domestic business travel policy

Policy Category Business Travel Policy

Policy Title Domestic Business Travel Policy

Effective Date November 1, 2007

Department Human Resources

Context

The Company incurs significant expenses in annual travel expenses vis-à-vis airfares, hotels, car rentals and other incidental expenses. These are amongst our largest controllable expenses and judicious use of our resources is essential to effectively manage our costs.

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to establish guidelines for domestic business travel reflective of the corporate image. It is the onus of each employee to be sensitive to business realities and to use his / her best judgment while scheduling business travels.

Definitions

Domestic Business Travel

Domestic Business Travel is defined as any travel for a business purpose to a location further than a 100 kilometer radius from the employee’s place of work, but within the Indian national boundary

Expenses

Expenses covered under the policy would include Travel Expenses : Inter-location travel expenses Lodging Expenses : Accommodation expenses incurred at the traveled destination Boarding Expenses : Expenses incurred on meals during a business trip Communication Expenses : Expenses incurred for business communication during a

business trip Local transportation expenses : Intra-location travel expenses, while on a domestic business trip Laundry & Pressing Expenses : Expenses incurred in getting items washed or pressed

To have the above expenses reimbursed, the following 2 conditions must be met The expense must be incurred exclusively for the employee. Hence, any incremental expenses that arise

out of travel with personal companions need to be de-linked, and will not be reimbursed by the Company The expense must be spent for a business purpose. Hence, any incremental personal expenses incurred by

the employee during a business trip, will not be reimbursed by the Company

Bands & Grades

Band Grade DesignationAbove A Managing Director

A A Director

BB2B1

Deputy DirectorAssociate Director

CC2C1

General ManagerChief Manager

DD2D1

Senior ManagerManager

EE2E1

Deputy ManagerAssistant Manager

FF2F1

Senior ExecutiveExecutive

Coverage

All Full Time Employees of MetLife are covered under the Domestic Travel Policy. This policy will not apply to contractual personnel, consultants and personnel who are not in direct employment with the Company.

Expense Heads

A) Travel : Inter City Travel Expenses

Maximum Entitlements

Band Air Travel Train Travel Road Travel< 200 Kilometers one way > 200 Kilometers one way

Above A Business Class

1st AC AC Taxi-Ikon, Esteem, Accent

AC Bus #

A Business Class *B

Economy ClassCD AC Taxi – IndicaE

Not Applicable 2nd AC Non - AC Taxi – IndicaF

Guidelines

To maintain cost efficiencies, employees are expected :o to take the shortest route to the destinationo to get tickets booked at the lowest fareso to use the most cost effective mode of transport

* Where the Air travel flying time is less than 1.5 hours one way, it is mandated that employees in Band A, travel by Air Economy

It is recommended that for any travel which is less than 5 hours by rail or road, employees in Bands C and D should avoid Air Travel

Air travel by employees in Band E and Band F may be undertaken, if any of the following conditions are satisfied

o If the time taken for travel from the place of origin to the destination is more than 12 hours, o If the distance from the place of origin to the destination is greater than 600 kilometers

Employees in Band E and Band F, who undertake inter-city travel in the states of Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura, are entitled to travel by Air Economy

While making inter-city travel arrangements, the following guidelines must be adhered too Air Ticket bookings have to be routed through the Company’s Travel Desko Train Tickets may be booked either by the employee or the Companyo Incase of Bus Travel, the employee may arrange to book his own ticketso Incase of travel by taxi, all bookings are to be routed through the Company. The payment for the

same will be settled directly by the Company. Employees are not authorized to make payments directly

While arranging for Air Travel tickets, the Administration Department will ensure that:o Booking of non-refundable tickets is given priorityo Airline tickets are booked, based on the least air fare quote from the major airlines

To ensure safety, employees are not authorized to use their personal vehicles for inter-city travel, and thereafter raise claims

# Employees at the level of Deputy Director & above, are entitled to avail of hired AC taxis, even if the distance to the destination is more than 200 kilometers – one way. Employees at all other levels too, may avail of a Cab facility, commensurate with their grade, for distances greater than 200 kilometers – one way, subject to prior approval. The employee requesting for this facility, is to record the reason for exception, (being either a cost saving vis-à-vis an air ticket, or a circular travel to multiple locations within close proximity, or group travel by a number of employees to the same location, translating in cost saving) and have the same approved on email. The approving authority for this purpose, shall be an employee at the higher level of the following

o The Employee’s Managero Deputy Director

It is mandatory that all Used Tickets / Boarding Passes / Invoices / Bills in original, pertaining to inter-city travel be submitted

B) Lodging: Accomodation expenses at the place of destination

Maximum Entitlements in INR

Band Category A city Category B City Category C CityAbove A Actuals Actuals Actuals

A 12000 8000 6000B 10000 7000 5000C 8000 6000 4000D 6000 5000 3000E 5000 4000 3000F 5000 4000 3000

Guidelines

The above are entitlements per day for a single room

The above lodging entitlements consist of the room rent alone. Applicable taxes may be claimed in excess of the above entitlements

The maximum amount that may be claimed under this expense is to the least of the followingo Maximum entitlemento Actual expense incurred

Bills / Invoices pertaining to lodging expenses must be submitted in original

In case of Personal stay in lieu of a hotel / Guest House, an employee may claim an amount equal to the followingo Rs. 1000 per day, for Personal Stay at a category A cityo Rs. 750 per day, for Personal Stay at a category B cityo Rs. 500 per day, for Personal Stay at a category C city

To claim the personal stay amount, an overnight stay at the destination is mandated

All lodging arrangements will be made through the Company. The Administration Department is advised to make stay arrangements for employees in Band C & below at guest houses, given their availability

All Lodging amounts need to be settled directly by the employee upon check-out, after which he may raise a claim for the same. However, incase of Offsites / Meetings in which there are 10 or more employees in attendance, the administration team can instruct the hotel for bill to Company

Refer Annexure 1 for classification of cities

C) Boarding : Expenses incurred on meals


Band Category A City Category B City Category C CityAbove A Actuals Actuals Actuals

A1800 1600 1400

BC

1400 1200 1000DE

1000 800 600F

Guidelines

The above are entitlements per day

Bills / Invoices pertaining to meals must be submitted in original


Refer Annexure 1 for classification of cities

D) Communication : Expenses incurred on Business Communication


Communication expenses may be claimed at actuals

Guidelines

A claim for a business communication expense may be in respect of any of the following expenseso Official telephone calls made at a Telephone Bootho Internet Charges incurred at an internet Caféo Fax expenses incurred

Bills / Invoices pertaining to all Communication expenses must be submitted in original

E) Local Transportation : Expenses incurred on intra-city transportation while on domestic business travel

Maximum Entitlements

Band EntitlementsAbove A

AC Taxi-Ikon, Esteem, AccentABCD AC Taxi – IndicaE

Non - AC Taxi – IndicaF

Guidelines

Local transportation for the purpose of this policy covers the following

Travel to and from, an airport, railway station or bus terminus

Employees in Bands D and below are required to use metered / prepaid taxis or autos incase the time of travel is after 6 AM or before 10 PM. A request for Taxi booking may be routed through the Company incase the time of travel is after 10 PM or before 6 AM

Taxi’s hired for intra city travel in the location traveled to

Employees are advised not to hire taxis for a complete day, incase of point to point travel within the city. Prior approval by authorized personnel is required for hiring taxis for a complete day. Employees are encouraged to use metered / prepaid taxi’s and autos for intra-city travel

F) Laundry & Pressing : Expenses incurred on getting items washed or pressed


Band EntitlementsAbove A Actuals

A500

BC

400DE

300F

Guidelines

The above are entitlements for every completed block of 48 hours of hotel or guest house stay only. Hence, in case of Personal Stay, in lieu of Hotel / Guest House accommodation, no laundry expenses will be reimbursed

Bills / invoices pertaining to laundry expenses must be submitted in original


List of expenses that cannot be claimed

Expenses incurred on purchase or use of Beauty Products Expenses incurred on attending sporting events or the theatre Expenses incurred on purchase of Alcohol, tobacco etc Expenses incurred on using the facilities of a Health Spa

Group Travel

The following guidelines must be used if 2 or more employees travel on a business trip together If the expenses incurred for 2 or more employees are combined, then the senior most employee amongst

them will need to raise the claim for the expense In case 2 employees of different Bands travel together, upgradation of entitlements for the employee in

the lower Band will not be considered In case 2 or more employees undertake a business travel together, twin sharing at a hotel room is

recommended. Twin sharing is mandated for offsites and training programmes. It is recommended that not more than 3 employees at the level of Deputy Director and above, travel in the

same mode of transport at one time

Approving Authority

The approving authority for a Travel Request and a Business Travel Expense Report shall be an employee at the higher level of the following

Associate Director for Air Travel, and General Manager for all other Travel Modes The Employee’s Manager

Interpretational Authority

The authorized person to interpret any matter of ambiguity within the scope of this policy, shall be the Director – Human Resources

Mode of Payment

All travel related reimbursements are made through Bank Account Credit

Taxation

All expenses reimbursed under this policy are not taxable

Policy Exceptions

An exception to this policy is defined as Any expenses claimed, which are over and above the entitlement limits specified in this policy Any expenses claimed, which are not within the ambit of this policy Any procedure or process which is not within the scope of this policy

Any exception to this policy will need the approval of the Department Head, for which the business reason for exception will need to be recorded.

Responsibilities

Human Resources : To review the domestic travel policy at regular time intervals : To drive adequate communication around the policy

: To furnish information on the Bands & Levels to the Administration & Finance Department

Administration : To tie-up with hotels /guest houses & to make cost effective stay arrangements for employees : To negotiate and obtain competitive rates from travel agents and hotels : To make travel arrangements only if travel is approved by the relevant authority : To publish an MIS on the list & financial impact of policy exceptions to Finance & HR

Finance : To check and process business travel expense reimbursements in time: To bring to the attention of the Department Head and HR any unreasonable expenses incurred

Department Heads: To approve policy exceptions judiciously

Employee : To submit Travel Requests and Business Travel Expense Reports in time : To inform the Travel & Lodging Desk immediately, incase of any cancellations

Process

Before undertaking a business travel, employees are expected to submit a Travel Request (TR). The following guidelines must be adhered to in this regard

o A travel request must be prepared by the employeeo The employee forwards the travel request on email

to the approving authority, for approval To the travel desk in case of inter city travel and local transportation bookings

<[email protected]> and <[email protected]> To the lodging desk, in case of accommodation requisition <[email protected]> To the Administration Department <[email protected]>

o Bookings are made based on the details mentioned in the travel request, subject to the maximum entitlements for the Band

o Booked Tickets and details of accommodation and local transportation are sent across to the employee by email / hard copy / telephone, only when the approval of the Approving Authority is received on email by the Administration Department

o In the event that travel & lodging cancellations have to be made or in cases where tickets are misplaced, it is mandated that the employee informs the travel desk / lodging desk and the Administration Department immediately, before the same is undertaken.

The Direct Reportees to the Managing Director need not have a formal approval on their business travel from the Managing Director, but are expected to keep him informed on the same. If for any business exigency, a travel is undertaken without keeping him informed, the direct reportees will need to take a specific approval, upon their return.

Upon return from the business trip, an employee is expected to submit a Business Travel Expense Report (BTER).The following guidelines must be adhered to, in this regard

o The BTER must be prepared by the employee in Hard Copy. The employee may keep a photocopy of the same, for his records

o All expenses incurred during the trip must be mentioned on the BTER, irrespective of whether they have been paid by the Company or the Employee

o Once prepared, the employee obtains the signature of the approving authority on the BTERo The approved BTER, along with the used tickets and boarding passes, original bills & invoices

must be submitted by the employee to the Finance Department, within 7 days of return from the trip

o The Finance Department will check the BTER in all respects, and process the business travel reimbursement through the employee’s bank account. In case the BTER is rejected by the Finance Department, the same will be communicated to the employee by email and the BTER returned

Annexure 1 : City Categorisation

Category A Cities

Zone CityNorth India Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, SrinagarSouth India Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, SecunderabadWest India MumbaiEast India Kolkata

Category B Cities

Zone State City

North India

Rajasthan Jaipur, Udaipur, JodhpurUttar Pradesh Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur, GhaziabadUttaranchal DehradunHaryana FaridabadPunjab Ludhiana, AmritsarChandigarh ChandigarhHimachal Pradesh ShimlaJammu & Kashmir Jammu

South India

Tamil Nadu Coimbatore, Trichy, Madurai, Salem, HosurPondicherry PondicherryKerala Cochin, Trivandrum, CalicutKarnataka Mysore, MangaloreAndhra Pradesh Vijaywada, VishakapatnamGoa Goa

West IndiaMaharashtra Pune, Baroda, Nagpur, NashikGujarat Surat, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Jamnagar, GandhinagarMadhya Pradesh Indore, Bhopal

East India

West Bengal HowrahBihar PatnaJharkhand Ranchi, JamshedpurChattisgarh RaipurOrissa Bhubaneswar, CuttackSikkim GangtokAssam Dispur, GuwahatiMeghalaya ShillongArunachal Pradesh ItanagarNagaland KohimaManipur ImphalMizoram AizwalTripura Agartala

Category C Cities

Rest Of India

Annexure 2 : Travel Request Form

MetLife India Insurance Co.Pvt.Ltd

TRAVEL REQUEST FORM

EMPLOYEE DETAILS

Name of the Employee

Employee No.

Designation

Immediate Manager

Department

Location

Date of submission

TRAVEL INFORMATION

Date From To Flight / Train Class of booking

CAB REQUIREMENT

Date Reporting time Duration Type of car Reporting address

HOTEL DETAILS

Date Place Check-in Check-out Remarks

BUDGET CONTROL SECTION:

Budget Resp. Center Finance

Is this in the current year's budget

What was the budgeted cost

Responsibility centre code

Line of business code

Distribution channel code

Location code

APPROVAL

Requested by Approved by (Imm. Mgr) Authorised by (Chief Officer)

Signature Signature Signature

Name Name Name

Date Date Date

Annexure 3 : Business Travel Expense Report

Business Travel Expense Report

NAME EMP No.

DESIGNATION PERIOD Product codeRC Code

PURPOSE OF VISIT / EXPENSE Loc codeProject Code

Reimbursement A/c No.

DESCRIPTION Acct CodeAMOUNT

Rs.

LESS COMPANY PAID ITEMSFARE

TOTAL OF AIR/RAIL FARE (A) 602001 HOTEL BILL

TOTAL OF BOARDING & LODGING (B) 602002 Total 0

TOTAL OF PER DIEM © LESS : Travel Advance ( )

TOTAL OFMISC EXPENSES (D) 602003

TOTAL OF BUSINESS MEALS & ENTERTAINMENT (E)

602007

TOTAL OF CONVEYANCE EXPENSE (F) 602003 Amount owed to Employee

Amount owed to Company

A + B + C + D + E + F ALL TOTAL 0.00 Rs.

TOTAL EXPENSES Rs.

Total Expense(In words) 0

Declaration

I declare that the business trip expense is incurred for legitimate company business and in accordancewith the company's policy

Signature:

Date:

I confirm the legitimacy of the expense for the company's business, and approve the expense and itschargeability to the state responsibility centre.

Signature: Name:

Date: Designation

Finance Dept:

Verified by Date :

Approved by Date :

Accounted by Date :Guidelines1. This form must be filled out in ink or typed.

2. Supporting has to be compulsorily attached for all items

3. Details should be provided for conveyance, telephone and miscellaneous expenses. A separate sheet may be attached

where necessary. For conveyance the details of destination, estimated distance and rate per kilometre should be mentioned.

5. Incurrence of expenses, submisssion of this form and travel reimbursement shall always be governed by the company's

Travel and Entertainment policy.

6. Expenses incurred in foreign currency should be converted at such rate at which it is converted. Conversion receipt to be attached

7. Finance department reserves the right to return any incomplete or "unclear" travel report.

8. No personal expenses shall be charged to this claim report. The amount claimed should be net of personal

expenses incurred during the trip.

9. All expenses incurrred whether paid by Company or by Employee need to be mentioned in the BTER

LOB codeDC code

SUMMARY OF EXPENSES

DATE TIME FROM TO MODE OF TRAVEL CLASS FARE Rs. MODE OF PAYMENT

PAID BY COPAID BY

SELF

TOTAL 0 0 0

DATEHOTEL (B) OTHER EXPENSES

TOTAL AMOUNT Rs.

MODE OF PAYMENT

Room Rent Rs.

FOOD Per diem © MISC. (D)Company

Rs.PAID BY

SELF

0

TOTAL 0 0 0 0 0

DATE TITLE & COMPANY AFFILIATION HOTEL / RESTAURANT & BUSINESS PURPOSEAMOUNT

Rs.

TOTAL 0

DATE

TOTAL 0

TO AMOUNT Rs. REMARKS

BOARDING & LODGING, OTHER EXPENSES (B)

INTER-CITY TRAVEL EXPENSES ( A)

Annexure to Business Travel Expenses Report

NAME

PERSON ENTERTAINED

FROM

INTRA-CITY TRANSPORTATION EXPENSES (F)

BUSINESS MEALS AND ENTERTAINMENT EXPENSES (E)

domestic business travel policy

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