Government Travel Charge Card Program

GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CHARGE CARD

Important Note: Commissioned Corps officers must adhere to the travel charge card regulations of the Department/Agency to which they are assigned. Officers should contact their respective finance office for a charge card application, rules, and instructions for its use. See HHS Travel Manual Chapter 9 for more specific details.

HHS employees, including officers in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service, are required to use the Government travel charge card for all official travel expenses, including cash advances through an ATM, unless they have an exemption. Government-wide and Department exemptions are documented in HHS Travel Manual. It is HHS policy that the travel charge card may not be used for local travel expenses unless certain conditions are met. Employees must pay bills for use of the travel charge card in accordance with the terms of the cardholder’s agreement they sign with the bank. Employees who do not adhere to these mandatory travel card usage policies may be subject to disciplinary action and/or the cancellation of their charge card privileges.

The travel charge card must only be used for official transportation and travel related expenses. Employees shall not use the travel card to make personal purchases or ATM withdrawals for personal use.

Employees are responsible for reading and adhering to the policies and procedures specified in the cardholder agreement they sign in order to obtain a Government travel charge card. Under the cardholder agreement currently in effect, the travel charge card bill is due and payable in full when delivered at the employee’s billing address. The employee is liable to the travel card bank for full reimbursement of all charges authorized by the employee, independent of any agreement or program for reimbursement that may exist between the employee and the HHS OPDIV/STAFFDIV. Employees must pay amounts owed to the travel card bank in accordance with the cardholder agreement, even if the employee has not yet been reimbursed for those expenses appearing on the billing statement. Public Law 105-264 also provides for the payment of a late payment fee to the officers when an OPDIV/Program/Agency fails to reimburse them for approved expenses within 30 days after submission of a proper voucher.

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Last updated: 16 March 2009