15.1. Definitions :- In this Chapter unless the context otherwise requires;
(a) 'Family' shall have the meaning assigned to it in the Punjab Civil Services Rules, Volume I, Part I.
(b) 'Group Insurance Scheme' means the Punjab Government employees Group Insurance Scheme, 1982 as set out in Appendix Vii;
(c) 'Insurance Fund' means the Insurance Fund under the Group Insurance Scheme ;
(d) ' member of the service' means a Punjab Government employees but does not include:-
(i) a member of the All India Service;
(ii) any person on causal employment;
(iii) any person discharged from service on less than one month notice;
(iv) any person for whom special provision is made in respect of matters covered by these rules by or under any law for the time being in force or by or any agreement entered in to by or with the previous approval of the Governor before or after the commencement of the Punjab Civil Services (Amendment Rules, Volume -II, 1987 ) in regard to matters covered by such special provisions;
(v) any employ of Government of India or any other State Government, Public Sector Undertaking or Autonomous Organization on deputation with the Government of Punjab;
(vi) any person recruited under Punjab Government after attaining the age of fifty years.
(e) 'member of the Scheme ' means a member of the Service enrolled as a member of the Group Insurance Scheme ; and
(f) 'Saving Fund ' means the Saving Fund under the Group Insurance Scheme .
15.2 Application of Punjab Government employee Group Insurance Scheme :- A member of the Service subscribe to the Group Insurance Scheme and shall be eligible to the benefits of the Scheme:
Provided that a member of the Service who was appointed to the Service before the commencement of the Punjab Civil Services (2nd Amendment ) Rules, 1987, Volume-II may exercise option not to be governed by the Group Insurance Scheme .
15.3 Interpretation. -- If any question arises as to the interpretation of these rules, the Punjab Government in the Department of Finance shall decide the same.
15.4 Repeal and Savings . -- (1) The Punjab Civil Services (Group Insurance) Riles, 1982, published with Government of Punjab, Department of Finance, Notification No (10) -OSD(F)- 82 / 6494, dated 15th August, 1982 are hereby repealed.
(2) Notwithstanding such repeal any section taken or any order issued or shall be deemed to have been taken or issued under the corresponding provisions of these rules."
(3). In the said rules, after appendix VI, the following Appendices shall be added, namely:-
"Appendix
VII
[Referred to in
rule 15.1 (b)]
Punjab Government
Group Insurance Scheme ,1982.
1. Date of Effect :- The Punjab Government employees Group Insurance Scheme,1982 (hereinafter referred to as the Group Insurance Scheme ) was notified on the 15th August, 1982 and has been brought in to force with effect from the forenoon of the Second October, 1982.
2. Objective . -- The Group Insurance Scheme is intended to provide for the Punjab Government employees at a low cost and on a wholly contributory and self - financing basis, the twin benefits of an insurance cover to help their families in the event of death in service and a lump sum payment to augment their resources on retirement.
3. Application :- The Group Insurance Scheme will apply to the members of Service that is to all the Punjab Government employees excluding persons on deputation from other State Governments, Public Sector Undertaking or Autonomous Organisations. Casual Labourers, part, time and adhoc employees, but will not apply to persons recruited under the Punjab Government after attaining the age of fifty years.
4 Membership - The Group Insurance Scheme will be compulsory for all those employees who enter Punjab Government Service after the Group Insurance Scheme is notified i.e. all those employees entering Punjab Government Service after the 15th August, 1982 will be compulsory covered under the Group Insurance Scheme form the date it comes in to force.
(1) Those employees who are already in Punjab Government Service on the date of the commencement of the Group Insurance Scheme would have to opt out of the Group Insurance Scheme. This option was to be exercised by them in form G.I. No. 3 by the 30th September, 1982. Those employees who had not opted out of the Group Insurance Scheme by that date were deemed to become members of the Group Insurance Scheme from the date the Group Insurance Scheme came in to force. The option, once exercised (or not exercised) was to be treated as final.
(2) After the Group Insurance Scheme has come into force, a person who has become a member of the Service in a month other than October, shall be enrolled as member of the Scheme on the next anniversary of the Group Insurance Scheme.
(3) Every member of the Service enrolled as a member of the Group Insurance Scheme shall be informed by his appointing authority the date of his enrolment and the subscription to be deducted from his salary in Form G.I. No.1 under intimation to Government of Punjab Department of Finance.
5. Subscription for the members of the Scheme ; -- (1) The Subscription for the Group Insurance Scheme will be in units of rupees 10 per month. A Group D employee will subscribe for ine unit, a Group C employee for two units, a Group B employees for four units and a Group A employee for eight units, Thus the rate of subscription for a members of the Group Insurance Scheme shall be rupees 10, rupees 20, rupees 40 and rupees 80 per month for Group D,C,B, and A employees respectively.
(Group D,C,B and A refer to Class IV, III, II, and I employees respectively).
(2) In the event of promotion of an employee from one group to another, his subscription shall be raised from the next anniversary of the Group Insurance Scheme to the level appropriate to the Group to which he is promoted under intimation to him in form G.I. No 2 until the date of next anniversary of the Group Insurance Scheme he shall continue to be covered for insurance for the same amount for which he was eligible before such promotion.
(3) In the event of reversion of an employee from a higher Group to a lower Group, there shall be no reduction in the rate of his subscription and he shall continue to be covered for insurance for the same amount for which he was eligible immediately before such reversion.
6. Premium and insurance cover for the Punjab Government employees other than the members of the Scheme :- The Punjab Government employees entering Service in a month other than October, (month of start of Scheme) falling after the 2nd October 1982 will be given benefit of appropriate insurance cover from the date of joining Government service ti the date of their becoming members of the Scheme on payment of a subscription of rupees 3 per month as a premium for every rupees 10,000 of the insurance Scheme they shall pay subscription at the rate specified in sub - para (1) of para 6 above.
7 Insurance fund and insurance cover for the members of the Scheme :-- (1) In order to provide an insurance cover to each members of the Scheme, a portion of the subscription shall be credited to an Insurance Fund to be held in the Public Fund of the Punjab Government. The amount of insurance cover shall be rupees 10,000 for each unit of subscription. It will be paid to the nominees (S) or heir(S) as the case may be of a member of the Scheme, who unfortunately dies, due to any cause, while in Government service, before attaining the age of superannuation.
(2) The positive or negative balance under the Insurance Fund shall be credited or debited as the case may be, with the amount of interest calculated at the prevailing rate of interest on the Post Office Saving Bank Deposits which at present, is 5.5 per cent per annum.
8. Savings Fund : -- (1) The balance of the subscription shall be credited to the Savings Fund. The amount in the Savings Fund shal be held by the Punjab Government in Public Fund. The total accumulation of Savings Fund together with interest thereon shall be payable to him on his ceasing to be a member of the Group Insurance, Scheme by retirement or otherwise or to his nominee or nominees, as the case may be, in the event of his death while in Service.
(2) The benefits admissible from the Savings Fund shall be determined by the Punjab Government from time to time for illustration, the credit to the Savings Fund along with benefit of interest has been allowed at the rate of ten per cent per annum (computed/ quarterly) for the period commencing from the 2nd October, 1982 and ending with the 30th September, 1983 and eleven per cent per annum (computed quarterly) for the period commencing from the 2nd October, 1983 onwards as specified in the Table appended to this Appendix.
(3) In the case of the death of a member of the Scheme, the payment of the amount of Insurance payable to the nominee or nominees, as the case may be, will be in addition to the payment from the Savings Fund.
(4) The balance under the Savings Fund shall be credited with the amount of interest calculated at such rate of interest as is notified by Department of Finance for the purpose from time to time.
9. Recovery of subscription ; -- (1) The subscription of a member of the Scheme for a month shall fall due at the commencement of the normal working hours on the first of that month.
(2) The ;subscription as a premium for the insurance cover shall initially fall due from the date of appointment to the service and subsequently from the commencement of normal working hours on the 1st of every month.
(3) The subscription for a month shall be recovered by deduction from the salary of a member of the scheme for that month irrespective of the dated of actual payment of salary for that month.
(4) The subscription shall be recovered every month including the month in which the member of the Scheme ceases to be a member of the Scheme or remains on leave other than extraordinary leave or under suspension.
(5) No interest shall be charged on arrears of subscription if the non-recovery is due to delayed payments of salary.
(6) If a member of the Scheme is on extraordinary leave and there is no payment of his salary for any period, his subscription for the month for which no payments of salary is made to him shall be recovered with interest admissible under the Insurance Scheme on the accretions to the Savings Fund in not more than three instalments commencing from his salary for the months following the month, in which he resumes duty on the expiry of leave. If a member of the Scheme dies while on extraordinary leave, the subscriptions due from him shall be recovered with interest admissible under the Scheme on the accretions to the Savings Fund from the payments admissible to his family under the Group Insurance Scheme.
(7) If a member of the Scheme proceeds on deputation or on foreign service in or out of India, the borrowing authority or foreign employer, as the case may be, shall be requested to effect the recovery of the subscription from his salary and remit the same to the Punjab Government in the parent Department of the member of the Scheme for credit to the relevant head of account. The necessary clause to this effect shall be included in the terms of deputation or foreign service. The recovery of this amount shall be watched in the same manner as applicable to leave salary and pension contribution if the borrowing authority or foreign employer fails to recover the subscription and remit to the Punjab Government in the parent department of the member of the Scheme, it shall be the responsibility of the member of the Scheme to pay the subscription regularly. If at any time the recovery of subscription falls in arrears, the same shall be recovered with interest at the rate admissible under the Group Insurance Scheme on the accretions to the Savings Fund in not more than three instalments.
10. Financing of subscription from General or Contributory Provident Fund . - (1) It shall not ordinarily be permissible to the finance the Group Insurance Scheme from General Provident Fund or Contributory Provident Fund. However, if at any stage the financial position of the member of the Scheme does not permit him to subscribe to the Group Insurance Scheme and to the General Provident Fund or Contributory Provident Fund, as the case may be, at the same time, he may be permitted to make, as a separate transaction, a non-refundable withdrawal of his General Provident Fund or Contributory Provident Funds of an amount equivalent to one year's subscriptions, paid or payable to the Group Insurance Scheme.
(2) The Subscription to the Group Insurance Scheme will form part of deductions allowed in respect of life insurance premia subscriptions to Provident Fund etc. in computing the total income of the member of the Scheme for the purpose of income tax except to the extent of the amount finally withdrawn from the General Provident Fund or Contributory Provident Fund account as provided in sub-para (1).
11. Payment from Insurance Fund or Savings Fund : -- (1) When a member of the Service ceases to be a member of the Group Insurance Scheme and his service documents show that he has been a member of the Scheme, the head of office shall issue a sanction for the payment of the member's accumulation in his Savings Funds admissible to him under para 8 after obtaining an application in Form G.I. No.4.
(2) If a member of the Scheme dies while in service before attaining the age of superannuation and his service documents show that he was a member of the Scheme, the Head of Office shall address the nominee (s) of the Government employee concerned in Form G.I. No.5 to submit an application in Form G.I. 6 and on receipt of such application shall issue a sanction for the payment of the amount of insurance and the accumulation in the Savings Fund to him. If a member of the Scheme dies during a month before the recovery of subscription for that month from him, his dues shall be paid after deducting the subscription.
(3) The amount payable to the nominee(s) or heir(s) as the case may be of a member of the Scheme who has the benefit of an insurance cover only shall be the amount of insurance appropriate to his Group.
(4) The amount payable to the nominee(s)/ heir(s) of a member of the Scheme who dies while in service shall be.
(a) The amount of insurance to which he was entitled at the time of his death, plus --
(b) the amount due to him out of the Savings Fund for the entire period of his membership in the lowest Group, and
(c) the amount or amounts due to him for additional units by which his subscription was raised on each occasion due to appointment or promotion to higher group for the period from which the rate of subscription was raised to the date of his death.
Illustration (1) :-- For example, if a Group 'D' employee, who is a member of the Scheme acquires a membership in Group 'C' and Group 'B' after five years and fifteen years of service, respectively and dies while in service after thirty years of total membership in all these Groups, his nominee or nominees, as the case may be, shall be paid the sum of the following amounts :--
(i) the amount of insurance of rupees 40,000 due on monthly subscription of rupees 40 being a Group 'B' member of the Group Insurance Scheme on the date of his death ;
(ii) the amount due from Savings Fund on a monthly subscription of rupees ten and thirty years;
(iii) the amount due from Savings Fund on a monthly subscription of rupees 10 (rupees 20 -- rupees 10) for twenty-five years ; and
(iv) the amount due from Saving Fund on monthly subscription of rupees 20 (rupees 40 -- rupees 20) for fifteen years.
(5) The amount payable to the member of the Scheme who ceases to be in employment with the Punjab Government on account of resignation, retirement, etc. shall be --
(a) the amount due to him out of the Savings Fund for the entire period of his membership in lowest Group ; and
(b) the amount or amounts due to him for the additional units by which his subscription was raised on each occasion due to appointment or promotion to higher Group for the period from which the rate of subscription was so raised to the date of cessation of his membership.
Illustration (2) . -- For example, if a Group D employee who is a member of the scheme acquires a membership in Group C and Group B after ten and twenty years of service respectively and retires on superannuation after thirty years of total membership in all these Groups he shall be paid the sum of the following amounts :-
(a) the amounts due to him from the Savings Fund on a monthly subscription of rupees ten for thirty years.
(b) the amount due to him from the Saving Fund on a monthly subscription of rupees ten (rupees 20 - rupees 10) for twenty years ; and
(c) the amount due to him from the Savings Fund on a monthly subscription of rupees 20 (rupees 40 - rupees 20) for ten years.
12. Withdrawal from the Insurance Fund or the Saving Fund. -- (1) It shall not be permissible for any member or other beneficiary of the Group Insurance Scheme to withdraw any amount out of the Insurance Fund to which the member has been subscribing. The amount due from the Insurance Fund on the death of member of the scheme while in Service shall be worked out in accordance with para 11 and paid to his nominee (s) in accordance with the accounting procedure as given in Appendix VIII as revised from time to time.
(2) It shall also not be permissible for any member of the Scheme to withdraw any amount of the Savings Fund to which he has been subscribing. The amount due to him from this fund on his cesation of employment on account of resignation retirement etc. shall be worked out in accordance with para 11(1) and paid to him or his nominee(s) in accordance with the accounting procedure as given in Appendix VIII, as revised from time to time.
(3) In the event of an amount erroneously deducted from the salary of an employee, who is not a member of the Scheme or who is not eligible to become such a member, shall be refunded to him by the concerned Drawing and Disbursing Officer.
13. Loans or advances from or against accumulations in the Insurance Fund or Savings Fund .-- No loans or advances shall be paid to any member of the Scheme or other beneficiary of the Group Insurance Scheme from or against his accumulations in the Insurance Fund or Savings Fund to which he has been subscribing.
14. Utilization of accumulation in the Insurance Fund and Savings Fund -- The accumulation in the Insurance Fund and the Savings Fund shall be at the disposal of the Punjab Government.
15. Mode of notification of the Group Insurance Scheme, for inviting option . -- The Group Insurance Scheme shall be notified to all the Government employees by the Head of Office and a certificate to that effect duly signed by the concerned Government employee and countersigned by the Head of Office shall be placed on the service book or the service documents of the concerned Government employee and a copy of the Group Insurance Scheme so notified may also be displayed on the notice board installed at a prominent place at the premises of the Office where the Government employees are working, for their information.
16. Action on notification of the Group Insurance Scheme . - By the 10th of every month following the month in which the Group Insurance Scheme is notified, the Head of Office shall supply to the Drawing and Disbursing Officer names, Groups, dates of birth and dates of appointments of persons who may have appointed to any service or post under the Punjab Government during the preceding month and who would be eligible to become member of the Scheme in terms of para 3.
17. (1) Every member of the Scheme shall be informed in Form G.I. No.1, the date of his enrolement, the amount of subscription to be deducted and the benefits to which he would be eligible. On his regular promotion from one Group to another, he will be similarly informed in Form G.I. No.2.
(2) The option exercised by the employees who are already in Punjab Government Service on the date the Group Insurance Scheme is notified shall be in Form G.I. No.3 and will be pasted in the service book of the employees concerned.
18. Register of members of the Scheme . -- The Head of Office shall ensure that Group-wise register of the members of the Scheme is maintained in Form G.I. No.9 and kept upto date. This register shall be sent to the Drawing and Disbursing Officer concerned once a year to verify whether appropriate subscriptions are being recovered from the members of the Scheme and to record a certificate to this effect.
19. Nomination . -- (1) The Head of Office shall obtain from every member of the Scheme a nominating conferring on one of more persons, the right to receive the amount that may become payable under the Group Insurance Scheme in the event of his death before attaining the age of superannuation. In the case of employees who are already in Punjab Government service on the date, the Group Insurance Scheme is notified and who had not opted out of the Group Insurance Scheme, such nomination shall be obtained simultaneously with the option obtained from others and in the case of employees who join Punjab Government service after the date on which the Group Insurance Scheme is notified, such nomination shall be obtained alongwith the joining report.
(2) If a member of the Scheme happens to be a minor, he will be required to make nomination on his attaining the age of majority.
(3) If a member of the Scheme has a family at the time of his making the nomination, he shall make such nomination(s) only in favour of a member or members of his family.
(4) If a member of the Scheme nominates more than one person under sub-para (1) he shall specify in the nomination the amount of share payable to each of the nominees in such a manner as to cover the whole of the amount payable under the Group Insurance Scheme failing which the amount payable under the Group Insurance Scheme shall be equally distributed among the nominees.
(5) The nomination shall be made in Form G.I. No.7 or G.I. No.8, as is appropriate in the circumstances.
(6) A member of the Scheme may at any time cancel a nominated by sending a notice to the Head of Office alongwith a fresh nomination made in accordance with the provisions of this para.
(7) The nomination received from a member of the 'Scheme' shall be countersigned by the Head of Office and pasted on his service book or service documents. The Head of Office shall also make an entry in the service book or service documents that the nomination has been duly received.
(8) Every nomination made and every notice of cancellation given by the member of the Scheme shall, to the extent that it is valid, take effect on the date on which it is received by the Head of Office who shall acknowledge the receipts of every such communication.
20. Accounting . - The transaction relating to the Group Insurance Scheme shall be regulated in accordance with the procedure laid down in Appendix VIII and the instructions issued by the Punjab Government from time to time.
21. Interpretation and clarification . -- In the implementation of the Group Insurance Scheme, if any doubt arises in regard to the interpretation of any of the provisions of the Group Insurance Scheme or any matter connected therewith, the same shall be referred to the Government in the Department of Finance for decision whose decision shall be final.
Review of the Group Insurance Scheme. -- The Government may review the working of the Group Insurance Scheme after every three years to ensure that the Group Insurance Scheme remains sele-financing and self-supporting.