The deadline for federal travelers to start putting most expenses on government-issued travel charge cards has been pushed back to Feb. 29, the General Services Administration announced Wednesday.
The new rule, required by the 1998 Travel and Transportation Reform Act, was originally scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, 2000. The new start date gives agencies more time to prepare travelers for the change.
In addition to requiring charge card use for travel expenses, the law also mandated that agencies reimburse employees for travel expenses within 30 days of receiving a travel voucher. If an agency fails to reimburse an employee on time, the agency must pay the employee a late fee, based on the Prompt Payment Act interest rate. The rate is available through the Treasury Department's Financial Management Service (see www.fms.treas.gov/prompt).
The travel charge card, which is issued to employees through their agencies, does not have to be used for the following expenses: laundry/dry cleaning, parking, local transportation, taxi, tips, phone calls (when a government calling card is available), and meals and expenses in places the travel charge card is not accepted. In addition, new appointees and employees who have applications pending for travel charge cards are not required to use the cards for expenses.
Government-issued cards must only be used for official expenses. Cards can be revoked for improper use.
Federal travelers put about $4 billion in travel costs on charge cards in 1998, the most recent year for which figures are available.
The final rule was announced in the Jan. 19 Federal Register.
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