QUESTION BANK WITH ANSWER - GROUP ‘B’ AMM ( Stores) Part VI

QUESTION BANK WITH ANSWER - GROUP ‘B’ AMM ( Stores) Part VI

Q.291. Describe the following inventory models:

(i) The Basic (EOQ) Model

(ii) JIT Model

Ans: (i) The Basic (EOQ) Model: Depending upon various variables, different inventory models have been developed. Different models take different costs into account. One of the popular model developed for items of repetitive nature  (dynamic), future demands for which can be projected with certainty is Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) model. In addition to factors mentioned above, this model assumes that price of the material remains constant with time and also does not vary with order quantity. This model can be developed mathematically by differentiating total cost of inventory (ordering cost + inventory carrying cost) with respect to Quantity. The formula so derived is given below : Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) = Sq. Rt. { 2xAxCo / (Cu x Ci) } Where, A = Annual Consumption Quantity, Co = Cost of placing one order Ci = Annual inventory carrying cost represented as fraction, Cu = Unit Cost (Rate/Unit) of the material.

(ii) JIT Model Just-in Time inventory management is the process of ordering and receiving inventory only when it is needed and not before. This means that organization does not hold the safety stock and operates with low inventory levels. This strategy helps the organization to lower their inventory carrying cost. JIT inventory model is a cost cutting inventory management strategy though it lead to stock outs. The goal of JPI model is to improve return on investment by reducing non-essential costs. Example: Toyota Motors, Maruti etc.

Q.292. Write short notes on (i) ABC Analysis (ii) VED Analysis (iii) FSN Analysis (iv) XYZ Analysis.

Ans: A-B-C Analysis : This analysis is based upon Pareto Principle according to which in many situations, majority of the activity is governed by very few attributes.

• About 5% of the total stock items account for 70% of the total value of the item stocked. These are called as ‘A’ category items. 
• About 15% of the total stock items account for 20% of the total value of the item stocked. These are called as ‘B’ category items . 
• About 80% of the total stock items account for only 10% of the total value of the item stocked. These are called as ‘C’ category items  o For the purpose of Inventory Control, A category items are most important. Therefore, they are closely monitored at highest level at very frequent intervals. o Stock verification: 
• of A category items is carried out every six months; 
• for B category items every year and 
• once in two years for C category items. o To achieve better inventory turnover ratio, we intend to keep average stocks of 3 months, 6 months and 12 months of A, B and C category items respectively. 

(i) V-E-D Classification : A-B-C Classification is on the basis of consumption value of an item and does not give any importance to the criticality of the item and therefore, only A-B-C Classification is not adequate. Classification done on the basis of criticality of the item is known as V-E-D, where the items are classified as Vital, Essential and Desirable.

• Vital items are those items which are very critical for the operations and do not permit any corrective time i.e. they cannot be procured off the shelf if they are not available. 
• Essential items are comparatively less vital and work without them cannot be managed for few days. All remaining items are known as Desirable items. 

(ii) FSN Analysis In this system the item is categorized as “Fast”, “Slow” and “Non moving” items.

• Specific attention is given on fast moving items so that they do not go out of stock. 
• Periodical review of slow and non-moving item to prevent the items becoming in active/over stock/surplus. This analysis is helpful in preventing the items from becoming inactive/over stock/surplus/obsolescent.

(iv) XYZ Analysis In this analysis the items are classified as “X, “Y” and “Z” based on inventory value of each item on the date of review. It helps in controlling the value balance to barest minimum.

Q.293. What are the inventory performance indices on Indian Railways? Briefly describe.

Ans: Efficiency of an inventory management system is generally measured by two measures:-

(a) Service level : This is the percentage of compliance of demands of user. This level is set by the top management who knows that cost of providing 100% service level (i.e. meeting with all demands for materials at all times) is prohibitively high. o Therefore, it is attempted to attain a service level between 95 to 98% depending upon criticality of the items. In Railways, we try to comply demands of vital, safety, passenger amenity and cleanliness items up to 100%, and give compliance of all other items between 95 to 98%.

(b) Inventory turnover ratio : This is a measure of average stocks held in stock at a time. This is measured in percentage by the following formula: Average value of stock of all materials held in stock T/O ratio = _________________________________________________ Total value of issues made during the year

• In Railways, Stores Balances are reflecting in various capital suspense head e.g., Purchase Suspense (7110, 7120, 7130), Sale Suspense (7140), Stock Suspense (7150, 7160). 
• As per accounting system for working out inventory turnover ratio, we divide debit balances outstanding in all above suspense heads on 31st March of the year by total issues made from 1st April to 31st March. This ratio is multiplied by 100 to get percentage. TOR should be as minimum as possible. In Rly, we try to achieve turnover ratio of about 10%. 

(c) As overstock and inactive items are not contributing towards inventory turnover, we should control their balances. In Railways, total balances of inactive stores (items not moved for past 12 months or more) and overstocks should not be more than 5% of total Stores Balances.

 Q.294. What do you understand by the terms “Inactive”, “Overstock” and “Surplus” stores? What are the reasons for their accrual ? How these can be prevented to accumulate?

Ans: INACTIVE ITEMS Items not drawn for more than one year are termed as Inactive Items.

OVER STOCK ITEMS

• Overstocks have been defined as quantities available over and above the requirements of the next contract period for which Annual Estimate sheets have been submitted.
• Overstocks are the quantities in excess of 50 % of the total last year’s issues of the particular item, as per Stores, Code para 2230-S. However with the tighter control of stores held in stock, particularly for high value items, Board has defined overstocks at one time as under:-
•  For ‘A’ Category – Stocks over 6 months requirements are treated as overstocks. 
• For ‘B’ Category– Stocks over12 months requirements are treated as overstocks. 
• For ‘C’ Category–Stocks over 24 months requirements are treated as overstocks.

 SURPLUS STORES

• Surplus stocks are stocks over and above the requirements of the Railway. 
• As per stores Code paras 2216-S, stores may be considered as surplus to the requirements of the Railway only if they have not been issued for a long time. 
• Items, that have no issues or rare isues in the past 24 months and which have not been issued from stock for Railway consumption for a period of 2 years, are called as Surplus stores, which are further classified as Dead Surplus and Movable Surplus. 
• Movable surplus comprises of items of stores, which have not been drawn for a period of 24 months but which, it is anticipated, will be utilized in the near future. 
• Dead surplus comprises of item of stores, which has not been issued for the past 24 months and is not likely to be utilized on any Railway within the next 2 years. 
• There are some items, which do not ordinarily wear out or require renewal and stocks of which are not readily available, but are essential to maintain to meet occasional emergencies. Such stores are termed as Emergency stores and, even if not issued for a period of two years or more, should not be classified as Surplus stores.
•  The classification of an item of stores as SURPLUS will be done only by the Head Quarters office and not by Depots in respect of items costing over Rs. 1,000/- . At the time of the annual review, it should be examined whether non-moving items could be set off against other stock  items of any of the depots and such of those items, which are not likely to be drawn during the next two years, should be declared as surplus. Reasons for accrual: The basic factors which cause inactive, overstock and surplus stores are- 
• Change in design of Plants, Equipments. 
• Changes in rolling stock design and its components. 
• Modification of the existing standards/specifications and introduction of new standards/specifications. 
• Changes and modifications in the procedure of manufacture and utility of the item. 
• Scrapping of Plant & Machinery and Rolling stock for which the spares are stocked on the Railways. 
• Sudden cancellation of construction and project works. 
• Purchase or manufacture of non-standard items. Measures required to prevent accumulation of inactive, overstock and surplus stores :-

1) Review of stock status of each item in respect of A Value is done by COS/CMM monthly, by having a watch on the movement of the items and Purchase Officers are alerted to regulate the deliveries, both on the Pre Contract/Order or Post Contract Order stage.

2) A systematic review is done in the case of B and C Value items to ensure correct fixation of control levels. E.O.Q. concept is incorporated in fixing order quantity.

3) Phased deliveries are arranged to prevent items becoming overstock.

4) Referring to consumer is done in case of sudden fall in consumption, so as to take the above preventive measures.

5) Inspector of Stores Accounts should have surprise inspection of stores on line and ensure that stores, either in excess to the stock holder’s requirements or unwanted stores, do not lie there and cause heavy surplus, but returned to Stores.

6) Stock verifiers during the course of stock verification bring to the notice of the Depot officers through narrative report, any inactive items lying in the ward, so as to take preventive measures in wiping out such items.

7) Exception Reports from computers are utilized for the above exercises.

Q.295. The opening balance, total receipt, total issues and the closing balance of the stores depots of a zonal railway are given below:-

Based on the above figures, please answer:-

(i) Which is the Best Depot in terms of T.O.R?

 (ii) Which is the Worst Depot in terms of T.O.R?

(iii) Which Depots have achieved TOR better than TOR target of 15%

(i) Best Depot: GSD/XYZ With TOR 11.72%

(ii)Worst Depot: ELS/ABC with TOR 82.11%

(iii) Depot which has achieved TOR better than TOR target of 15%: GSD/XYZ

 Q.296. What is “Draft Para”? How it is disposed?

Ans: The Draft Para is the Para prepared by the chief Auditor to incorporate the serious irregularities in the Railway Audit Report which could not be disposed in preliminary factual statements. When it is decided by the chief Auditor that the preliminary factual statement is to be converted in to Draft Para, prepares the same and send it the General Manager of the concerned Railway. The advance copies of the draft Para with connected correspondence and sent to FA QuestionPaper.Org & CAO, H.O.D. Addl. Dy CAG (Railways) and the Director (Accounts)/Rly Board to facilitate prompt action and detailed examination of the points brought out in the draft paragraph. The G.M should send the reply of the draft Para to Chief Auditor duly approved by the Rly Board within 8 weeks duly endorsing copies to the Addl. Dy CAG (Railways) and Director/Accounts(Rlys Board).To enable the Rly Board to approve the draft reply prepared by the Rly Additional information to Rly Board along with the proposed reply to draft Para :-

a) History of the case with copies of relevant correspondence not covered in the chief Auditor’s letter.

b) Sentence wise comments on the draft Para Specifically Verifying/correcting the facts mentioned there.

c) A chronological summery of the case where there has been unusual delay.

d) Remedies action called for or taken to avoid similar cases in future.

e) Disciplinary aspects where individual lapses have been brought in light.

f) Disciplinary aspects where individual lapses have been brought in light.

If the AG (Rly) satisfies from the reply, he drop the draft Para with the condition to ensure that the proper action will be taken as assured in report otherwise he send the Para for inclusion in the annual report to be presented in the parliament. The action on the Para of the report is then taken as per recommendation of the PAC.

 Q.297. Write a short notes on Workman’s Compensation act.

Ans. The main features of the Workman’s Compensation act are as under:-

 Object: 

The objective of this Act is that in the case of an employment injury compensation be provided to the injured workman and in case of his death to his dependants.

 Employer to pay compensation: 

In case a personal injury is caused to a workman by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment, his employer is liable to pay compensation in accordance with the provision of the Act within 30 days from the date when it fell due otherwise he would also be liable to pay interest and penalty.

When employer is not liable: In case the disablement of workman is three or less days; except in case of death when the injury is caused due to influence of drink or drug taken by  the workman or upon his willful disobedience to obey safety rules or removal of safety guards by him.

 Amount of compensation: 

(1) in case of death:- an amount equal to 50% of the monthly wage multiplied by the relevant factor as given in Schedule IV of the Act or Rs. 80,000/- whichever is more.

(2) In case of permanent total disablement, it is 60% or Rs. 90,000/- whichever is more and

(3) In case of permanent partial disablement occurs then the compensation is proportionate to the disability arrived as at (2) above.

Notice: An injured person or his dependants have to give a notice to the employer to pay compensation.

Claim: Upon the failure or refusal of an employer to give compensation, an application isto the made in Form - F to the Commissioner under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923 who is the Assistant Labour Commissioner or the Labour-cum-Conciliation Officer of the area where the accident took place or where the claimant ordinarily resides orwhere the employer has his registered office. After hearing both the parties, the Commissioner decides the claim. Contracting out: Any contract or agreement whereby an injured person or his dependant relinquishes or reduce his right to receive compensation is null and void to that extent.

Appeal: An appeal lies to the High Court against the orders of the Commissioner with regard to the awarding or refusing to award compensation, or imposing interest or penalty, or regarding distribution of compensation etc.

Recovery : The amount of compensation awarded by the Commissioner is to be recovered as arrears of land revenue.

Q. 298. Write short notes on:-

(i) M&P Program

(ii) Works Program

Ans: (i) M&P Program  The proposal spelling out the requirements of various Machinery and Plant required by all the departments during next year is called M&P Programme. It is complied by CME of each Railway and sent to Railway Board and is finally approved by Parliament through Budget.

 (ii) Works Program The proposal of works in order to keep up a certain level of maintenance in respect of all the departments like Engineering, Signal, Electrical etc and also new works, prepared in advance of the period during which these works are to be carried out is called Works Programme. It is compiled by PCE of each Railway and sent to Railway Board and is finally approved by Parliament through Budget.

Q.299. What do you understand by Book Average Rate? How it is determined?

Ans. Book Average Rate (BAR) means the average rate on which an item is said to be on books. It is arrived by dividing the value balance by quantity balance and is used for pricing further issues. The BAR is updated at the time of posting of fresh receipt voucher for that item.

Q.300: List the Minor Penalties. Write down the procedure for imposing minor penalty.

Ans : Following are the minor penalties which can be imposed upon a railway servant as a consequence of DAR action:_

i) Censure

ii) With holding of passes/PTOs or both

iii) With holding of increments (with or without cumulative effect)

iv) Recovery from pay whole or part of any pecuniary loss caused to the Railway administration by his negligence etc.

v) With holding of promotion for a specific period.

vi) Reduction to lower stage in time scale of pay by one stage for not more than 3 year without cumulative effect & not adversely affecting his pension. Procedure for imposing a minor penalty:

i) A memorandum in Standard form 11 is issued to the charged employee with the advice to submit his representation if any within 10 days.

ii) On receipt of reply of the employee, the same is examined by the DA. Based on the reply, the penalty is decided and imposed by the disciplinary authority by issuing NIP (Notice Imposing Penalty). If the charged employee fails to submit reply within the specified time, an  parte decision can be taken by disciplinary authority for imposing Minor penalty.

Q.301. What are the Cannons of financial propriety?

Ans: The Cannons of financial propriety are as under:-

 1. The expenditure should not prima facie be more than the occasion demands, and that every government servant should exercise the same vigilance in respect of expenditure incurred from public moneys as a person of ordinary prudence would exercise in respect of the expenditure of his own money.

2. No authority should exercise its powers of sanctioning expenditure to pass an order which will be directly or indirectly to its own advantage.

 3. Public money should not be utilized for the benefit of a particular person or section of the community, unless:-

(a)The amount or expenditure involved is insignificant Or

(b) A claim for the amount could be enforced in a court of law Or

(c) The expenditure is in pursuance of a recognized policy or custom.

4. The amount of allowances, such as travelling allowances, granted to meet expenditure of a particular type, should be so regulated that the allowances are not on the whole sources of profit to the recipients.

Note:- All proposals involving financial implications except those which have been specifically exempted for this purpose should be referred to finance branch for advice before these are sanctioned.

Q.302 What is Priced Ledger ?

Ans: The priced ledgers are maintained by Stores Accounts with the object of recording the physical transaction as it takes place in the depot as well as the value of physical transaction. Every transaction in the stores is effected through receipt and issue vouchers. All the transaction which originate from the Depot having a bearing on the value of stores received in or issued from the depot, are effected in the priced ledgers of the Stores Accounts Office. The priced ledgers are maintained for each item, being distinguished by a price list No. under various classes of stores.

Q.303. Describe various groups of operation involved in maintenance of priced ledge of stores?

 Ans: various groups of operation involved in maintenance of priced ledge of stores are as under:-  Group A

(i) The receipt and check of vouchers and forwarding the same to Data Centre.

(ii) Periodical listing of the transactions and forwarding the same to Data Centre.

(iii) Opening and closing of priced ledgers as advised by the Depot Officer, after due check. (iv)checking of punched data, as per data processing procedures

(v) Accurate and timely maintenance of priced ledgers through EDP Centre.

Group B

(i) Scrutiny of all unmatched vouchers, vouchers causing irregular balance items and other rejected vouchers and their clearance.

(ii) Scrutiny of printed ledgers for abnormal and unreasonable results and their elimination. Group C (i) The revision of rates.

(ii) The review of the priced ledgers. (S-2506)

 Q.304. What is the role of Stores depot in preparation of price ledger?

Ans: a) The vouchers should be made over by the Depot to the Stores Accounts Office, daily.

b) The vouchers for a date, say the first of a month, should be completely delivered to the Stores Accounts Office, without fail, wherever no holiday intervenes, on the morning of the third, within the hour of the opening of the office.

c) The vouchers would be accompanied by the Forwarding Memo (S. 1256).

d) Where the stores depot and the Stores Accounts Office are not in the same station, the time allowed may be modified to suit local conditions taking care to see that there is no avoidable delay in the regular submission of the vouchers to the Accounts Office.

e) The Accounts Office shall after checking the vouchers, bundle them in batches (according to the voucher code and date) periodically as per programme laid down by the Data Centre and deliver them on these dates. (S-2509)

Q 305. Describe Unified PL Number.

Ans: Out of the 75 groups under which the railways stores have been classified, some of the groups are unified. Under unified groups, any particular item is identified on all railways  with one PL No. Individual railways shall therefore not allot regular PL Nos. to individual items under the unified groups and this will be done only by the railway that originally prepared the unified price list book.

Q. 306. Describe Allocation of Expenditure. How it differs from Classification of Expenditure?

Ans: 'Allocation' of expenditure implies identifying its source of Finance where as 'classification' deals with the detailed heads of account under which expenditure is recorded in the accounting books of the Railway. Railway expenditure is financed from (loan) Capital provided by the General Revenues, Railway Funds and Current Revenues. Accordingly, the expenditure is allocated to:

(i) 'Capital',

(ii) the Depreciation Reserve Fund

(iii) the Development Fund,

(iv) the Accident Compensation, Safety and Passenger Amenities Fund,

(v) Open Line Works (Revenue) and

(vi) Ordinary Revenue.

Q. 307. What are Stores Suspense accounts?

 Ans: Stores are purchased and kept in different stores depots for onward issue to consuming departments as and when required by them. However no one knows when, where and by whom these stores will be required and for what purpose whether for capital or revenue. Capital Requirements are “Works” requirement and revenue requirements are “maintenance” requirements. Suspense account is the account in which the stores are kept in the stores depot till these are issued and cost debited to a final head of account. The stores are therefore kept in a capital suspense account until they are issued accordingly charged to a revenue head or a capital work.

Q. 308. Differentiate between Purchase Suspense and Stores Suspense.

Ans: When a firm supplies /dispatches the material to the stores depot and eventually gets the payment for the consignment, it becomes necessary to maintain an account to be able to watch receipt of material against a payment made and vice-versa. This is called purchase suspense account and is debited every time a payment is made and is credited when some material is received in the stores depot. All such entries of Purchase suspense are transferred at the end of the month to a different suspense head i.e. stores suspense by crediting purchase suspense and debiting stores suspense. Stores Suspense account is used for watching the receipt and issue of stores upto the final point of consumption. Materials purchased are thus monitored until finally consumed.. Stores suspense comprises of the following sub heads:

 1. Workshop Manufacturing Suspense A/c 2. Miscellaneous Advance capital A/c

3. Store In Transit Suspense

4. Sale Suspense.

Q. 309. Write Short Notes on Standardization and Variety Reduction.

Ans: Standardization: Industrial Standardization is the process of establishing agreements upon acceptable level of various characteristics of a product, e.g., quality, design, dimensions, physical characteristics , chemical composition, performance, etc on the basis of study and experience gained by the industrial firms sometimes in co-operation with statutory bodies or the government. The established agreement or uniform identification is termed a standard/specification. True standardization does not restrict competition. Variety Reduction: A scientific critical analysis of items stocked is carried out with the intension of eliminating non standard or non rationalized item or items whose demand is relatively small and which can be conveniently merged with other item or items which are not readily procurable and which can be substituted with other items already stocked. Variety reduction results in low procurement and inventory carrying cost. Further fewer items will mean more personalized attention and there will be fewer stock outs and service level will also improve.

 Q. 310. Write a short note on Computerization in Stores Deptt of NCR.

Ans: Computerization in Stores Department Materials Management activities have been fully automated in Stores Department. Complete purchase work in COS Office and receipt, accountal and issue of materials in depots is performed through MMIS. Only matters related with Establishment/General Administration are not yet automated in Stores Department. All the Purchase and Depot Staff have working knowledge of Computers. With every new development in MMIS and EPS, necessary training is imparted to officers/staff. MMIS All the Materials Management activities are performed through an application called “MMIS”. This application consists of five modules namely

(i) Purchase Module

(ii) Depot Module

(iii) Finance Module

(iv) Uniform Module and

(v) Sales & Auction Module.

It covers different material management activities but are integrated with each other. This application based on Oracle 10G at the back end and Developer 2K at the front end, covers all the Stores activities right from generation of demands to accountal of materials and bill passing by Accounts Department.  MMIS is being used over NCR w.e.f 01.04.2005 and its performance has been highly satisfactory. With the help of MMIS, Stores department has been able to meet material requirement of NCR with minimum staff. Present status of implementation of various Modules is as under:-

(i) Purchase Module - COS Office, Dy.CMM/IRPMU, 09 Depots and 03 Divisions

(ii) Depot Module - (CWE&G/JHS, DSL/JHS, ELS/JHS, DSL/AGRA, RSK/STLI, DSL/GWL, GSD/CNB, ETD/CNB & TMS/CNB )

(iii) Finance Module - FA&CAO Office.

(iv) Sales & Auction Module – Dy. CMM/GSD/CNB & JHS , AMM/RSK/STLI Sr. DMM/S&T/ALD

(v) Uniform Module- ( GSD/JHS, Sr.DMM/JHS, Sr. DMM/AGC & Sr.DMM/ALD ) For better exploitation of its benefits, MMIS has been made web-based using Broadband connectivity. This will allow access to and help in sharing of information between internal and external users. This will also eliminate the requirement of separate servers at all the points of implementation and it will be possible to maintain all the modules from HQ itself. Field Units which are not connected through Rail net shall also be able to use MMIS through internet. Advantages Application tested widely by all the Zonal Railways /PUs. Covers all the activities related with procurement of materials. Easier monitoring of activities at different stages of procurement cycle. Allows answers to day to day queries. Facilitates proper record keeping. Provides last procurement data for initiating new purchases. Scope for other departments Others departments dealing with procurement of materials can also use this application. For offices situated in GM building, separate purchase section can be created in MMIS and they can start using MMIS in the present form. However, if there are any deviations in procurement procedures, MMIS would require to be installed on a separate server and re-customised as per the requirement of the user departments. On Line Supply orders (DGS&D) All supply orders against DGS&D rate contracts are placed online on DGS&D website. Corrigendum issued against DGS&D supply orders is also made online on DGS&D website. NCR Website Stores Department page of NCR website is regularly updated and following information is available on our website:

 i. Organization

 ii. Telephone Number of Stores officers.

 iii. Vendor Registration Procedures, Forms, Registration Status, Renewal Status, Registered Firms, Trade group List.

iv. Instruction to tenderer

 v. General Conditions for supply contract

vi. IR-Stores Code

 vii. Stores Pink Book viii. Schedule of Powers

Q. 311. Write a short note on IREPS.

Ans: E-procurement System is a web based application which will keep procurement data of all the Railways at one place for mutual sharing. A web site “www.ireps.gov.in” has been rolled out by CRIS for this purpose. This web site has an independent web page for NCR for working on E-Procurement System. Tenders generated in MMIS are uploaded on NCR’s web pages. These tenders are encrypted with the help of digital signatures. Venders upload their offers on this web page and encrypt it with the help of the digital signatures in such a way that their offers can not be de-crypted before the pre-determined time of tender opening. Opening of these e-Tenders is done by stores and accounts officials using their digital signatures. Tabulation statements are printed at the time of tender opening itself. All the tenders are being processed through e-procurement system. Implementation of e-procurement system has reduced the time taken in decision of tenders substantially and improved the overall procurement efficiency in Stores Department.

Q. 312. Describe deregistration or suspension of registration. How it is different from banning a business?

Ans: Whenever supplier misbehaves or indulges in malpractices or attempts to cheat the railways, Registration of his firm may be suspended temporarily by zonal railway for a certain period. This is called deregistration or suspension of the firm. This is relatively milder penal action. Banning of business is a serious action that is taken by Ministry of Railways of Vigilance Directorate of Railway Board. Any case of cheating or attempt to cheat or indulging in corrupt practices or anti-national activity can result in banning of business. Banning a business may be at departmental level or all India level. Banning is usually for a specified period but in serious cases, the firm can even be banned for an indefinite period.