Centre Enforces 'One Officer, One Official Car' Rule to Stop Vehicle Misuse and Curb Spending

In a major push to eliminate administrative waste and streamline public spending, the Central Government has introduced strict new transport guidelines enforcing a firm ‘one officer, one official car’ policy across all ministries and departments. The revised norms, outlined in an official directive issued by the Ministry of Finance, aim to curb the widespread misuse of government vehicles by senior bureaucrats and department heads who previously retained multiple staff cars or attached additional vehicles to their offices.

Under the updated framework, eligible central government officials will be strictly allocated a single official vehicle for official duties, with explicit instructions forbidding the pooling or unauthorised retention of secondary staff cars. Departments are required to surrender redundant vehicles or transition them into shared staff pools for operational duties. Furthermore, the order establishes tighter monitoring systems and mandates periodic compliance reports from all government departments to verify that official transport resources are not being diverted for personal or unapproved use.

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The expenditure control policy also strongly encourages ministries to progressively replace aging government-owned fleets with electric vehicles (EVs) through government-approved leasing programs, aligning fiscal discipline with the nation's broader clean mobility goals. Government officials emphasised that the streamlined fleet management norms are expected to yield substantial savings in operational, maintenance, and fuel costs while promoting greater accountability across administrative ranks.