Government employees applying for Leave Travel Concession (LTC) claim should prefer buying tickets from Air India, an order said today.
As far as possible, air tickets on government account may be obtained directly from the Air India (booking counters, offices, websites) and if obtaining tickets directly from Air India is not possible, the services of authorised travel agents may be availed of, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said in an order.
The employees can also book tickets through websites of authorised travel agents-- M/s Balmer Lawrie & Company, M/s Ashok Travels & Tours, and IRCTC, it said.
"It is clarified that the web-portal of authorised travel agents, namely M/s Balmer Lawrie & Company Ltd., M/s Ashok Travels & Tours and IRCTC will also be treated as an acceptable mode for purchase of air tickets on LTC," DoPT said.
No fee or service charges (by whatever nomenclature), which are not included in the 'tariff' charged by Air-India or airlines, are required to be paid to the authorised travel agents, it said.
CBI is probing fake travel bills scam (LTC scam) allegedly involving certain government employees, and present and former Members of Parliament.
