Central government officers eligible for electronic devices up to Rs 1.3 lakh

As per a recent office memorandum issued by the Finance Ministry's Expenditure Department, central government officers are now entitled to receive mobiles, laptops, or similar devices with a value of up to Rs 1.3 lakh for official purposes.

The Finance Ministry's Expenditure Department has allowed central government officers to purchase a mobile, laptop, notebook, notepad, ultra-book, net-book or any similar device costing up to Rs 1.3 lakh, which can be retained by them for personal use after four years. According to a recent office memorandum by the Finance Ministry's Expenditure Department, central government officers will now be eligible to receive mobiles, laptops, or similar devices up to the value of Rs 1.3 lakh for official work. 

Officers of the rank of deputy secretary and above will be entitled to such devices, while Section Officers and Under Secretaries can be issued these devices up to 50 per cent of the sanctioned strength. The cost of the device is set at Rs 1 lakh plus taxes, but if the device has a Make-in-India component of over 40 per cent, the price ceiling is raised to Rs 1.3 lakh plus taxes.

Officers who have already been allotted a device in a ministry or department cannot be sanctioned a new one within four years, except for cases of repair deemed "beyond economical repairs."

Once an officer completes four years of usage, they can retain the device for personal use. However, before handing over the device to the officer, the concerned Ministry/Department must ensure that all data is completely wiped out (data sanitised).

This memorandum, dated July 21, 2023, supersedes the previous one issued on March 27, 2020, which capped the cost of such devices at Rs 80,000 and did not allow for the retention of devices for personal use.