Indian Railway Codes and Manuals-Accounts code- Vol-II-Chapter-32 (XXXII)

 


Chapter XXXII

The Traffic Book

3201 Scope of Traffic Book: The Traffic Book is a compilation which collects and brings to account, under the prescribed heads Coaching, Goods and Sundry Other Earnings, the whole of the traffic earning of a railway, both Local and Through, whether accrued at stations or otherwise. It records the progress of realization of these earnings, the results of apportionment of traffic interchanged with Other Railways and Deposit Private Companies (NGR, JV including SPVs etc) and the progress in the settlement of the balances on these accounts.

3202 Parts of the Traffic Book. The Traffic Book consists of four distinct parts, viz a) Station Accounts: b) Adjustment or Division Sheets or Net Result of Apportionment on the basis of Matrix generated through CAS c) Ledger account of the Home Line; and Abstract of Earnings and Statement of Balances.

3203 Traffic Book, Part A The earning accrued at stations, for the realization of which the home railway is responsible, are consolidated in Traffic Book, Part A. It should be maintained in Form A. 3203 separately for Coaching-and Goods traffic. The names of all stations open for traffic (Coaching or Goods, as the case may be) should preferably be printed in convenient groups, generally in the order of their geographical position on the railway.

3204 The posting in Traffic Book Part A should be made from the Station Balance Sheets after the same have been dealt with in the manner indicated in Paragraph 2747 and the figures for the various headings should be summarized in a convenient form. The posting in Traffic Book Part A shall be made from systems generated Balance Sheets or the Balance Sheet prepared manually at the stations as well as changes made by Traffic Accounts office during internal check conducted either in the computerized system or manually. With the introduction of Computerization of Traffic Accounts, internal check on station Balance sheet shall be carried out as laid out in Chapter XXVII and shall be frozen for the month to avoid any changes in that month. Traffic Book Part A shall be generated, through computerized system, on freezing of the Station Balance Sheet.

3205 The opening balance for each station should be brought forward From the Traffic Book for the previous month and compared, during the course of posting the Traffic Book, with the corresponding figures shown in the Balance Sheet of the station concerned.

3206 The traffic earning for the month, whether "Local" or "Through", should, be posted manually /fetched in system to the Debit columns of Traffic Book Part A under appropriate head of account, Coaching, Goods or Sundry Other Earnings, as the case may be. The provision of further analytical columns under each head for the preparation of abstracts of earnings is left to the discretion of the Accounts Officer.

3207 Similarly, the realization of traffic earnings, whether in "cash ", "vouchers" or "transfers" should be posted manually/fetched in system to the Credit Columns of Traffic Book Part A under the heads provided in the form; the balance representing the unrealized earnings being posted in the column "Closing Balance".

3208 After all the Balance Sheets have been posted/frozen and the Traffic Book, Part A is generated, it shall be examined to see that there is an entry for each station on the home railway open for the traffic concerned (‘Coaching’ or ‘Goods’ as the case maybe).

3209 It should be seen that the sum total of the debit columns of each station agrees with the total debits and that of the credit columns with the total credits and that the difference between the total debits and credits tallies with the closing balance to be carried forward to the next month's account.

3210 Verification of the correctness of postings in Traffic Book, Part A.- Opening Balance. The total of the opening balance should be verified with that of the closing balance in the Traffic Book for the previous month.

3211 Cash.-The figure under the head "cash" should be verified with the Cash Registers(A.2721)or, where the latter are not maintained, with the summary of Traffic Cash Check Sheets(A.1943).

3212 Vouchers. - The head "vouchers" should first be analyzed under the sub-heads "Warrants" (Local and Through) and "Credit Notes" (Local, Through and Military) and should be verified with the aggregate of the Warrants and Credit Notes sent in by station in lieu of cash.

3213 It will be observed that the postings of figures of Warrants and Credit Notes in the Traffic Book, Part A, are made on the basis of their station entries (see also Paragraph 2729 These Warrants and Credit Notes are checked in the Accounts Office and the checked amount is billed for against the Departments concerned (see Chapter XXIX) The difference between the station and the audited figures of Warrants and Credit Notes should be adjusted in the Traffic Book Part A, by increasing or decreasing (as the case may be) the earnings heads concerned on the debit side. This adjustment should be made on the basis of the aggregate of the under and overcharges on individual warrants and Credit Notes.

3214 Transfers.- This head consists of "Balance Sheet Transfers "and "Book Transfers". Under the former are recorded all sums which are transferred from the Station Balance Sheet to the Accounts Office Balance Sheet or vice versa, viz., amounts received with the station earnings in connection with the out standings in the Accounts Office Balance Sheet or vice versa. The latter head is used to record:-

1) Amounts received with station earnings but credit to the expenditure heads of account through the Journal Entries of Transfers. These items form credits to the head “Book Transfers”.

2) Amounts paid out of station earnings for Departmental expenditure and debited to the expenditure heads through the Journal Entry of Transfers. These items form debits to the head “Book Transfers”.

3215 The totals under the head "Balance Sheet Transfers" should be verified with the corresponding figures in the Accounts Office Balance Sheet and it should be seen that the figures balance each other and that the suspense head is cleared. The totals of the head "Book Transfers'" should be verified with the Summary of Journal Entries.

3216 Rectification of mistakes, Adjustment Balance Sheet.- All errors noticed during the course of verification of postings in Traffic Book, Part A, involving corrections in this figures of The Station Balance Sheets, should be rectified in the Traffic Book through the "Adjustment Balance Sheet". The "Adjustment Balance Sheet" is a supplementary Traffic Book prepared in the same form as the Traffic Book, Part A, to collect all the errors pertaining to the figures of each station to avoid repeated alterations in the figures already posted. All such corrections should be carried out neatly in the Traffic Book Part A.

3217 The Traffic Book Part A, having been completed in the manner indicated in the previous paragraphs, the grand totals under each head should be transcribed to the Traffic Book, Part C (Paragraph 3227).

3218 TRAFFIC BOOK, PART B. The Traffic Book. Part B, deals with the results of apportionment of all Through traffic interchanged between the Home Railway, Other Railways and Deposit Private Companies (Private Railways/NGR, JV including SPVs).

3219 The Traffic Book, Part B for Coaching traffic should be maintained in Form A. 3219.

PART B showing Division of earning on Coaching Traffic interchanged with other Railways

and Deposit Private Companies.

Note- Further analytical columns under each head as may be found necessary for the preparation of abstracts of earnings may be provided to suit local requirements and furnishing details to non Governmental Railways.

3220 The Traffic Book, Part B, for Goods traffic should be maintained in Form A. 3220

GOODSTRAFFICBOOKFORTHEMONTHOF……20…

Part B-Showing Division of Earnings of Goods traffic interchanged with Other Railways and Deposit Private Companies

3221 Apportionment of Earning The Railway apportioning the earnings shall make an adjustment with each Railway to which share is due on interchanged traffic based on the shares worked out though Centralized Apportionment System for Passenger and Goods earnings. Where shares are not worked out through Centralized Apportionment System, i.e. Parcels, Postal haulage etc. the same will be adjusted with concerned Railways as per manual Division – Sheet. In the case of Traffic interchanged between the Indian Railways , the adjustment of Goods, Passengers and ‘Paid’ Parcels traffic devolves on the forwarding Railway while the adjustment of “To Pay” Parcels traffic devolves on the Receiving Railway. No adjustment is made in respect of Excess Fare, Luggage, Animals and Birds etc , Traffic, such earnings being retained wholly by the collecting Railway (Paragraph 2158 & 2206 ).

3222 Apportionment of Earnings for traffic carried over more than one Railways is to be carried out by Centralized Apportionment system and detailed apportionment matrix of outward and inward shares pertaining to each Railway is determined for adjustment of apportioned shares by Railways. In case of Parcel earnings, Postal haulage etc, where the above method of apportionment is not used, the apportionment is done through detailed accounts called “Division sheet”. The railway prepare and render to each other the division sheet showing in detail the proportions due on interchanged traffic. In the case of traffic interchanged with Deposit Private Companies, NGR, SPVs etc the apportionment of interchanged traffic should be guided by principles defined in Chapter XXXI. The Apportionment to Worked Lines for Traffic Carried over ie Deposit Private Companies, NGR, SPVs etc shall be done by i) the Zonal Railway under whose jurisdiction the worked line falls following the principles laid down in agreement. In the absence of above, ii) Using the Matrix available in CAS or ii) as provided by CRIS in FOIS The extant instructions as issued by Railway from time to time may be followed.

3223 received passengers, luggage and animals and birds etc. traffic and inwards paid and outwards to-pay parcels and goods traffic). Thus the shares of other Railways and Deposit Private Companies in forwarded passengers, luggage and animals and birds etc. traffic should be posted to the credit of these Railways and Deposit Private Companies by debit to the home railway. Similarly, the home railway share in received passenger, luggage, animals and birds etc. traffic should be posted to the debit of these Railways and Deposit Private Companies by credit to home railway. Thus, the net result of apportionment on Passenger, Goods traffic and Parcels traffic (paid or ‘to pay’) should be posted to the debit or credit of other railways and Deposit Private Companies by Contra credit 101 or debit to home railway earnings. The various sources from which the net results of apportionment are to be obtained for the posting of Traffic Book, Part B are given below. I. For traffic interchanged between the Indian Railways Passengers Outward/Inwards– PRS, UTS as per Matrix prepared under CAS Parcels Outwards ‘Paid’ Statements showing result of apportionment made on the basis of prescribed percentages and PMS as per prescribed matrix. Parcel Inwards '’Paid’' Advices of result of apportionment received from other railways Goods Outwards/Inwards 'Paid' and ‘To-Pay’ FOIS as per Matrix prepared under CAS

3224 The totals of the figures posted against the home railway and each other railway and Deposit Private Company should then be cast and transcribed to Traffic Book, Part C.

3225 TRAFFIC BOOK, PART C As stated in paragraph 3202, the Traffic Book - Part C, is the ledger of the Home Line for traffic earnings It should be maintained in Form A. 3225, separately for coaching and goods traffic. It contains three ledger accounts, viz., (1) the Traffic Account, (2) the Other Railways Account and (3) the Deposit Private Companies Account.

COACHING/GOODS TRAFFIC BOOK FOR THE MONTH OF …… 20….

Part C-Showing adjustment of the “Traffic Account, Öther Railways” and “Deposit Private Companies” Account

COACHING/GOODSTRAFFICBOOKFORTHEMONTHOF……20

Part CShowingadjustmentofthe“TrafficAccount,ÖtherRailways”and“DepositPrivateCompa nies”Account

3226 Traffic Account.- For the purpose of recording the traffic earnings in the month's account to which they pertain and of watching the progress of their realization, a suspense account Traffic Account is operated upon in Part C of the Traffic Book This account is debtor for all earnings, whether Local or through and is creditor for all recoveries of such earnings. The balance therefore, represents unrealized earnings.

3227 Posting of Traffic Book, Part C. The opening balances should be brought forward from the Traffic Book, Part C of the previous month and checked with the corresponding figures transcribed from Part A and the Accounts office Balance sheet. The Traffic Earnings for the month credited through the Station Balance sheets should be brought forward from the Traffic Book Part A. These items form debits to Traffic Account by credit to final heads of earnings (viz Abstract X Coaching earnings, Y Goods earnings and Z Sundry other earnings). In regard to earnings from Through traffic, the division thereof / apportionment between Home Railway, other Railways and Deposit Private Companies having already been made in Traffic Book, Part B, the figures should be captured from the System and transcribed from Part B to Part C. Net Result of Apportioned Earnings as derived in Part B is thus to be reflected in Part C in following manner Net Payable- Foreign/Other Railways Credited by minus Credit to Home Railway Net Receivable- Foreign /Other Railways minus Credited by Creditto Home Railway

3228 The realization of traffic earnings should be similarly brought forward from Part A. These figures will represent credits to Traffic Account by debit to "cash" "vouchers" or "transfers.

3229 The debits and credits to Traffic Account in the Accounts Office Balance Sheet should be brought forward from that Balance Sheet and should be added to these transcribed from Part A. In the case of these figures, the credit to earnings arises only in respect of such items as have not already passed through the Station Balance Sheets and Traffic Book, Part A.

3230 Other Railways Account.- All transactions regarding division of traffic earnings with other railways with which the traffic is interchanged and which bank with the Government Treasury are passed through this account. The opening balance in favour or against each railway should be brought forward from the Traffic Book, Part C, for the previous month. The results of division of interchanged traffic for the month are transcribed from the Traffic Book, Part B. The payments to and receipts from other railways by "Transfer Railways" should be posted from the extracts of Transfer Certificates and the balances in favour of or against each railway worked out. These balances represent unadjusted through traffic 104 transactions with other railways and should be susceptible of verification with the balance (of unadjusted Account Current (A. 3238).

3231 Deposit Private Companies Account.- When, under competent authority (Appendix IT), Through traffic is permitted with companies or other carriers who do not bank with a Government Treasury, moneys due to them on the apportionment of traffic for the month should be credited to this account. This credit will be removed by actual payment or debit(by credit to earnings)against money collected by private companies on behalf of Indian Railways. In cases, however, where money due from Private Companies exceed those due to them, the net amount should be debited to this account and cleared when cash is received. The balances under this account should be proved in the same way as those under "Other Railways.

3232 Closing of Traffic Book-C.- The grand totals under each of the heads Coaching, Goods and Sundry Other, earnings as also under other Railways and Deposit Private Companies should be transcribed to Part D from which the monthly Journal Entry is prepared for incorporation in the General Books. 3233 Traffic Book, Part, D

The Traffic Book, Part, D, consists of the monthly Journal Entry and two statements.

It should bemaintainedinFormA.3233separatelyforCoachingandGoodstraffic. FormA.3233

COACHINGGOODSTRAFFICBOOKFORTHEMONTHOF……….20…..

Part D-Revenue(Earning)Journal entry for the month of .................... 20….

Statement No.1 Showing details of clearance of “Other Railways” and “Deposit Private Companies” Accounts by Transfer Certificated, Pay Orders, etc.

3234 Preparation of Journal entry.- In the Journal Entry, the transactions for the month are journalized for incorporation in the General Books of the railway Only the debit side of the Traffic Account is journalized The grand total under the column "Total debits excluding balances "should be posted in the Journal Entry to the debit of Traffic Account, but, before doing so, the amount of vouchers should be excluded as this amount is accounted for on the debit side twice, once through the Station Balance Sheet where the connected Ticket, way-Bill or Invoices Accounted for and again through the Accounts Office Balance Sheet. The credits to the Earnings heads, Other Railways and Deposit Private 105 Companies should be posted from the respective columns in Part C of the Traffic Book.

3235 Comparison of Traffic Book balances with main ledgers.— The balances under "Traffic Account," "Other Railways" and "Deposit Private Companies" as brought out in the Traffic Book should be proved monthly with the corresponding balances in the main ledgers. For this purpose, the balances under each of the accounts mentioned above in the Coaching Traffic Book should be clubbed with the goods Traffic Book and the total balances worked out. These should then be compared with those in General Books. Differences should exist only under Traffic Account due to "Cash in Transit."

3236 Cash in transit. - Stations take credit in their Balance Sheets for cash realized by them in the month irrespective of whether it is remitted to and acknowledged by the Cashier in that month or in the subsequent month. Such station cash for which credit has been allowed to the Stations in one month but, which has been received in the Cash Office after the third of the following month and consequently included in the General Books in the following month, is called Cash in transit. The following example illustrates how the Cash in Transit causes the difference between the balance in the Traffic Book and that in the General Books.

FIGURES AS PER TRAFFIC BOOK

3237 Differences under "Other Railways" and "Deposit Private Companies and under "Traffic Account", if not covered by cash in transit, should be investigated and rectified in the accounts for the subsequent months.

3238 The settlement of through traffic transactions among railways takes place monthly and is made on the basis of the results of apportionment.

For this purpose, an Account Current should be prepared monthly in Form A. 3238 for each railway with which traffic is interchanged. An Account Current is a copy of the ledger account ofthe Other Railway or Deposit Private Company the books of the Home Railway.

Only one Account Current should be prepared for both Coaching and Goods transactions and the net result in favour of or against the railway worked out. Where the Home Railway is creditor, the Account Current should be sent to the debtor railway.

In the case of other railways the account current should be accompanied by a Transfer Certificate for acceptance by the debtor railway.

The Transfer Certificate will, as a rule, be accepted in full by the debtor railway, any errors noticed in checking the account being notified to the creditor railway for adjustment in the subsequent month.

Multiple choice questions:

1. What is the primary purpose of the Traffic Book?

a) To record employee attendance
b) To collect and account for all traffic earnings of a railway
c) To manage inventory for railway stations
d) To track maintenance schedules for trains

Answer: b) To collect and account for all traffic earnings of a railway

2.Which of the following is NOT a part of the Traffic Book?

a) Station Accounts
b) Adjustment or Division Sheets
c) Ledger account of the Home Line
d) Employee payroll records

Answer: d) Employee payroll records

3.What should be done after freezing the Station Balance Sheet for the month?

a) Delete all previous records
b) Generate Traffic Book, Part A through the computerized system
c) Reopen the balance sheet for further modifications
d) Transfer the data to Part B directly

Answer: b) Generate Traffic Book, Part A through the computerized system

4.What is the main purpose of the opening balance in Traffic Book, Part A?

a) To forecast future earnings
b) To compare with the previous month's closing balance
c) To determine the station with the highest revenue
d) To identify stations with errors in their balance sheets

Answer: b) To compare with the previous month's closing balance

5.Under which head are the traffic earnings for the month posted in Traffic Book, Part A?

a) Expenditure
b) Debit
c) Credit
d) Suspense

Answer: b) Debit

6.How should the realization of traffic earnings be posted in Traffic Book, Part A?

a) Under the head "Debit"
b) Under the head "Credit"
c) As part of the station's closing balance
d) In the "Adjustment Balance Sheet"

Answer: b) Under the head "Credit"

7.What is verified using the Cash Registers or Summary of Traffic Cash Check Sheets in Traffic Book, Part A?

a) The figures under the head "cash"
b) The figures under the head "vouchers"
c) The closing balance
d) The station’s total earnings

Answer: a) The figures under the head "cash"

8.Which of the following is NOT a function of "Book Transfers"?

a) Recording amounts received with station earnings credited to expenditure heads
b) Recording amounts paid out of station earnings debited to expenditure heads
c) Adjusting the station’s cash earnings
d) Maintaining credits to the head "Book Transfers"

Answer: c) Adjusting the station’s cash earnings

9.What should be done if errors are noticed during the verification of postings in Traffic Book, Part A?

a) The errors should be ignored
b) The errors should be rectified through the "Adjustment Balance Sheet"
c) The errors should be reported to higher authorities only
d) The errors should be corrected in the next month's Traffic Book

Answer: b) The errors should be rectified through the "Adjustment Balance Sheet"

10.Where should the grand totals under each head in Traffic Book, Part A be transcribed?

a) Traffic Book, Part B
b) Traffic Book, Part C
c) Station Balance Sheets
d) Adjustment Balance Sheet

Answer: b) Traffic Book, Part C

11.What is the purpose of Traffic Book, Part B?

a) To record employee attendance
b) To show the division of earnings from Coaching and Goods traffic interchanged with other Railways and Deposit Private Companies
c) To maintain inventory records for stations
d) To track maintenance schedules for trains

Answer: b) To show the division of earnings from Coaching and Goods traffic interchanged with other Railways and Deposit Private Companies

12.How are earnings from Passenger and Goods traffic typically apportioned?

a) Based on manual calculations done at each station
b) Through the Centralized Apportionment System (CAS)
c) Using random percentage allocation
d) By equal division among all participating railways

Answer: b) Through the Centralized Apportionment System (CAS)

13.Which traffic earnings are retained entirely by the collecting Railway without apportionment?

a) Goods traffic
b) Passenger traffic
c) Excess Fare, Luggage, Animals, and Birds traffic
d) Parcel traffic

Answer: c) Excess Fare, Luggage, Animals, and Birds traffic

14.What is the function of the "Division sheet" in the context of apportioning earnings?

a) It records the employee work schedules
b) It shows detailed proportions due on interchanged traffic where CAS is not used
c) It manages station inventory
d) It tracks maintenance activities

Answer: b) It shows detailed proportions due on interchanged traffic where CAS is not used

15.What should be done with the net result of apportioned earnings in Traffic Book, Part C?

a) It should be ignored
b) It should be captured from Part B and transcribed to Part C
c) It should be manually calculated and entered
d) It should be reported to the station master

Answer: b) It should be captured from Part B and transcribed to Part C

16.What does the balance in the "Traffic Account" represent?

a) Total earnings for the year
b) Unrealized earnings
c) Employee salaries
d) Total cash on hand

Answer: b) Unrealized earnings

17.How are transactions with Deposit Private Companies recorded in Traffic Book, Part C?

a) Through a separate ledger maintained by the station
b) By crediting the account when moneys are due and debiting it when payments are made
c) Through manual entry in station records
d) By maintaining a separate Traffic Book for these companies

Answer: b) By crediting the account when moneys are due and debiting it when payments are made

18.What is the main purpose of the monthly Journal Entry in Traffic Book, Part D?

a) To record employee attendance
b) To journalize the transactions for incorporation in the General Books of the railway
c) To prepare maintenance schedules
d) To track inventory levels

Answer: b) To journalize the transactions for incorporation in the General Books of the railway

19.What causes differences between the balance in the Traffic Book and the General Books?

a) Incorrect entries by station staff
b) Delays in cash remittance, known as "Cash in Transit"
c) Errors in employee attendance records
d) Differences in maintenance schedules

Answer: b) Delays in cash remittance, known as "Cash in Transit"

20.How often should the settlement of through traffic transactions among railways take place?

a) Weekly
b) Monthly
c) Annually
d) Quarterly

Answer: b) Monthly

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