the contractor under the terms of the cardmember agreement signed by the employee when the charge card was issued. Employees may call 24 hours a day to report lost or stolen charge cards. The toll free telephone numbers are published in the FTD. (h) Financial obligations/liability. Except for charges accrued against promptly reported lost or stolen cards, employees with charge cards are liable for all billed charges. (See paragraphs (c) and (g) of this section.) Government employees must pay their just financial debts under section 206 of Executive Order 11222 (May 8, 1965) and Office of Personnel Management Regulations, 5 CFR 735.207. At the request of the contractor, Federal agencies and departments, without Government liability, may assist in collecting delinquent employee accounts after 60 calendar days. The Government assumes no liability for charges incurred on employee charge cards, nor is the Government liable for lost or stolen charge cards. § 301-15.45 Centrally billed accounts. (a) Establishment. (1) Participating agencies may establish centrally billed accounts with the contractor for one or more designated offices within the agency primarily to purchase transportation services for groups or for infrequent travelers; i.e., employees not designated to receive individual cards. Agencies shall ensure that only authorized personnel use the accounts and that all tickets purchased are authorized. Charge cards are not issued for centrally billed accounts. (2) The Federal agency also may allow centrally billed accounts to be established for use by eligible cost-reimbursable Government contractors. These accounts must be established at the specific request of the agency and are subject to approval by GSA's contracting officer. (b) Use of centrally billed accounts. Centrally billed accounts may be used only if agencies use a TMC or agency travel office. They are intended principally to supplement the individual card, rather than as the sole means of purchasing transportation tickets for all agency employees. (c) Contractor billing and payment. Consolidated contractor airline ticket charges accrued through use of centrally billed accounts shall be billed monthly to the agency's finance and paying office. Expenses billed monthly against centrally billed accounts are paid to the contractor. Monthly payment of charges incurred through the use of centrally billed accounts is subject to the provisions of the Prompt Payment Act, as amended (31 U.S.C. 3901), and charges billed to agency offices are due in full within 30 calendar days of the billing date. (d) Travel voucher claims-(1) Preparation and submission of travel vouchers. Upon completing official travel, the employee shall prepare and submit a travel voucher in the usual manner, together with any required receipts, to the finance and paying office, to be reimbursed. (2) Unused transportation tickets. The employee shall submit to the appropriate agency office all unused transportation tickets (wholly or partially unused) purchased under a centrally billed account. In turn, the agency shall return the unused tickets to the TMC through use of the SF 1170, Redemption of Unused Tickets, and maintain a copy of the SF 1170 on file until the credit appears as an adjustment to the agency's bill from the TMC. Policies and procedures regarding the use of the SF 1170 are provided in 41 CFR subpart 101-41.2. (e) Financial obligations/liability. The Government is liable only for authorized charges incurred in conjunction with official travel on centrally billed accounts. § 301-15.46 Travelers checks. (a) Travelers checks issued under this program are available to participating agencies in a wide range of denominations. Specific arrangements for issuing. shipping, and paying for bulk stocks of travelers checks are made between the travelers check contractor and the participating agency. (b) Lost or stolen travelers checks shall be promptly reported by telephone to the travelers check contractor. Employees may call 24 hours a day to report lost or stolen travelers checks and to obtain refund information. The toll free telephone numbers are published in the FTD. § 301-15.47 Additional agency guidance and information. (a) Purchasing passenger transportation. (1) Passenger transportation services procured with contractorissued charge cards under this payment system are not subject to the cash limitation established by the Administrator of General Services at 41 CFR 41.203-2. Any credit card other than the contractor-issued charge card and all travelers checks used to purchase passenger transportation services shall be considered the equivalent of cash and subject to the cash limitation provisions of 41 CFR 101-41.2032. of (2) A portion of the charge card application form is to be used to record the standard Federal organization code(s) contained in the Department of Commerce/National Bureau Standards publication, Codes for the Identification of Federal and Federally-assisted Organizations (FIPS PUB 95), dated December 23, 1982. Specific details concerning this requirement will be communicated by the charge card contractor directly to each participating agency. (b) Submitting passenger ticketing information to GSA for audit. (1) Travel vouchers containing reimbursable transportation charges purchased with contractor-issued charge cards shall not be considered transportation vouchers under 41 CFR 101-41.807. (2) Passenger ticketing information is furnished directly by the charge card contractor to GSA's Office of Transportation Audits. It is used to identify and collect carrier overcharges. (c) Examination of payments and collection. The Transportation Act of 1940, as amended (31 U.S.C. 3726), authorizes the GSA Transportation Audit Division (see 41 CFR 101-41.102) to issue a notice of overcharge when GSA finds that a carrier has been overpaid for the services rendered. (1) Under the provisions of 41 CFR subpart 101-41.5, carriers are requested to promptly refund amounts due the United States. Refund checks are to be made payable to the General Services Administration and promptly mailed to the General Services Administration, P.O. Box 93746, Chicago, IL 60673. Payment or credit to the contractor is not considered proper payment of overcharge claims due the U.S. Government. (2) Protests to notices of overcharge are handled and processed in accordance with 41 CFR 101-41.503. (3) Collection of unrefunded overcharges owed to the U.S. Government are processed in accordance with 41 CFR 101-41.504. (4) Debts collected by GSA based on audits of transportation accounts are deposited to miscellaneous receipts, U.S. Treasury. (5) Claims against the United States related to the actions taken above are processed under 41 CFR subpart 10141.6. (6) Reconsideration and review of GSA transportation claim settlements follow the provisions of 41 CFR subpart 101-41.7. (d) Employee training. Participating agencies shall ensure that each of their eligible employees is adequately trained in the use of the contractorissued charge card or centrally billed account before allowing them to use either. ployee relocation, during the fiscal year prior to the survey year. § 301-16.2 Applicability. (a) The Departments/Agencies and suborganization listed in this paragraph are required to report fiscal year 1989 travel and relocation cost data to the General Services Administration. These Departments/Agencies and suborganizations were selected on the basis of fiscal year 1988 expenditures. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Farmers Home Administration Food Safety and Inspection Service Soil Conservation Service United States Marshals Service Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration Employment Standards Administration Mine Safety and Health Administration Occupational Safety and Health Administration Other Department of State Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration Department of the Treasury Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Department of Veterans Affairs Agency for International Development Federal Emergency Management Agency General Accounting Office General Services Administration National Aeronautics and Space Administration Nuclear Regulatory Commission Small Business Administration United States Information Agency (b) This section also applies to any Federal agency not specifically listed in paragraph (a) of this section that is within the scope of § 301-16.1 for fiscal years 1989 and 1990. These are the expenditure years for determining which agencies are required to report travel and relocation cost data for fiscal years 1990 and 1991. 8 301-16.3 Reporting requirements. (a) The reporting requirement is in the form of a travel survey questionnaire. The Federal Travel Questionnaire has been assigned Interagency Report Control No. 0362-GSA-AN. Copies of the Federal Travel Questionnaire for fiscal year 1989 reporting will be distributed to the heads of Departments/Agencies listed in § 301-16.2(a) beginning March 1, 1990. Questionnaires for subsequent years will be distributed to the designated points of contact (see § 301-16.3(d)) by September 30, 1990, for fiscal year 1990 re porting, and September 30, 1991, for fiscal year 1991. Questionnaires also may be obtained by writing to the General Services Administration, Federal Supply Service, Travel Management Division (FBT), Washington, DC 20406. (b) Departments/Agencies containing major suborganizations are to submit responses as follows: (1) A separate response from each suborganization which spent more than $5 million for travel and relocation during the fiscal year prior to the survey year; (2) A consolidated response which covers all Department/Agency suborganizations which did not spend more than $5 million for travel and relocation during the fiscal year prior to the survey year; and (3) A consolidated response which covers all components of the Department/Agency. (c)The completed Federal Travel Questionnaire for fiscal year 1989 shall be submitted on or before May 30, 1991. Questionnaires for fiscal year 1990 and 1991, shall be submitted on or before March 1, 1991, and March 1, 1992, respectively. Agency responses should be sent to the General Services Administration, Federal Supply Service, Travel Management Division (FBT), Washington, DC 20406. (d) Heads of affected agencies shall appoint a designee at the headquar ters level who will be responsible for ensuring that the reporting requirements are complied with in a timely manner. The name, address, and telephone number of the designated individual shall be submitted by March 15, 1990, to: Director, Travel Management Division 20406. (FBT), Washington, DC APPENDIX A TO CHAPTER 301-PRESCRIBED MAXIMUM PER DIEM RATES FOR CONUS The maximum rates listed below are prescribed under § 301-7.2 of this regulation for reimbursement of subsistence expenses incurred during official travel within CONUS (the continental United States). The amount shown in column (a) is the maximum that will be reimbursed for lodging expenses including applicable taxes. The MI&E rate shown in column (b) is a fixed amount allowed for meals and incidental expenses related to subsistence. The per diem payment calculated in accordance with part 301-7 for lodging expenses plus the M&IE rate may not exceed the maximum per diem rate shown in column (c). |