7th CPC Recommendations on Overtime Allowance (OTA)
Overtime Allowance (OTA) : Overtime Allowance (OTA) is granted to government employees for performing duties beyond the designated working hours. Presently, OTA is paid in several ministries/ departments, up to a certain level, at varying rates.
JCM-Staff Side has demanded that OTA should be paid to all government employees who are asked to work beyond office hours, on the basis of actual Pay, DA and Transport Allowance.
Analysis and Recommendations : Out of the total expenditure on OTA in Government of India in 2012-2013, over 90 percent is on account of just two ministries: MoR – Ministry of Railways and MoD – Ministry of Defence (Civilian employees). The Commission compared the OTA expenditure in these two ministries over the period 2006-07 to 2012-13.
There are two noteworthy points here:
a. While OTA as a percentage of Pay is declining in MoD (6.54% in 2012-13 compared to 7.91% in 2006-07), it is on the rise in MoR (2.58% in 2012-13 compared to 2.09% in 2006-07)
b. The Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of OTA (17.24%) in MoR exceeds even the CAGR of Pay (13.24%), or in other words, OTA is rising faster than pay.
This clearly shows that while MoD has achieved some success in its efforts to control OTA, the efforts of MoR have not yielded the desired results. However, at the same time, it should also be kept in mind that OTA as a percentage of pay is already much higher in MoD compared to MoR.
The Commission also took note of the recommendations of the III, IV, V and VI CPCs that OTA should be abolished except where it is a statutory requirement. However, it is also a fact that despite these recommendations, OTA continues to be paid to certain categories of staff (at rates that are quite old) even when it is not a statutory requirement.
Hence, while this Commission shares the sentiments of its predecessors that government offices need to increase productivity and efficiency, and recommends that OTA should be abolished (except for operational staff and industrial employees who are governed by statutory provisions), at the same time it is also recommended that in case the government decides to continue with OTA for those categories of staff for which it is not a statutory requirement, then the rates of OTA for such staff should be increased by 50 percent from their current levels.
Conditions for OTA:
The grant of OTA may be linked to biometric attendance subject to the conditions mentioned below.
a) OTA should be paid only when his/ her senior officer directs the concerned employee(s) in writing for staying back in office to attend urgent nature of work.
The OTA will be calculated on the basis of biometric attendance.
The OTA for Staff Car Drivers should be linked with biometric system as normally, the designated parking is allotted in the office building. However, in cases where the parking lot is provided far from office, the Staff Car Driver would mark his/ her attendance while leaving from his office and a grace time of not exceeding 2 hours should be allowed to cover the distance travelled after leaving office, including the time to drop the officer and then reaching the parking lot. In such cases, calculation can be done from log books, duly verified by the officer concerned.
The OTA to field officials should be calculated on the basis of biometric attendance, as normally, such officers are given facility of official transport to attend the field work. Such officers are supposed to report in office before proceeding to field. In cases, where officials are required to attend the field work directly from home, they may be extended facility of official transport from home in lieu of transport allowance and OTA may be given on the basis of the log book of that vehicle, duly verified by their senior officers