Govt employees can keep costly office laptops for personal use:Device prices may be up to ₹1.80 lakh

The central government has raised the price ceiling of laptops, tablets, or similar devices like smartphones for its eligible officers to ₹1.8 lakh plus taxes, and officials can retain them for personal use after four years. This means central government employees can keep electronics like costly laptops with themselves for personal use that they get from the office but only after four years of using them for official work. The device will be the property of the government for up to four years from the date of purchase. However, the officer who is given the device shall be personally responsible for the safety and security of data/information, as per the guidelines.
After completion of four years of usage, the officer can retain the issued device. The Finance Ministry’s Expenditure Department on November 10 issued revised guidelines on the purchase of Note Book /Laptop by ministries/departments of the central government. Who are eligible? Central government employees of Sections Officer rank and above will be eligible for the devices. “…it has been decided that laptop; tablet; notepad; ultra-book; notebook; devices of similar categories may be issued to eligible officers for discharge of official work,” it said. All government officers in Pay Level 12 and above (as per the 7th Central Pay Commission) in a ministry will be eligible for the devices.
Only 50 per cent of the officers in any department in pay levels 8 to 11 would be eligible for the devices. New rules not effective on mobile devices The new guidelines replace the July 2023 instructions on similar purchases of gadgets. The 2023 guidelines explicitly mentioned the purchase of mobile devices, which is not mentioned in the November 10, 2026, office memorandum. As per the new guidelines, the cost of the device shall not be more than ₹1.50 lakh + taxes. Employees can keep a device worth ₹ 1.80 lakh for personal use if it is 40% Made in India However, for devices with a Make-in-India (MII) component of more than 40%, the price ceiling has been set at ₹1.80 lakh plus taxes. Old rule allowed officials to keep electronics worth up to ₹1.30 lakh The price ceiling includes the cost of standard software. The 2023 guidelines had set the ceiling for such devices at ₹1 lakh and ₹1.3 lakh, respectively.