Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Version: 3.4
Ref No: Airtel Centre/HR/TP/2013 Date: 01.01.2014
Version No : 3.4
Airtel Centre
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Bharti Airtel Limited Domestic & Local Travel Policy
Version: 3.4
Ref No: Airtel Centre/HR/TP/2013 Date: 01.01.2014
Contents
1.0 OBJECTIVE 4
2.0 SCOPE 4
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Bharti Airtel Limited Domestic & Local Travel Policy
Version: 3.4
Ref No: Airtel Centre/HR/TP/2013 Date: 01.01.2014
Annexure - 1 13
Annexure - 2 14
Annexure - 3 15
Annexure - 4 16
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Bharti Airtel Limited Domestic & Local Travel Policy
Version: 3.4
Ref No: Airtel Centre/HR/TP/2013 Date: 01.01.2014
1.0 OBJECTIVE
This objective of this policy is to define the approval process / entitlements of employees
while traveling for official purposes within India only. For the approval process/entitlements
while traveling overseas, please refer to the ‘One Airtel International Travel Policy’
The company expects the employees to undertake business visits keeping in mind the cost
effectiveness and the contribution of such visits towards Company’s business.
st
This policy comes into effect from 1 January, 2014 and shall supersede earlier policy /
amendments.
2.0 SCOPE
The policy is applicable to all employees of Bharti Airtel Limited, Bharti Hexacom Limited and
Bharti Telemedia Limited (hereinafter collectively referred to as “The Company”).
For the purpose of this policy; the people who are on the employment rolls of The Company,
on the day this policy comes into effect and employed thereafter, shall be deemed to be
‘employees’:
A business tour shall start from the time an employee leaves the house to reach the
respective home city airport or train station for departure to the business destination and shall
end upon the employee arriving at home post return from the business tour.
• All tour arrangements e.g. air/rail booking; lodging/boarding, car rentals etc. shall be
made through locally designated Travel Counselor/Travel Desk & Administration SPOC
(Reservations) only.
• An outside travel agent can be used only if locally designated Travel Counselor/Travel
Desk & Administration SPOC (Reservations) is not able to provide the required services.
Under such circumstances, the employee shall take prior written approval from the
Reporting Manager supported by documentary evidence to this effect.
• In case an employee fails to comply with the above procedure, no reimbursement shall
be made to him/her for any expenses incurred on that particular tour.
• Tour arrangements pertaining to any training program or group travel must be made 10
days in advance of the actual tour date. For other official tours, arrangements must be
made atleast 7 days in advance to take advantage of airline discounts, if any.
• Domestic official tours must have prior approval from the Functional Head (minimum
Band 2) at Circle/Hub/Region level. At Airtel Center, all domestic official tours shall be
approved only by an employee at Band 3 who must have a reviewing reporting
relationship with the employee. However, for employees in Shared Services in Airtel
Center, domestic tours can be approved by an employee at Band 2 who has a reviewing
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Bharti Airtel Limited Domestic & Local Travel Policy
Version: 3.4
Ref No: Airtel Centre/HR/TP/2013 Date: 01.01.2014
3.4 Cancellations
• Cancellation of all or any tour arrangement (e.g. air, rail, hotel & car rental etc.) must be
done online through the Travel Requisition System on easy Access (MyAirtel->MyWork -
> e-Travel (under Quick Panel). For cancellation of air tickets, the employees are
required to adhere to the timelines given below:-
• Employees not holding Corporate Credit Cards would be given tour advance for the
number of official days of travel as per their entitlements laid down in this policy.
• No new tour advance will be given unless the old advance is settled.
4.1 Entitlements
Preference shall be given to non-refundable / special fare tickets as they are generally much
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Bharti Airtel Limited Domestic & Local Travel Policy
Version: 3.4
Ref No: Airtel Centre/HR/TP/2013 Date: 01.01.2014
cheaper than the regular fare tickets. However, such tickets shall be used only when the tour
plan is confirmed.
Not more than five executives in Band 3 and above or 50% of the total employees going for
the same function or location shall travel in the same flight.
• The Company has negotiated contracts with certain airlines to provide additional special
facilities to the employees. The Travel Desk shall book the tickets with these preferred
airline suppliers and the employees are required to accept these tickets booked with the
preferred airline suppliers with lowest airfare as per their entitlement specified in this
policy.
• Employees must specify a “time window” (which could be 2-3 hours before or after the
original departure time requested) to the Travel Desk and are required to accept
alternative flights departing within that “time window”.
• However, for safety reasons, when women employees request for flights / trains
departing after a specified time and / or arriving before a specified time (e.g. departing
after 07.00 a.m. or arriving before 09.00 p.m.), such requests must be accommodated
within the time band specified by the employee. The Travel Desk must ensure that they
adhere to the ‘specified time window’, as requested by the women employees while
making their travel arrangements.
• Selection of an airline carrier must not be based on frequent flyer programs and
programs like free spouse ticket etc.
• Tickets issued for business trips shall remain the property of Bharti Airtel Limited at all
times and shall not be exchanged either for cash or for tickets of a lower value under any
circumstances.
If the journey to a particular destination is not scheduled to take more than 4-6 hours or
overnight through train and direct train is available, then preference shall be given to travel
through train even though the employee is entitled for air travel.
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Bharti Airtel Limited Domestic & Local Travel Policy
Version: 3.4
Ref No: Airtel Centre/HR/TP/2013 Date: 01.01.2014
5.1 Entitlements
6.2 Per Diem Allowance(only when staying with family /friends) and Meal Allowance
• An employee can choose to stay with relatives or friends while traveling on Company’s
business with prior written approval of his/her Reporting Manager.
• In such circumstances, the employee will be entitled to an all-inclusive Per Diem
Allowance as per Annexure - 3.
• An employee, staying in a hotel / serviced apartment / with friends – family, shall be
entitled to Meal Allowance i.e. reimbursement of expenses incurred on food, subject to
limits prescribed in Annexure – 4 (reimbursement to be made on receipt of original bills
only).
• Expenses incurred on entertaining clients shall be reimbursed as per entitlements
specified in the Business Promotion Policy.
• Personal Meal – includes expenses incurred by the employee towards meals for self only
while on an out of town business tour.
• Business Meal – includes expenses incurred by the employee towards meals for self and
colleagues during which specific business discussions take place. Under such
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Bharti Airtel Limited Domestic & Local Travel Policy
Version: 3.4
Ref No: Airtel Centre/HR/TP/2013 Date: 01.01.2014
circumstances, the bill shall be paid by the senior most employees present there.
• For any business meal expenses above Rs. 5,000/-, it is mandatory to provide the
following details while submitting the food bills for reimbursement:-
Date
Purpose
Location nature or entertainment
Name, Company & Designation of each attendee.
6.3 Cancellations
It will be the responsibility of employee to cancel hotel reservations, if any, and notify the
same to his/her designated travel office/Administration SPOC well in time. Any penalties/fine
caused due to non-cancellation or late cancellation of a confirmed hotel reservation shall be
borne by the concerned employee only and shall not be reimbursed.
• If an employee has sufficient reasons of threat to his/her safety and security in a hotel,
he/she can relocate to another hotel subject to prior written approval from the Reporting
Manager.
• This will be applicable only for employees traveling in Hardship Zones as defined in the
Bharti Airtel Limited Special Status Circle Policy.
6.5 Exceptions
• If the tour is being organized by a client or customer for the purpose of their business
promotion involving other service providers / vendors also, then employee shall stay at
the accommodation provided by the client / customer.
• Employees accompanying a Functional Director / Corporate Director and above may stay
in the same hotel if required, subject to prior approval of the SBU President / Corporate
Director / Functional Director / Executive Director - HR / CEO - Airtel as applicable.
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Bharti Airtel Limited Domestic & Local Travel Policy
Version: 3.4
Ref No: Airtel Centre/HR/TP/2013 Date: 01.01.2014
• Employees can claim reimbursement of petrol for using personal vehicles for local travel
undertaken on account of official out-door duties, as per entitlements mentioned below:-
o Band 1, 2 & 3 : Four Wheeler (Car) @ Rs 8.00 / km
o Band F/SM : Two- Wheeler (Scooter/ Motorcycle) @ Rs 3.75 /km
• These expenses shall be reimbursed upon submission of bills/claims, duly approved by
Head of Department, on monthly basis.
B2C Market Operations Sales Roles will be governed by the below mentioned guidelines on
maximum travel distance per month:
• No car rental for daily market visits is allowed (all such claims will be rejected).
• All inter-city travel/ greater than 200 kms travel will be considered as tour and will be done
through the most economical ground transport.
• The local travel reimbursements will be only processed on submission of approved and signed
PJPs submitted as hard copy.
• Daily meal allowance of Rs. 70 will be provided to Sales employees (Band 2 and below) in
Market Operations, EGB and GB (roles mentioned in the table below) for each approved
claim of their local travel (KM expense).
• Employees eligible for meal allowances are not eligible to claim meals through NCTC for
market visit. In case they are on tour they can claim the same as per entitlement in domestic
travel policy.
• Employee is not required to raise any claim for meal allowances. The meals allowances will
be processed by default in the following month's salary i.e. meal allowance for Jan'14
would be processed along with Feb'14 salary. For e.g.: if an employee has submitted and got
approved a local travel claim of 20 days in a month, he/ she will be entitled to earn Rs. 1400
(70*20) as meal allowance. No bills are required to be submitted for this.
Roles covered:
Market
EGB GB Operations
Voice TL KAM +TL TSM
Voice Account Manager BD ZSM
KAM Trading desk ZMM
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Bharti Airtel Limited Domestic & Local Travel Policy
Version: 3.4
Ref No: Airtel Centre/HR/TP/2013 Date: 01.01.2014
Expenses incurred on travel of spouse shall be reimbursed only when their presence is
necessary on account of medical reasons. This will be subject to prior written approval from
Functional Director and/or SBU President / Joint President. The spouse of an employee shall
also be governed by the same guidelines (e.g. class of travel, maximum room rent for hotel
etc.) that are applicable to the concern employee.
All Women Employees will avoid arriving and departing from the Railway Station/Airport
between 8.00 pm and 5.00 am. However, should such a situation arise, the Employee will
request her Manager and inform the FM Help Desk to follow a similar process as mentioned
in SAFETY OF LATE SITTING LADY EMPLOYEES policy dated 31st December, 2012.
Any incident of theft of Company’s or personal belongings while on tour must be reported to
the Reporting Manager immediately by the employee. A written complaint shall be filed with
the local law enforcement authorities and a copy of the report obtained and submitted to
Circle / Unit Business Head.
A business tour can be stopped before completion and the employee can be allowed to
return under the following circumstances:-
Such incidences shall be immediately reported to the Reporting Manager who will take the
decision on further continuation of that tour and allow the employee to return. All reasonable
expenses incurred on employee’s return shall be reimbursable.
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Bharti Airtel Limited Domestic & Local Travel Policy
Version: 3.4
Ref No: Airtel Centre/HR/TP/2013 Date: 01.01.2014
The expenses incurred towards travel (air & surface both); lodging and meals by an external
candidate appearing for interview shall be fully reimbursed. However, the candidate must be
advised regarding usage of mode/class of travel, car rentals and accommodation keeping in
view the Band for which the candidate is appearing for interview.
After completion of business tour, the employee shall ideally submit, within 3 days of joining
duties, the details of expenses incurred by him through “Expense Management” for approval
of Reporting Manager. Upon receipt of Reporting Manager’s approval, the same shall be
submitted to the Finance Department along with original bills/receipts.
Prepaid air travel coupons can be issued by the travel agency basis request received from
Airtel Center SCM team which can be issued to Band UC employees only.
Unutilized coupons must be returned to agency prior to the expiry date of the coupons. In
case the coupons get expired while they are with the employee, the cost of the same will be
debited to the respective employee.
• Any deviation / exception from this policy require approval as per the following approval
matrix:-
Circle/Hub/Region level
F Functional NA
Head(minimum Band Business Unit HR Head
1 2)
2 Head – Total
3 Immediate RM Rewards
CBU HR Head
UC Self-approval
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Bharti Airtel Limited Domestic & Local Travel Policy
Version: 3.4
Ref No: Airtel Centre/HR/TP/2013 Date: 01.01.2014
Airtel Center
F Functional NA
Head(minimum Band Business Unit HR Head
1 3)
2 Head – Total
3 Immediate RM Rewards
CBU HR Head
UC Self approval
* This would include exception approval required for air travel (in case the duration of the
journey is not more than 4-6 hours by train) and guesthouse stay
• Management reserves the right to modify or terminate this policy without prior notice.
The Head – Total Rewards & Organization Effectiveness, Bharti Airtel Limited, owns this
policy.
In case of any query/clarification regarding this policy, you may write to HR Activ Connect –
HRActiv.Connect@airtel.in
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Bharti Airtel Limited Domestic & Local Travel Policy
Version: 3.4
Ref No: Airtel Centre/HR/TP/2013 Date: 01.01.2014
Annexure - 1
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Bharti Airtel Limited Domestic & Local Travel Policy
Version: 3.4
Ref No: Airtel Centre/HR/TP/2013 Date: 01.01.2014
Annexure - 2
BAND Domestic
(Rs. / Day)
Metro Non-Metro
Band F 2,500 1,500
Band 1 3,500 2,500
Band 2 5,000 3,000
Band 3 9,000 7,500
Band UC 13,000 8500
Corporate / Functional Directors / 13,000 8500
Business Presidents
Metro Delhi, Mumbai, National Capital Region (NCR), Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai,
Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune
Non-Metro Rest of the cities in India not covered above.
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Bharti Airtel Limited Domestic & Local Travel Policy
Version: 3.4
Ref No: Airtel Centre/HR/TP/2013 Date: 01.01.2014
Annexure - 3
Max limits on Per Diem Allowance– To be paid only when an employee is staying with
Friends / Family and is not availing accommodation in a Hotel / Company guest house / serviced
apartment.
Metro Non-Metro
Band F 1,200 1,000
Band 1 1,200 1,000
Band 2 1,500 1,200
Band 3 2,000 1,500
Band UC N.A N.A.
Corporate / Functional
Directors / Business N.A. N.A.
Presidents
CEO/JMD - Airtel
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Bharti Airtel Limited Domestic & Local Travel Policy
Version: 3.4
Ref No: Airtel Centre/HR/TP/2013 Date: 01.01.2014
Annexure - 4
Max limits on Meal Allowance – To be reimbursed on receipt of original bills only. All
employees whether staying in a Hotel / serviced apartment / Company guest house / friends / family
are eligible to claim meal allowance.
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