TRAVEL POLICY

Policy No. SQ012014

Date issued on January, 2021
Issued by Human Resource
Approved by Managing Directors

CONTEXT:

The Company incurs significant expenses in annual travel expenses vis-a-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 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.

TRAVEL PROCESS:

Before undertaking a business travel, employees are expected to submit a Travel Request (TR).
Following guidelines must be followed:

❖ A travel request must be raised by employee through Square Beats including following
details:
➢ Raise your request through Square Beats.
➢ Proposed itinerary with approx. date of travel.
➢ Accommodation requirements at various cities
➢ Visa requirements
Note: * If the name mentioned by the employee is incorrect and the tickets are booked on the
same name, travel desk team shall not be held responsible for the same, Employee would be
liable to bear the cost of the ticket.

❖ Bookings are made based on the details mentioned in the travel request, subject to the
Maximum entitlements for various Bands.

❖ Timeline of Travel request

➢ Domestic Travel request should be raised by employee 7 days prior from Date of Departure.
➢ International Travel request should be raised by employee 10 days prior from date of
Departure.
➢ Travel Desk will be not process any travel request which we receive within 24 hrs prior from
departure and company will reimburse the travel expense as per policy.
❖ Booked Tickets and details of accommodation and local transportation will be sent across to
the employee.
❖ In the event that travel & lodging cancellations/ changes have to be made or in cases
where tickets are misplaced, it is important the employee informs at
traveldesk@squareyards.com immediately.

AIR TRAVEL

To maintain cost efficiencies, employees are expected to get the tickets booked at the lowest
fares using our Travel Desk. While making air travel arrangements, the following guidelines
must be adhered to:

➢ Booking of refundable tickets is given priority.

➢ Airline tickets are booked, based on the least airfare quote available on all major airlines.
➢ In case the employee requests the preference of any flight, he/she should be liable to pay
the difference amount.
➢ Reporting managers should ensure & minimize changes after the bookings have been
made, as it translates into additional cost and efforts to the company in modifying the
bookings once done.
➢ In case there are some changes in the itinerary, a mail should be sent to travel desk with
approval from the management.
➢ In case an employee is not able to travel as per schedule due to last minute emergency,
please inform travel desk 8hours prior in international and 5hours prior in domestic travel
via email/SMS/Whatsapp/call, for cancellation of flight tickets, so that we can get the
applicable refund. It is mandatory to provide this information in a timely manner.
➢ In case of no show employee should bear the difference amount between of new ticket
and old ticket.

To maintain cost efficiencies, employees are expected:

➢ To take the shortest route to the destination.

➢ To get the tickets booked at the lowest fares.
➢ To use the most cost effective mode of transport.
TRAIN TRAVEL

To maintain cost efficiencies, employees are expected to use Train as a mode of transport
for short journeys at nearby destinations using our Travel Desk as follows:

Entitlements Train Class Journey time

T0 – T2 3rd AC (2nd AC Class we can For < 12 hours

consider on non-availability in
3rd AC)
P&L 2nd AC (3rd AC Class we can For < 6 Hours
consider on non-availability in
2nd AC.)
APP’s & 1st AC (2nd AC & 3rd AC Class For < 6 hours
Above we can consider on non-
availability in 1st AC.)

ACCOMODATION

To maintain cost efficiencies, employees are expected to book their accommodation as early as
possible using our Travel Desk. Following are the entitlements:

A) INTERNATIONAL STAY ENTITELMENT:

Countries T0 to P & L APP’s & Management

GCC Up to INR 5,000 Up to INR 8,000
South East Asia Up to INR 6,000 Up to INR 10,000
Oceania(Australia) Up to INR 6,000 Up to INR 10,000
USA & Canada Up to INR 6,000 Up to INR 10,000
Europe Up to INR 6,000 Up to INR 10,000

B) DOMESTIC STAY ENTITLEMENT:

Bands Tier A cities Tier B cities

T0 to T1 Up to INR 3500 Up to INR 2500
T2 TO T3 Up to INR 4500 Up to INR 3000
P&L & APP Up to INR 5500 Up to INR 4000
APP’s & Management Up to INR 8000 Up to INR 6000
Guidelines

❖ The above are entitlements per day for a single room.

❖ Company booked rooms shall be on double accommodation basis wherever possible. This
would not be applicable when a male and a female employee are traveling together.
❖ The maximum amount that may be claimed under this expense is to the least of the
following:
➢ Maximum entitlement.
➢ Actual expense incurred
❖ Bills/ Invoices pertaining to lodging expenses must be submitted in original to Travel Desk
❖ All claimable misc. expenses such as Food etc. need to be settled directly by the employee
upon check-out, after which he may raise a claim for the same.
❖ If an employee wishes to upgrade the hotel over & above the permissible limit as per travel
policy, company will reimburse as per the guidelines outlined herein and balance amount
has to be absorbed by employee as personal expense
❖ Classification of category A and B will depend on various factors and might change from
time to time subject to approval of management
➢ Tier A cities- Delhi NCR ,Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune.
➢ Tier B Cities- Except Tier A cities all are tier B cities.
❖ For Domestic In case of Personal stay in lieu of a hotel/ Guest House, an employee may
claim an amount equal to the following:
➢ Rs.1000 per day, for Personal Stay.

PER DIEM

Per diem helps employees cover the expenses while on business trips for local travel, food
including all meals & mobile expenses. In addition to this per diem employees can claim
airport transfers for domestic travel only. The entitlements are as follows:

INTERNATIONAL:

Region T0 to P & L APP’s &

Management
GCC AED 100 AED 200
Other USD 50 USD 90

DOMESTIC

T0 to P & L APP’s &

Management
With Breakfast INR 750 INR 1000
Without Breakfast INR 950 INR 1200
➢ Hours for Per Diem basis will start from the time of departure to the time of arrival,
including the travel and stay time
➢ For telephone, employees are advised to use skype/calling cards to make necessary calls
and there will be no reimbursements for international roaming usage.
➢ Employees can claim local transfers as per actuals by submitting original bills together with
TRF in case of domestic travel. For international travel per diem is inclusive of local
transfers.
➢ Any other entertainment claim (For client/ developer meetings) in addition to per diem
should be pre-approved from reporting manager will be submitted to HR instead of Travel
Desk

LOCAL TRANSPORTATION: INTRA-CITY TRANSPORTATION

❖ Employees are expected to raise all Domestic intra city travel requests using our Travel
Desk & are subject to approval of department head.
❖ Employees can use metered / prepaid taxis and autos for intra city travel where local
transport is not easily available & reimbursed later using TRF.
❖ For domestic Intra city travel employee, employees can take personal vehicle and can get the
fuel re-imbursement.
❖ Employees are advised not to hire taxis for a complete day, in case of point to point travel
within the city. Prior approval by Business Head is required for hiring taxis for a complete
day.

Guidelines:

❖ Travel to and fro, an airport, railway station or bus terminus can be claimed using TRF
❖ Travel to and fro airport in certain cities like Hong Kong, London, Tokyo, New York will
necessarily have to be public transport (metro/ buses) or pre booked taxis ( Kindly
request travel desk to book the same)
❖ Expenses will be reimbursed based on actuals, supported by receipts & valid
explanation.
❖ Bills/ Invoices pertaining to travel expenses must be submitted in original to Travel Desk.
❖ The expense must be incurred exclusively for the employee for business purpose. Hence,
any incremental personal expenses incurred by the employee during a business trip, will not
be reimbursed by the Company.
❖ Travelling with personal companions on official trip is not allowed.

REIMBURSEMENT PROCESS

Upon completion of trip, employee is expected to submit a Travel Reimbursement Form (TRF)
to the Travel Desk. The following process must be followed:

➢ Submit all legitimate expenses incurred during the trip by filling up the TRF form together
with your approved TR by 20th of every month.
➢ Submit original used tickets, boarding passes, original bills & invoices along with TRF to the
Travel Desk for auditing. Claims will not be processed without adequate supporting.
➢ Claims which are submitted later than 2 months after the travel date will not be reimbursed
➢ Travel Desk will be the auditing authority for all expenses accrued during travel. In case of
ambiguity within the scope of this policy, final decision can be taken by management
➢ Approved claims will be processed in employee‘s bank account on 30th of every month.
➢ In case TRF form is rejected, the same will be communicated to the employee via email.

COVERAGE

All Permanent Employees of Square yards are covered under the Travel Policy. This policy
will not apply to contractual personnel, consultants and personnel who are not in direct
employment with the Company.

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 facilities of a Health Spa.
❖ In room charges (Eg: mini bar usage, laundry, damages etc.) during any hotel stays in all
locations.
❖ Roaming mobile charges during international travel

Group Travel

The following guidelines must be used if 2 or more employee’s travel on a business trip
together:

❖ If the expenses incurred for 2 or more employees are combined, then the senior most
employees amongst them will need to raise the claim for the expense.
❖ In case 2 or more employee’s undertake a business travel/Training programs/Offsite
together, twin sharing at a hotel is mandated.

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 Business Head, for which the
business reason for exception will need to be recorded.