CCA office Punjab telecom Circle Chandigarh is one of the initial offices of Department of Telecom carved out, after formation of BSNL in October 2000. The basic office, earlier called DoT Cell, with a staff of about 10 persons, headed by an STS rank officer, handled the task of maintaining GPF, pension and loans & advances of employees of BSNL Punjab Circle. Eight years down the line, the office has undergone many changes, including that of its name. From the STS officer to an SAG rank officer, and declaration of CCA as Head of Department, is a quantum jump. There has been corresponding addition in the work profile also and there has been increase in the employee strength also.
Surmounting the obstacles of inadequate space, complete lack of infrastructure, meager staff, haphazard, incomplete and piecemeal records; to the collection of Rs.439 crores in the year 2007-08, and four departments, each headed by a Dy.CCA ( STS rank officer) the CCA office Punjab has grown strength to strength. At present there are 8 telecom licensees in Punjab Telecom Circle for Basic, UASL and CMTS services. Apart from that 11 Internet Service Providers are also assessed as to their licence fee, by this office.
Department of Telecom is committed to provide telecom links in every nook and corner of India. To fulfill this objective, operators providing services in rural and remote areas are provided subsidy through Universal Service Obligation. In the year 2007-08, Punjab Circle disbursed subsidy worth Rs.44.39 crores to three operators. This subsidy is for approximately 2.25 lakh telephone links in the rural areas of Punjab.
To further augment the rural and remote area penetration, there has been paradigm shift in the mode of subsidy disbursement. Earlier the subsidy was being provided to the operators for each individual connection installed, while the new process of subsidy disbursement is on the basis of mobile towers installed by one operator, which are to be shared by three service providers. In Punjab fourteen such towers have been installed in the three border districts.
With ever expanding roles, the CCA office Punjab performs the following duties:
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| 1 |
USO: Claim verification (from data & records as well as physical verification), sanction of claim and disbursement of subsidy. |
| 2 |
Licence Fees: Collection of fees based on AGR, Verification of deductions claimed in AGR, maintenance of financial bank guarantees.
The task of collection ,assessment and verification of deductions from AGR related to Licence fee of Internet Service Providers, Radio Paging Services, Public Moblie Radio Trunking Services, National Long Distance services, International Long Distance services, V-Sat based services falling in the Punjab Circle; has also been delegated to this office.
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| 3 |
Spectrum charges: Collection of charges and maintenance of FBGs. |
| 4 |
Retirement benefits payment:
| i |
Death cum retirement gratuity (DCRG) |
| ii |
Commutation of pension |
| iii |
Leave encashment ( for group “A” only) |
| iv |
CGEIS (for group “A” only) |
| v |
Pension payment order (PPO) issue |
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| 5 |
Final payment of GPF |
| 6 |
Audit of Pension paid vouchers |
| 7 |
Maintenance of Broadsheets:
| i |
HBA |
| ii |
Car/scooter |
| iii |
Computer |
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| 8 |
Leave salary broadsheet |
| 9 |
Pension contribution broadsheet |
| 10 |
GPF broadsheet |
| 11 |
GPF transfer cases |
| 12 |
Pension revision cases |
| 13 |
Legal cases |
| 14 |
Service book verification of BSNL employees |
| 15 |
Miscellaneous works pertaining to Budget, cash, accounting, bank reconciliation, administration, infrastructure, staff matters etc. |
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| The road was long and difficult, still many milestones have been reached. It is not the end, and the path is not smooth, the impediments are also not over; but the foundation is strong enough to provide a concrete and continual future.
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