Government Accounts directly through GL Integration in respective Facility ID.
Transactions in the accounts standing in any BO are allowed in any CBS Post Office.
Transactions through various channels like ATM, IPPB, EB and MB are happening in the accounts standing in the BOs which lead to non updation of balances in the passbooks and in the records of BOs viz. BO Journals.
At present, during the visits and inspections prescribed numbers of passbooks of each scheme are collected from the Depositors and the balances and transactions entered in the passbooks are verified with the BO records and with the records of AO / Finacle.
Besides, verification of passbooks during inspections and cent percent verification of balances in the passbooks of all the accounts standing in the BOs where misappropriation of Govt. money or fraud is noticed and in the BOs which are identified by Divisional Head due to unsatisfactory work in the BO, as per the Vigilance Division, Directorate Instructions dated 05.02.1985.
Verification of balances in the passbooks during the inspections and cent percent verification is one of the preventive measures to eliminate / avoid frauds and loss of Government money and the task is one of the integral parts of the investigation.
Any standard procedure for carrying out the verification of balances in the passbooks could not be traced and it is learnt that the visiting / inspecting / investigating officials / officers are adopting their own procedure to the best of their knowledge. Defining a standard procedure for any type of Investigation and thereby restricting the investigating officer to a defined procedure may not yield the best results and many facts may not come out.
Though, few technological innovations like sending of SMS as and when transactions happen, is in place, verification of balances in the passbooks available with the Depositors becomes essential and unavoidable.
The following standard procedure is defined for verification of Savings Bank accounts and balances in the Savings Bank passbooks. This procedure is issued for guidance and any other best practices may also be prescribed and incorporated by Head of the Circle(s) / Region(s). Besides, any official / authority verifying the balances in the passbooks should put more checks in addition to the following defined procedure.
(1). Procedure to be followed during the inspection
1) Before inspection, the authority concerned should prepare a list of accounts standing in BO concerned, containing the details of the accounts of prescribed number of passbooks for inspection, for which balances are proposed to be checked during the inspection in the following format and carry the list during the visit / inspection. This list can be prepared by generating the “Last Balance Report” in Finacle using
2) Incase of SB, RD, SSA & PPF accounts, the ledger of the accounts from the date of last inspection to a day before the date of inspection should be printed from Finacle by generating the ledger using HACLI or HPSP menu in Finacle and the same may be kept in softcopy at the time of inspection.
3) The inspecting authority should check the balance of the accounts listed above by collecting the passbook from the depositors at the door step personally. Postmasters (APM/SPM/BPM) should not be directed to collect the passbooks from the Depositors. If any passbook could not be collected by the inspecting authority, SB-46 notice should be issued.
4) The balance in the passbook in case of schemes other than SB, RD, SSA & PPF should be compared with the balance in the list prepared. If both are agreed, the signature of the depositor in token of having tallied with the passbook may be obtained from the depositor and the inspecting authority shall sign in the passbook with the remarks “Balance verified” after the last transaction in the passbook.
5) Incase of SB, RD, SSA & PPF accounts, all the transactions in the passbook from the date of last inspection to a day before date of verification should be verified by the inspecting authority to trace temporary misappropriation if any.
6) If the balance does not agree in case of SB, SSA & PPF accounts, it should be checked whether the last annual interest entry has been posted / printed in the SB / SSA & PPF schemes passbooks. If interest is not posted and the difference in the balance is only due to interest posting, the BPM should be directed to send such accounts’ passbooks to Account Office for the purpose of annual interest posting. The remarks to this effect should be noted in the inspection report / list of accounts.
7) If there is difference in balance other than the annual interest, such passbook should be collected by the inspecting authority on issue of SB-28 Receipt for inquiry purpose. After inquiry, the passbooks should be returned to the Depositor(s) either in person or by registered post.
8) SB-28 Receipts should be disposed as prescribed in the relevant rules of POSB (CBS) Manual. If any passbook is returned by registered post, the registered article number should be written on the office copy of SB-28 receipt(s) concerned and customer’s copy of SB-28 receipt is not required to be obtained.
9) Since the transactions through various channels such as ATM, IPPB, EB and MB are allowed for the accounts standing in the BOs, the balance in the passbooks of accounts having such channel services may or may not tally with the balances and transactions during verification, due to non updation of transactions in the passbook.
In such cases, it has to be confirmed whether the balance in the passbook at any point of time from the date of last inspection to a day before date of visit / inspection from the ledger copy available with the authority. If the balance agrees, the passbook may be duly updated by the BPM in the presence of the Inspecting Officer and the passbook may be returned to the depositor with appropriate entry in the inspection report to this effect and initial of Inspecting authority in the passbook in token of having verified the entries. If the balance does not tally with the any of the transactions, the passbook may be collected by issuing SB-28 receipt and sent to the Account Office for further verification of the balance with Finacle and updation of the passbook.
10) If any depositor(s) is/are unwilling to hand over the passbook(s) for verification, SB-46 notices should mandatorily be issued to such depositor(s) for verification purpose.
11)A register to keep watch on the receipt of replies in respect of SB-46 notices issued should be maintained by all the authorities who issue SB-46 notices, as prescribed below.Date of Posting of SB-46 Notices
12) All the SB-46 notices are to be sent by Registered Post and the Inspecting authorities should ensure that replies to the SB-46 notices are received within a maximum period of 30 days. If the reply is not received within the period prescribed and if the depositor does not agree with the balance in the available in the post office records, inquiry should be carried out in respect of those accounts.
Procedure to be followed during Cent Percent Verification
A list of accounts standing in the Branch Office with the balance and date of last transaction shall be obtained from Branch Postmaster by the Divisional Head.
A list of accounts standing in the Branch Office with the balance and date of last transaction should be generated in Finacle CBS Application by the Divisional Head.
Both the lists prepared by BPM and generated in Finacle CBS Application should be compared and if there is any discrepancy, it should be tallied in consultation with the BPM and the Postmaster of the AO. Postmaster the AO should be instructed to rectify the discrepancies in Finacle by linking the accounts correctly.
Based on the number of accounts to be verified, a team should be formed by the Divisional Head comprising the Sub Divisional Head and Mail Overseers in the Division. Head of Circle / Region may also decide the team members depending on various factors like availability of the staff in the Division etc.
5) Divisional Head shall provide the list of accounts to be verified to the Team and Team will visit the Branch Post Office and its delivery jurisdiction. Team will collect the passbooks from the depositors at the doorsteps of the depositors and verify the balances in the passbooks with the list. A remark “Verified” shall be made in the list and passbooks with the signature by the team.
6) If any difference in the balances in the passbook and list, passbook should be collected for inquiry after issue of SB-28 receipt and procedure as prescribed in para
(1) above should be followed.
7) If the account for which passbook is available and the account is not found in the list, inquiry should be conducted by the team.
8) If the passbook could not be collected for any reason like due to non-availability of the depositor at the time of visit, address of the depositor is not the delivery jurisdiction of Branch Office etc or if any depositor is unwilling to handover the passbook for verification, SB-46 notices should be issued to such depositors and procedure as prescribed in the para (I) above shall be followed.
9) A detailed report containing the following information is to be submitted by the Team
