Latest LTC rules that govt employees should know before booking air tickets

Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has issued modified instructions for booking air ticket for central government employees to help settle claims and avoid misuse of LTC

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The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has issued modified instructions for booking air tickets for Leave Travel Concession (LTC) purposes for central government employees, according to a report by the Economic Times. The updates were released through an office memorandum on October 20.

LTC is an allowance given to employees for meeting travel expenses when the employee is on leave from work. The same is exempted from tax under the Income Tax Act. The Centre began including air tickets in its LTC from June 2022. The memorandum at the time stated, "Government employees are to choose a flight having the Best Available Fare on their entitled travel class which is the cheapest fare available, preferably for Non-stop flight in a given slot, mentioned below, at the time of booking."

The new guidelines include the following instructions:

Booking through authorised travel agents: When booking flight tickets for LTC, employees should use authorised travel agents – Balmer Lawrie & Company Limited (BLCL), Ashok Travels & Tours (ATT), and Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC). These agents must display details of flights with the cheapest fare and flights with fares 10 per cent higher than the cheapest fare. Booking through these agents will prove that the ticket purchased was at the cheapest fare. All tickets from these agents can be booked through their online web portals.

"LTC" marking on tickets: The authorised agents (IRCTC, BLCL, and ATT) have to mark the word "LTC" on tickets issued for LTC journeys.

Printing of tickets: Non-entitled central government employees travelling by air under a special dispensation scheme directly from their headquarters to specific destinations must print the webpage showing flight and fare details for reimbursement purposes. If tickets are unavailable in the same slot, details of available flights in the next slot can be retained to settle claims.

Additionally, the DoPT has directed travel agents to allow registration for employees without official email accounts if their administrative office provides the necessary details.

This update responded to employees facing challenges in settlement claims, especially those who did not carry proper evidence of bookings. The DoPT also emphasised that any misuse of LTC will be taken seriously, and appropriate action will be taken against defaulting employees.