Indian Railway Codes and Manuals-Accounts code- Vol-II-Chapter-31 (XXXI)

 


Chapter XXXI

Accounts of Worked Lines

3101 Such lines as have been constructed at the cost of Branch Line Companies, Private Companies, Joint Venture companies, Local Bodies, State Governments, etc. and are worked by the main line system, are called "Worked Lines".

The terms for the working of such lines and the apportionment of their earnings as well expenditure related to their Operation and maintenance are embodied in their respective agreements. All payments of earnings and deductions on account of expenditure on worked lines should be made within the ambit of the respective agreement. A copy of these agreements should be available with the Traffic Accounts Office.

An abstract showing the main features of each agreement, e.g., the items which comprise the gross earnings of each worked line, the percentage or proportionate share or actuals to be recovered from each line as working expenses, the rebate to be allowed under certain conditions, principles of apportionment, GST provisions etc., should be maintained in the Accounts Office and kept up-to-date for reference, if required.

3102 Calculation of Worked Line share.-The actual adjustment of the working expenses to be recovered from the worked lines or the share of earnings to be paid to them should be made in accordance with the terms of the irrespective agreements. The general principles which should be followed in compiling the accounts for the purpose of such adjustments are, however, stated in the following paragraphs.

3103 Coaching Traffic.- Before calculating the share of earnings of a worked line, a reference should be made to its agreement to ascertain what the coaching earnings of the worked line comprise of and this should be kept in view in compiling the accounts for the purpose of apportionment.

3104 Coaching earnings of the system include the following:

1) fares and freight charges proper for carrying the various kinds of coaching traffic; and

2) other special charges such as pilgrim tax , poll tax or GST and cartage charges, etc

The taxes and terminal charges, when leviable, is included in the fares and, as this is creditable to the parties concerned, it should be seen that its amount is always excluded from the fares before apportioning them between the Main and the Worked Lines.

Cartage charges are not payable to Worked Lines. While apportioning shares to the Worked Lines, these charges should be deducted from the freight before dividing the same between the Main and the Worked Lines.

All Special Charges which do not pertain to Worked/NGR/SPV line and are levied for specified purpose unconnected with Worked Lines, NGR or SPV, unless specifically mentioned in RB guidelines or explicitly mentioned in the agreement provisions should be excluded from the fare and freight charges before apportionment.

In the case of undercharges, the apportionment of the correct amount is made to the Worked Lines regardless of the amount collected. As regards overcharges, no credit is to be afforded to the Worked Lines and the amount of overcharge should, therefore, be excluded from the fare and freight charges before apportionment. If Overcharge is already apportioned and settled/refunded later on, proportionate share to be recovered from worked Line. Penalty and clerkage charges arecredited to the Main or the Worked Line according as the recovery has been made at the Main or Worked Line station. These charges, when accruing at junctions with the Worked Lines, are credited to such lines in respect of their Local traffic only.

3105 Entries pertaining to each of the Worked Lines should be picked up from the relevant Returns received from the checking sections, separate sheets being used for posting, by each route and for each class of traffic. Traffic between each pair of stations should be posted in one place and grouped together.

Note. The apportionment of Parcel traffic should be made according to the route prescribed by the Main Line administration, necessary adjustments being made in respect of deviated traffic.

3106 The Apportionment to Worked Lines for Traffic carried over i.e. Deposit Private Companies, NGR, SPVs etc. shall be done by:

i)                    The Zonal Railway under whose jurisdiction the worked line falls based on the principles laid down in agreement.

ii)                  In the absence of above:

a) Using the Matrix available in CAS or

b)As provided by CRIS in FOIS

The worked line share will be as per the route prescribed by the main line administration or otherwise be proportionate to the actual distance carried over the worked line vis-a-vis total distance carried. The sharing on basis of Carried route will be guided as per Para 868 of Finance Code Volume I and 2324 of Accounts Code Volume II.

All Special charges which do not pertain to Worked/NGR/SPV line and are levied for specified purpose unconnected with Worked Lines, NGR or SPV, unless specifically mentioned in RB guidelines or explicitly mentioned in agreement should be excluded from the fare and freight charges before apportionment.

3107 Other Traffic.

(a)    The following items, which are creditable to the Worked Lines, should be picked up from the Station Balance Sheets of Worked Line stations only.

Coaching Traffic

1 Left Luggage, Wharfage and Demurrage.

2 Platform Tickets.

3 Excess in booking.

4 Telegraph earnings.

5 Items taken to special debit by stations in the Coaching Balance Sheets and not accountedfor through any of the returns submitted to the Accounts Office. Goods Traffic

6 Demurrage and Wharfage.

7 Items taken to special debit by stations in the Goods Balance Sheets and not accounted for through any of the returns submitted to the Accounts Office.

(b)   Items debitable to the Worked Lines, that is, items of credit taken by stations in their Coaching or Goods Balance Sheets in respect of  Overcharge sheets pertaining to station outstanding,·  Previous debits withdrawn,·  Credits reversed, and·  Re-booking, etc.· should be picked up from the Balance Sheets of stations of the entire system.

3108 Gross Earnings of Worked Lines: The total amount of items picked up in the manner prescribed in the preceding paragraphs would represent the amount divisible between the Main and the Worked Lines. For convenience of calculations, the totals should under mutual arrangement with the Worked Lines, be calculated to the nearest rupee; fifty paise and above being reckoned as one rupee and less than fifty paise being dropped.

3109 Apportionment of Earnings.– Apportionment between the Main line and worked line shall be governed by the terms of the agreement between the two.

3110 Adjustment on account of Refunds.- The amounts debitable to the worked lines in cases where refunds have been allowed at the time of delivery of goods etc., or claims for refund of overcharges have been passed should be worked out from the relevant records in the Accounts Office and deducted from the amounts payable to the Worked Lines.

3111 Payments to Worked Lines.-In order to arrive at the amount payable to each Worked Line under its agreement on account of net earnings or rebate, a statement should be prepared monthly, showing the gross earnings of each Worked Line, the share of working expenses payable to the main line 95 under the agreement and the net earnings of the Worked Line, and passed on to the Booking Section for arranging the necessary payment.

3112 In certain cases, the agreements provide for a certain per cent of advance payment of earnings to the Worked Lines, quarterly or half-yearly. In such cases, statements of earnings of each Worked Line should be prepared, In the manner described above, to show the actual figures available at the time and approximates for the months for which the actuals are not available. The share of working expenses at the rate specified in the respective contracts should be deducted from the totals thus arrived at, the balance representing approximate net earnings payable to each Worked Line of which the prescribed percent will be paid in advance. Necessary adjustment between the actual and approximate figures should be made at the time of the yearly final payments, when the actual earnings for the whole year are known.

3113 Test Check of worked Line Account: The work of apportionment of fare and freight charges between the Worked Lines and the Main Line is by its nature such that it is difficult to provide for an automatic reconciliation to prove the accuracy of Worked Line accounts. The important thing in compiling Worked Line accounts is to discriminate out of several lakhs of items each month, the particular items in respect of which freight is creditable to Worked Lines. In this process of discrimination, some items are liable to be omitted from the accounts whereas others for which no freights are due to the Worked Lines may be included therein. Mistakes in filling in the distance or in working out the Worked Lines shares may occur even if an item has been correctly included in the accounts. It is, therefore, necessary that the accounts compiled by the staff should be subjected to a rigorous test check by the supervising staff as well as by the staff compiling the accounts, so that all errors involving under and over credits to the Worked lines may be rectified. Such overpayments or underpayments shall be recovered/paid to the worked Lines.

Multiple choice questions:

  1. What are "Worked Lines" as defined in the railway context?

a) Lines constructed and maintained solely by the Indian Railways
b) Lines constructed at the cost of private companies, joint ventures, or local bodies and worked by the main line system
c) Lines used exclusively for military purposes
d) Lines that are under construction and not yet operational

Answer: b) Lines constructed at the cost of private companies, joint ventures, or local bodies and worked by the main line system

  1. What should be kept in the Accounts Office for reference regarding Worked Lines?

a) A list of all employees working on the lines
b) An abstract showing the main features of each agreement related to Worked Lines
c) A record of all goods transported over the Worked Lines
d) A list of all stations connected by the Worked Lines

Answer: b) An abstract showing the main features of each agreement related to Worked Lines

  1. What charges should be excluded from fares before apportioning them between the Main and Worked Lines?

a) Freight charges
b) Cartage charges and taxes
c) Handling charges
d) Booking fees

Answer: b) Cartage charges and taxes

  1. How should the share of earnings or working expenses to be paid to or recovered from Worked Lines be determined?

a) Based on a standard rate set by the Indian Railways
b) As per the respective agreements between the Main and Worked Lines
c) According to the distance traveled on the Main Line only
d) Through a competitive bidding process

Answer: b) As per the respective agreements between the Main and Worked Lines

  1. What must be done in the case of overcharges already apportioned and later refunded?

a) The overcharge amount should be absorbed by the Main Line
b) The proportionate share should be recovered from the Worked Line
c) No adjustment is necessary
d) The Worked Line should receive a bonus for prompt refund

Answer: b) The proportionate share should be recovered from the Worked Line

  1. When apportioning Parcel traffic between the Main and Worked Lines, what should be considered?

a) The weight of the parcels
b) The route prescribed by the Main Line administration
c) The time taken to deliver the parcels
d) The total revenue generated by the parcels

Answer: b) The route prescribed by the Main Line administration

  1. What should be picked up from the Station Balance Sheets of Worked Line stations only?

a) All traffic earnings
b) Items such as Left Luggage, Wharfage, and Demurrage
c) Only the Goods traffic earnings
d) Excess earnings from ticket sales

Answer: b) Items such as Left Luggage, Wharfage, and Demurrage

  1. How should gross earnings of Worked Lines be calculated for convenience?

a) To the nearest hundred rupees
b) To the nearest ten rupees
c) To the nearest rupee, rounding fifty paise and above to one rupee
d) To the nearest paise, without rounding

Answer: c) To the nearest rupee, rounding fifty paise and above to one rupee

  1. How should adjustments be made when refunds are allowed for goods delivery or overcharges?

a) The refund should be paid by the Main Line only
b) The amount should be deducted from the Worked Line's share of earnings
c) The Worked Line should issue a credit note
d) No adjustment is necessary for refunds

Answer: b) The amount should be deducted from the Worked Line's share of earnings

  1. What is necessary to ensure the accuracy of Worked Line accounts?

a) An annual audit by an external agency
b) A rigorous test check by supervising staff and those compiling the accounts
c) Frequent meetings between Main and Worked Line representatives
d) A computerized reconciliation process

Answer: b) A rigorous test check by supervising staff and those compiling the accounts

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