The Centre has specified that registered travel agents, including M/s Balmer Lawrie & Company Limited, M/s Ashok Travels & Tours, and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited, must provide flight details.
7th Pay Commission: The Modi government has implemented revisions to the procedure for booking air tickets in the context of Leave Travel Concession (LTC) claims. The move is aimed to address the concerns and provide greater convenience to government employees. According to the recent memorandum by the Personnel and Training Department, individuals without proof of air ticket booking through a travel agent until August 29, 2022, will benefit from the changes.
The order has been issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). The Centre has specified that registered travel agents, including M/s Balmer Lawrie & Company Limited, M/s Ashok Travels & Tours, and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited, must provide flight details.
All three authorised travel are now required to display flight details with the cheapest fare and flights priced 10 per cent higher than the cheapest option. When booking air tickets within the designated time frame, employees are required to choose the cheapest fare, with a 10% additional allowance.
According to the order issued by the government, in all cases wherein the non-entitled Government employees are to travel by air under Special Dispensation Scheme directly from their Headquarters/place of posting to the place of visit in NER/J&K/A&N/Ladakh, the Government employees shall continue to take the print-out of the concerned webpage having flight and fare details of the flight for relevant railhead viz. Kolkata/ Guwahati/ Delhi/Amritsar/ Chennai/ Vishakhapatnam to the place of visit viz. NER or UT of J&K or UT of Ladakh or UT of A&N within the same time-slot where the direct flight has been booked for the purpose of reimbursement.
In case the flight tickets are not available in the same slot, the print out of the details of the flights available in the next slot may be retained for the purpose of settlement of claims, as provided under Point (ii) of the title “Provisions for Reimbursement” in OM dated 29.8.2022, referred to above.