Govt officers entitled to mobile, laptop costing up to Rs 1.3 lakh; can retain after 4 years

New Delhi: Central government officers will be entitled to mobile, laptop or similar devices costing up to Rs 1.3 lakh, which can be retained by them for personal use after four years.

The Finance Ministry's Expenditure Department, in an office memorandum, listed out guidelines for the issuance of mobile, laptop, tablet, phablet, notebook, notepad, ultra-book, net-book or devices of similar categories to eligible officers for official work.

As per the guidelines, all central government officers of the rank of deputy secretary and above will be entitled to such electronic devices. In the case of Section Officers and Under Secretaries, 50 per cent of the sanctioned strength can be issued such devices. Regarding the cost of the device, the office memorandum said it could be Rs 1 lakh plus taxes. However, for devices with a Make-in-India component of more than 40 per cent, the price ceiling will be Rs 1.30 lakh plus taxes.

"No new device may be sanctioned to an officer who has already been allotted a device, in a ministry/department, up to four years except in case of repair, which is declared as 'beyond economical repairs'," the memorandum said.

It further said post completion of four years of usage, the officer shall retain the device. "Concerned Ministry/Department shall ensure that the data in the device is completely wiped out (data sanitised) before the device is handed over to the officer for retention," the memorandum said.

The memorandum dated July 21, 2023, supersedes the earlier one, which was issued on March 27, 2020, as per which the cost of such devices was capped at Rs 80,000 and there was no provision for retention of devices for personal use.