Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has directed all heads of departments and Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs) to submit treasury bills, cheques and challans by 5 pm on March 24 to avoid last-minute congestion at treasuries ahead of the close of the 2025–26 financial year. This deadline will not apply to challan remittances.

In a circular issued by the Finance Department, the government said that presenting a large number of bills, cheques and challans at the fag end of the financial year to avoid lapse of budget provisions has been a recurring practice among some departments and institutions. This, it noted, creates difficulties in proper scrutiny and timely processing before the financial year ends.

With treasury and banking systems now fully computerised, all transactions on March 31, 2026, the last working day of the financial year, will close by midnight. Treasuries will not be able to pass any bills submitted after the prescribed deadline under any circumstances, the circular said.

The government has also directed controlling officers to ensure that copies of allotment letters issued to sub-controlling officers from existing budget provisions are submitted to the respective treasuries by 5 pm on March 23. Re-appropriation proposals submitted after this deadline will not be accepted by the Finance Department.

Bills under plan heads of government departments and autonomous bodies, as well as those submitted by local self-government institutions after March 23, will be placed in the existing treasury queue. Bills that are not passed within the current financial year will be cleared in the following financial year in the same order, with detailed procedures to be issued separately.

The circular also stated that advance drawals for purchases based on invoices or proforma invoices, where procurement formalities cannot be completed or final vouchers cannot be obtained before the end of the financial year, will not be permitted. However, in unavoidable cases, advance drawal may be allowed with prior approval from the Finance Department.

Advance drawals by local self-government institutions must comply with existing government orders issued on March 10, 2023.

Treasuries have been instructed not to grant any exemption from these guidelines without specific directions from the Finance Department. Additionally, all heads of departments have been asked to issue urgent instructions to ensure strict compliance with the guidelines.