General Financial Rules 2017 Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards defining key terms, administrative concepts, procurement models, and financial processes from the General Financial Rules (GFR) 2017.

Accounts Officer

The Head of an Office of Accounts or the Head of a Pay and Accounts Office set up under the scheme of departmentalization of accounts.

Administrator

The Administrator of a Union Territory, by whatever name designated.

Appropriation

The assignment, to meet specified expenditure, of funds included in a primary unit of appropriation.

Audit Officer

The Head of an Office of Audit.

Competent Authority

The President or such other authority to which power is delegated by or under the General Financial Rules, Delegation of Financial Power Rules, or general/special orders issued by the Government of India.

Controlling Officer

An officer entrusted by a Department of the Central Government with the responsibility of controlling the incurring of expenditure and/or the collection of revenue, including a Head of Department and an Administrator.

Drawing and Disbursing Officer

A Head of Office or designated Gazetted Officer authorized by a Department, Head of Department, or Administrator to draw bills and make payments on behalf of the Central Government.

Financial Year

The year beginning on the 1st of April and ending on the 31st of March following.

Head of the Department

An authority or person (not below the rank of a Deputy Secretary to the Government of India) declared by the concerned Department as a Head of Department in relation to an identifiable establishment.

Head of Office

A Gazetted Officer declared as such in the Delegation of Financial Powers Rules or any other authority declared as such under general or special orders of the competent authority.

CAPEX Model

A procurement model where capital expenditure is used by the buyer to straightway purchase goods, followed by procurement of consumables, arranging a comprehensive maintenance contract after warranty, and disposing of the product after useful life.

OPEX Model

A procurement model where the seller provides the goods, maintains them, provides consumables, and takes back the goods after useful/contracted life, while expenditure is made by the buyer in a staggered manner.

Recurring Expenditure

Expenditure which is incurred at periodical intervals for the same purpose.

Non-recurring Expenditure

Expenditure other than recurring expenditure.

Re-appropriation

The transfer of funds from one primary unit of appropriation to another such unit.

User Charges

A component of non-tax revenues levied by Ministries or Departments to recover the current cost of providing services with a reasonable return on capital investment.

Outcome Budget

A statement prepared by the Department of Expenditure in consultation with NITI Aayog linking outlays against each scheme/project with measurable outputs/deliverables and medium-term outcomes.

Vote on Account

A provision under Article 116 of the Constitution obtaining Parliament authorization to cover expenditure for a brief period pending completion of Budget passing procedures.

Original Works

All new constructions, site preparation, additions and alterations to existing works, special repairs to newly purchased or abandoned structures, including remodeling or replacement.

Minor Works

Works which add capital value to existing assets but do not create new assets.

Repair Works

Works undertaken to maintain building and fixtures, including incidental services or goods.

Goods

Articles, material, commodities, livestock, machinery, equipment, software, or other intangible products purchased or acquired for Government use, excluding books and periodicals for a library.

Consulting Service

Any procurement involving primarily non-physical project-specific, intellectual, and procedural processes where outcomes vary between consultants, excluding direct engagement of retired Government servants.

Non-Consulting Service

Any procurement involving physical, measurable deliverables where performance standards can be clearly identified and consistently applied, such as maintenance, security, or facility management.

Quality and Cost Based Selection

A selection method used for consultancy procurement where quality of technical proposal is scored first, followed by a combined score based on predefined relative weightages of technical and financial proposals.

Least Cost System

A consultancy evaluation method appropriate for standard or routine assignments where the responsive technically qualified proposal with the lowest evaluated cost is selected.

Bid Security

Also known as Earnest Money, an amount ranging between 2\text{\textpercent} to 5\text{\textpercent} of the estimated procurement value obtained from bidders to safeguard against withdrawal or alteration during the bid validity period.

Performance Security

A security deposit ranging between 3\text{\textpercent} to 5\text{\textpercent} of the contract value obtained from the successful bidder to ensure due performance of the contract.

Personal Deposit Account

A device located in the Public Account intended to facilitate a Designated Officer to credit receipts and effect withdrawals directly, subject to overall bank checks ensuring no minus balance.

Electronic Reverse Auction

An online real-time purchasing technique utilized by procuring entities where bidders present successively more favorable bids during a scheduled period for automatic evaluation.