Can govt officials travel by private airlines for the purpose of LTC? Here is the answer

New Delhi: Union Minister Jitendra Singh informed the Rajya sabha that currently there is no proposal at present to allow Government officials to travel by private airlines for the purpose of LTC (Leave Travel Concession).

Singh said, at present, the officials of Central Government are allowed to travel by Air India flights only while availing LTC. However, the facility to avail tickets in all airlines including private airlines is admissible at present in case of LTC in lieu of Home Town/All India LTC travel to North East Region (NER), Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and Andaman & Nicobar (A&N), in relaxation to Central Civil Services (Leave Travel Concession) Rules, 1988 under certain conditions.

The Centre had in September 2014 relaxed the LTC rules to allow government staff to travel by air to Northeast region, Jammu and Kashmir and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The LTC allows grant of leave and ticket reimbursement to eligible central government employees. The employees get reimbursement of tickets for to and fro journey, besides paid leaves, when they avail LTC allowance.

There are about 48.41 lakh central government employees.