Circular No. 98/2006/TT-BTC guides compensation for damages and disciplinary actions against officials, civil servants, and employees who violate laws on thrift and anti-waste.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines on compensation for damages and disciplinary actions

against civil servants, public officials, and employees who violate laws on thrift and waste prevention

promote thrift and combat waste

________________________

Pursuant to Decree No. 77/2003/NĐ-CP dated July 1, 2003 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to Decree No. 84/2006/NĐ-CP dated August 18, 2006 of the Government stipulating compensation for damages, disciplinary actions, and administrative penalties for violations of laws on thrift and waste prevention (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 84/2006/NĐ-CP);

After receiving comments from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Finance provides specific guidelines on compensation for damages and disciplinary actions against civil servants, public officials, and employees who violate laws on thrift and waste prevention as follows:

I. SCOPE AND APPLICABLE SUBJECTS

Article 1. Scope of Application:

This Circular guides compensation for damages and disciplinary actions against civil servants and public officials (hereinafter referred to as civil servants) who violate laws on thrift and waste prevention while performing their duties, causing waste.

Thông tư này áp dụng đối với tổ chức, cá nhân có liên quan đến hoạt động kinh doanh đối tượng thủy sản nuôi chủ lực trên lãnh thổ Việt Nam.

a) Civil servants as defined in points b, c, d, đ, e, and h of Clause 1, Article 1 of the Ordinance Amending and Supplementing Certain Articles of the Ordinance on Civil Servants dated April 29, 2003.

b) Civil servants appointed to positions of Chairman of the Board of Directors, General Director (Director), Chief Accountant of state-owned enterprises, Chief Accountant, and State Representative in enterprises.

c) Civil servants transferred to work at economic organizations, social organizations, and occupational social organizations; civil servants on leave awaiting retirement procedures; civil servants who were transferred to other agencies, organizations, or units and whose violations of laws on thrift and waste prevention were discovered thereafter.

II. COMPENSATION FOR DAMAGES

1. Regarding the determination of the amount of compensation for damages:

a) For expenditures that have established standards, norms, or budgets approved by competent authorities, the amount to be compensated includes the excess expenditure or expenditure not in accordance with the standards, norms, or approved budgets, and the costs to rectify the consequences (if any).

- The excess expenditure or expenditure not in accordance with the standards, norms, or approved budgets is calculated as the difference between the actual expenditure and the approved expenditure according to the standards, norms, or approved budgets at the time of the violation.

- Costs to rectify the consequences include expenses arising from addressing the aftermath of wasteful acts causing damage.

b) For other cases, the amount of compensation for damages includes the actual costs caused by wasteful acts and the costs to rectify the consequences (if any).

c) Expenses for determining the amount of compensation are included in the costs to rectify the consequences, including fees for hiring economic and technical consultants and other expenses directly related to determining the amount of compensation.

d) In cases where transactions involve foreign currencies, they shall be converted based on the average exchange rate in the inter-bank foreign exchange market published by the State Bank of Vietnam at the time of determining the amount of compensation.

đ) Where the act is committed by two or more persons, each person shall bear joint responsibility for compensation. The liability for compensation shall be determined in proportion to the degree of fault of each person.

e) The person causing damage may be exempted from full or partial liability for compensation if both of the following conditions are met:

- Causing damage unintentionally.

- The damage is so significant that the person's current and long-term financial capacity cannot fully or largely compensate for it.

The person causing damage must provide evidence regarding their current and long-term financial capacity, which is insufficient to fully or largely compensate for the damage.

Exemption from liability for compensation does not change the form of disciplinary action based on the initial compensation amount.

2. In cases where recovery occurs during the process of rectifying the consequences, or where the person causing waste has partially or fully remedied the damage caused by the wasteful act, the compensation amount shall be reduced accordingly.

3. Compensation Damage Committee

The establishment of the Compensation Damage Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) shall be carried out in accordance with Article 10 of Decree No. 84/2006/NĐ-CP. The Committee's activities must meet the following requirements:

a) The Committee operates under a collective system, ensuring objectivity, transparency, and democracy. The Committee only convenes when all members are present.

b) When convening, the Committee must have the participation of the person causing damage; If the person causing damage cannot attend, there must be a valid reason. If the person causing damage is absent without a valid reason or fails to notify their absence two working days before the meeting, the Committee will still convene to consider the compensation for damages.

c) The person causing damage must be summoned by the Committee at least seven working days before the meeting.

d) Relevant contents and materials must be thoroughly prepared before each meeting to ensure effectiveness and cost-efficiency.

đ) Based on the proposed compensation amount and the violator's financial capability, the Committee considers and proposes a method of compensation in one or multiple installments.

e) The Committee dissolves itself after completing its tasks.

4. Decision on Compensation for Damages

The decision on compensation for damages must include the following basic elements: the act and the extent of the violation; the amount of compensation, the amount of compensation reduced (if applicable); the time to implement compensation, the time to temporarily suspend implementation of compensation (if applicable); the method of compensation, and if the compensation amount is paid in multiple installments, the specific times and amounts to be paid in each installment must be specified.

The authority to sign the decision on compensation for damages is implemented in accordance with Article 9 of Decree No. 84/2006/NĐ-CP.

5. Regarding the collection, management, and use of compensation funds for damages:

a) The agency responsible for issuing the Decision on compensation for damage shall collect the full amount of compensation for damage and determine the repayment to the agency or organization directly suffering the damage or deposit it into the state budget in accordance with the guidance provided in point c of this clause.

b) The compensation money paid by the person obligated to compensate must be collected, tracked in detail for each payment (if made in multiple installments) and managed under the current financial regulations.

The compensation money shall be used to cover the costs of determining the amount of compensation, and the remainder shall be repaid to the agency or organization directly suffering the damage. In cases where there are other sources of funds to offset the damage or where compensation arises after the settlement of the state budget, it shall be deposited into the state budget (at the level corresponding to the managing unit).

The deposit of compensation money into the state budget or repayment to the agency or organization directly suffering the damage must be accompanied by complete documentation as prescribed.

III. DISCIPLINARY ACTION

1. Officials and civil servants who violate the laws on thrift and waste prevention in performing their duties causing waste must compensate for the damage and at the same time be subject to disciplinary action in accordance with Article 19 of Decree No. 84/2006/NĐ-CP.

2. Heads and deputy heads of agencies, organizations, units who do not directly violate the laws on thrift and waste prevention but allow such violations to occur within their agencies, organizations, units, or areas of work assigned to manage must be subject to disciplinary action in accordance with Articles 20 and 21 of Decree No. 84/2006/NĐ-CP.

3. The responsibility of heads and deputy heads of agencies, organizations, units shall be exempted in cases where they could not have known or had applied necessary measures to prevent and stop wasteful behavior such as: issuing regulations, directing implementation, inspecting, auditing, and complying with transparency requirements to ensure public oversight.

4. Provisions regarding Disciplinary Councils, procedures, and formalities for disciplinary actions, and related provisions concerning the discipline of officials and civil servants shall be implemented in accordance with Decree No. 35/2005/NĐ-CP dated March 17, 2005 of the Government on disciplinary actions against officials and civil servants and Circular No. 03/2006/TT-BNV dated February 8, 2006 of the Ministry of Home Affairs guiding the implementation of certain articles of Decree No. 35/2005/NĐ-CP.

Implementation Organization.

This Circular takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties, please reflect them to the Ministry of Finance for research and resolution./.