Contractor Bill Pending in Treasury

Reviewed on: 2026-06-12.

Ravindra, an electrical works contractor in Patna, finished a panchayat building wiring job worth Rs 5.9 lakh. The PWD division measured the work, passed the bill, and sent the payment voucher to the district treasury in February. The division then told him, correctly, “our part is done, it is at the treasury now.” But the money did not come. When he finally got the treasury token number and tracked it, he learned the bill had been objected at the treasury for a missing budget allotment certificate and a mismatch in the head of account. Nobody had told him, because the objection memo went back to the division, not to him. Once the division re-submitted with the corrected head, the treasury cleared the payment in nine days. The lesson: when a bill is “in treasury”, the block is at the Pay and Accounts Office (PAO) or treasury, and you need the token number to find out why.

Direct answer: A bill “pending in treasury” has already been passed by the spending department. The voucher has left the office and reached the treasury or PAO for actual payment. So the department is no longer the place to push. You need the treasury token or voucher number, and then the reason the treasury has not paid, which is usually a budget or allotment problem, a head-of-account mismatch, an objection memo returned to the department, or a fund-flow or PFMS hold. The treasury is a public authority, so you can use RTI to get the token status and the objection details.

It helps to know the three stages so you push at the right point.

• Stage 1, the office. Work measured, bill checked, expenditure sanctioned. (If your bill is stuck here, it is “sanctioned but unpaid”, a different problem.)
• Stage 2, the treasury or PAO. The DDO presents the bill voucher to the treasury. The treasury checks the budget head, the allotment, the deductions and the supporting documents, then issues payment.
• Stage 3, the bank or PFMS credit. The treasury authorises payment and the amount is credited, often routed through PFMS.

“Pending in treasury” means you are at Stage 2. The fix lies with the treasury officer and, where a document or correction is needed, with the DDO who must re-present it.

• No budget or allotment under the head for the period, so the treasury cannot pass payment.
• Head-of-account mismatch between the sanction and the voucher.
• An objection memo raised by the treasury and returned to the department for correction, with you kept out of the loop.
• Missing supporting documents, such as the allotment certificate, the sanction copy or the deduction schedule.
• A PFMS or fund-flow hold where the agency or scheme funds have not been released.

1. Get the treasury token / voucher number from the DDO or division. Without it you cannot track the bill at the treasury.
2. Track the token on your state treasury or integrated financial management system (IFMS) portal where available, and note the status and any objection.
3. Ask the treasury, in writing, for the objection memo if the status shows “objected” or “returned”.
4. Get the DDO to re-present the corrected voucher with the missing document or the right head.
5. File an RTI on the treasury for the token status, the objection and the budget position.
6. Refer to MSME Samadhaan if you are a registered micro or small enterprise and the delay has crossed the deadline.

State treasuries, district treasuries and the Pay and Accounts Office are public authorities. RTI to the treasury, separate from any RTI to the department, often surfaces the real block.

To, The Public Information Officer
[District Treasury / Pay and Accounts Office], [place]

Subject: Information under the RTI Act, 2005 on bill / token no. [.....]

A bill in my favour, [name / firm], for work [name], presented by [department
/ DDO] vide token / voucher no. [.....] on [date], is pending. Please provide:
1. The present status of the above token / voucher and the stage at which it is
   held in the treasury.
2. A copy of any objection memo or return memo issued on this bill, with the
   reasons recorded.
3. Whether budget allotment under the relevant head is available for this
   payment, and if not, the position recorded.
4. The date the bill was received in the treasury and its date-wise movement
   within the treasury.
5. The expected date of payment, if the bill is in order.

I am enclosing the prescribed fee. [Name, address, mobile, email, date]

The PIO must reply within 30 days. If the treasury stays silent, file a first appeal. See how to file RTI online and first and second appeals.

His RTI to the district treasury produced the objection memo within three weeks. It showed two defects: the budget allotment certificate was not attached, and the voucher quoted a minor head that did not match the sanction. He took the memo to the DDO, who attached the allotment certificate and corrected the head, then re-presented the voucher. The treasury passed it, and the Rs 5.9 lakh was credited through PFMS in nine days. Crucially, the objection had been lying with the division for weeks because the contractor was never copied. The RTI brought it into the open.

If you are Udyam-registered as a micro or small enterprise, a bill held at the treasury beyond the agreed date or 45 days is still a delayed payment under the MSMED Act, 2006. The buyer is the government department, and the treasury hold does not defeat your entitlement to compound interest at three times the RBI bank rate. You can file a reference on the MSME Samadhaan portal with your Udyam certificate, the work order, the passed bill and the treasury token details. The interest claim runs separately from the effort to clear the objection.

• Pushing the department after the bill has left it. Once it is at the treasury, the department can only re-present a corrected voucher. Track the token at the treasury.
• Not getting the token number. Without it you cannot trace or RTI the bill at the treasury.
• Assuming you will be told about an objection. Treasury objections go back to the DDO, not to you. Ask for the memo yourself.
• Ignoring the head-of-account mismatch. A wrong minor head is a common, fixable cause. Get the DDO to correct and re-present.

Ask the DDO for the treasury token or voucher number and the date it was presented. A token number means the voucher has reached the treasury. No token usually means it is still in the office.

The treasury has found a defect, often a missing allotment certificate or a head mismatch, and returned the bill to the department for correction. Get the objection memo, then have the DDO re-present the corrected voucher.

Yes. The treasury or PAO is a public authority. You can seek the token status, the objection memo and the budget position from the treasury PIO, separately from the department.

Sometimes. If the scheme or agency funds have not been released through PFMS, the credit cannot be made even after the treasury passes the bill. Ask whether the hold is a treasury objection or a PFMS fund-flow issue, as the fix differs.

No. RTI gets you the token status and the objection so you can get it corrected. The payment moves once the defect is cured and, for an MSME, the interest claim runs through Samadhaan.

For a central PAO you can lodge a CPGRAMS grievance to nudge the file, but it does not order payment. Use the token tracking, the objection memo and RTI for substance.

• Contractor bill approved but unpaid
• Bill cut without a measurement book copy
• Work completion certificate delayed
• CPGRAMS complaint unresolved for a payment
• All practical guides

Download the treasury-pending contractor bill checklist (PDF).