New Delhi : The Centre has tightened norms governing the use of official vehicles by introducing a “One Officer, One Official Car” policy, barring senior bureaucrats from being allotted multiple government vehicles even if they hold additional charge of another ministry, department, public sector undertaking (PSU) or autonomous body. The Department of Expenditure under the Ministry of Finance directed all Union ministries and departments to strictly enforce the revised guidelines on the use of staff cars.
The order supplements and reinforces the comprehensive instructions first issued in September 2022, which consolidated rules governing the use of official vehicles across the Central government. Under the new norms, an officer who is already entitled to an official staff car cannot be allotted another government vehicle merely because they have been given additional charge of another ministry, department, PSU or autonomous body. Instead, the officer must continue using the staff car already assigned to them.
Ministries have been instructed to ensure that surplus or unused vehicles are kept in safe custody instead of being put into unofficial use. The Department of Expenditure said the revised instructions are intended to improve administrative efficiency, prevent misuse of government resources and reduce avoidable expenditure on official transport.
The latest directive follows the Department of Expenditure’s Master Office Memorandum issued on September 1, 2022, which comprehensively reviewed and consolidated the Centre’s instructions on the use of staff cars in government offices.
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