GFR Rule 213 physical verification is the count every central ministry, department and covered body must make of its fixed assets and consumable stock at least once a year, in the presence of the officer who holds them, with a certificate and the findings recorded in the stock register. RFID does not change that. It speeds up the count: a handheld reads many tagged assets in one sweep, so the officer’s time goes on discrepancies rather than reading labels. Below are the rule, how a sweep maps onto the register and proforma, and what only the officer can certify.
What Rule 213 actually requires
The text is from GFR 2017 as compiled by the Department of Expenditure, updated to 31 January 2026 (PDF). At the time of writing, DoE’s list of GFR orders shows no later change to Rules 207–217.
- 213(1), fixed assets. The inventory of fixed assets is ordinarily kept at site. Assets are verified at least once a year, the outcome is recorded in the corresponding register, and any discrepancy is promptly investigated and brought to account.
- 213(2), consumables. All consumable goods and materials are physically verified at least once a year. Discrepancies are recorded in the stock register for action by the competent authority.
- 213(3), procedure. Verification is always made in the presence of the officer responsible for custody. A certificate of verification and the findings go into the stock register. Discrepancies, including shortages, damage and unserviceable goods, go immediately to the competent authority for action under Rules 33 to 38.
Rule 1 applies GFR to central ministries and departments and their attached and subordinate bodies, and to autonomous bodies except to the extent their bye-laws provide separate Government-approved financial rules. Companies and state bodies are not named, so a central public sector enterprise (CPSE) or state department should check its own rules.
The registers the count is checked against
Rule 211(i) asks the officer-in-charge of stores to keep item-wise lists so that actual balances can be checked against book balances at any point of time. Rule 211(ii) splits them into separate accounts, to which a ministry may add details:
| Form | Covers |
|---|---|
| GFR-22 | Fixed assets: plant, machinery, equipment, furniture, fixtures |
| GFR-23 | Consumables: stationery, chemicals, maintenance spares |
| GFR 18 | Library books |
| GFR-24 | Assets of historical or artistic value |
The GFR-22 Register of Fixed Assets has seven numbered columns: date, particulars of the asset, the supplier’s name and address, bill number and date, cost, location of the asset, and remarks. Its note asks for similar items with distinctive features, such as a study table and a computer table, to be accounted separately. GFR-23 is a quantity ledger instead: receipts, issues, balance and unit price.
Rule 208(1) adds that goods are counted and inspected on receipt and entered in the stock register “preferably in an IT-based system”, with the officer-in-charge certifying both. The rule names no technology, but receipt is the natural point to attach a tag and tie it to its register line.
Proforma A and Proforma B are your institute’s forms, not GFR’s
Rule 207 lets ministries and departments prescribe detailed procedure in broad conformity with Chapter 7, and institutes also issue their own verification formats. The AIIMS New Delhi notice of 2 May 2024 is a worked example:
- Proforma A, headed Rule 213(1), is an assets verification report. It covers tangible assets (plant and machinery, furniture, office and electrical equipment, computer peripherals) and intangible assets such as software, and the inspecting officer signs it.
- Proforma B, headed Rule 213(2), is a stock verification report. It asks about the condition of the stock registers, stores received but not entered, and equipment over Rs 10,000 lying idle, and has a discrepancy table: Sr. No., Nomenclature, Unit actual balance, Quantity ledger balance, Excess, Shortage, Remarks.
AIIMS also asks for a verifying officer other than the custodian, working in the custodian’s or a nominee’s presence, and a certificate of 100% verification on the stock ledger. AIIMS Deoghar publishes the same two-part structure. These are AIIMS instructions: on who verifies, GFR itself says only that it is done in the custodian’s presence. Use your own institute’s or ministry’s format and deadlines.
Mapping an RFID sweep onto the proforma
A sweep produces a list of tag IDs read at a place and time. Matched against the register, it sorts lines into found, not read, and read but not registered. Several fields it cannot touch.
| Register or proforma field | What the RFID read supplies | What still needs the officer |
|---|---|---|
| Asset present (Proforma A, GFR-22 line) | Tag read and matched to its register line | Confirm the item matches the particulars recorded |
| Shortage | On the register but not read: a candidate list | Search for each item; only confirmed shortages are reported |
| Excess | Read but not on the register | Trace the receipt and enter the item, or record the excess |
| Location of the asset | The room or zone recorded with the read (fixed reader position or operator-selected room) | Correct the register where the item has moved |
| Actual versus ledger balance (Proforma B) | Count of tagged items read per item code | Untagged consumables are still counted by hand |
| Condition, unserviceable, idle equipment | Nothing: a read shows the tag answered, not that the asset works | Inspect and record |
| Certificate of verification | Scan history as a working paper | Recorded and signed by the officer in the stock register |
A read carries no location of its own: the zone comes from the fixed reader’s position or the room the operator selects on the handheld, so the location column is only as precise as your zones.
To reconcile exported scans against the register in software, see RFID asset tracking.
Tagging the register so the count means something
- Passive UHF for fixed assets. EPC Gen2 tags (ISO/IEC 18000-63, or RAIN RFID) let a handheld read many items at once without line of sight.
- Print or laser-mark the existing register number on the tag, so the GFR-22 register migrates without renumbering and an unread asset can be found by eye.
- Match the tag to the surface. Laptops, servers and machine tools need on-metal labels or tags: see RFID tags for IT assets and the asset tracking tags we manufacture. Treat any datasheet read range as a starting point for a trial on your own assets.
- Untagged items are invisible to a sweep, so files and records need tags of their own: see RFID file tracking.
Passive tags have no transmitter and need no WPC approval or BIS registration. Readers are different: Identium is a BIS and WPC approved RFID manufacturer, and our BIS and WPC buyer’s guide explains the checks to make on any reader you buy. For the sweep itself, see our CX1500N handheld.
Library stock under Rule 215
Library books sit in their own register (GFR 18) and their own rule:
- Up to 20,000 volumes: complete verification every year.
- Over 20,000 and up to 50,000: at least once in three years.
- Over 50,000: sample verification at intervals of not more than three years, with complete verification if unusual shortages appear.
Loss of five volumes per 1,000 issued or consulted in a year may be taken as reasonable if not due to dishonesty or negligence. The loss of any book worth over Rs 1,000, and of any rare book, is always investigated.
Libraries use two tag families: HF 13.56 MHz under ISO/IEC 15693, read at shorter range and also readable by a phone’s NFC, and passive UHF, which a phone’s NFC cannot read. See our RFID library management system and library tags.
Discrepancies, losses and what audit looks at
- Rule 33. Any loss or shortage of Government property, even if made good, is reported immediately to the next higher authority, the Statutory Audit Officer and the concerned Principal Accounts Officer; petty losses up to Rs 10,000 are excepted. An initial report goes in when a loss is first suspected, a final one after investigation.
- Rule 34. Losses above Rs 50,000 due to suspected fire, theft or fraud are reported to the Police.
- Rule 216. When the officer-in-charge changes, both officers sign and date a statement of the goods and each keeps a copy; a sweep at handover gives both the same list.
- Rules 214 and 217. Stock held over a year is generally treated as surplus unless there are reasons otherwise. Items of no use may be declared surplus, obsolete or unserviceable, with reasons recorded by the authority competent to purchase them.
Audit does look. AIIMS New Delhi’s August 2024 reminder noted that C&AG’s external audit party views non-submission of complete verification reports seriously and can raise it as a major audit objection.
Buying the kit through GeM
As at the 31 January 2026 compilation, Rules 147 and 149 make GeM mandatory for common-use goods available on it, and Rule 149 sets direct-purchase limits:
- Up to Rs 50,000 (Rs 1 lakh for named scientific departments and for educational and research institutes conducting postgraduate or doctoral courses or research): any GeM seller meeting the specification.
- Above that, up to Rs 10 lakh: the lowest-priced seller among at least three manufacturers.
- Above Rs 10 lakh: online bidding or reverse auction on GeM.
Goods not on GeM may be bought under the ministry’s own powers. Write the specification as in our RFID tender BOQ guide.
Companies and PSUs: CARO 2020 para 3(i) in brief
For companies the question comes through the statutory auditor. CARO 2020, issued as S.O. 849(E) under Section 143(11) of the Companies Act 2013 (the Order’s full text is reproduced in the ICAI Guidance Note on CARO 2020), applies to audits from FY 2021-22. The auditor states under para 3(i)(a) whether proper records of property, plant and equipment (PPE) are kept, with quantitative details and situation, and under 3(i)(b) whether management verified the PPE at reasonable intervals and dealt properly with material discrepancies. Banking, insurance, Section 8, one person and small companies, and certain small private companies, are exempt.
The Guidance Note itself, which is guidance rather than the Order, accepts that annual verification may be impracticable for some companies but says the programme should still cover all assets at least once in every three years, and advises distinctive numbering of movable assets. The store’s fixed-asset audit guide covers the company workflow. Companies keeping the asset register beside Tally can see RFID Tally integration.
A first verification cycle with RFID
- Reconcile the GFR-22 register first: one line per asset, location filled in, duplicates resolved.
- Tag one department, with the register number printed on each tag.
- Sweep each room with a handheld, the custodian present.
- Sort the exported scans into found, not read and not registered.
- Search for every unread item before calling it a shortage; trace unregistered reads to receipts.
- Inspect condition and serviceability by eye.
- The officer records the certificate and findings in the stock register, fills the institute’s proforma and reports discrepancies to the competent authority.
- Extend to the next department. Custom tag orders typically turn around in 5–10 days.
This is not legal, audit or procurement advice. The current GFR text and your institute’s or ministry’s instructions govern. To plan a pilot, contact us.