22 January 2011
It stands for Government Account (Receipts and Payments)
As per Rule 26 of the Central Government Account (Receipts and Payments) Rules, 1983.
26. Grant of receipted challan by the bank.—
(1) Subject as otherwise provided in these rules or unless the Government direct otherwise in relation to any particular class of transactions, any person or party paying money into the bank on Government account under the provisions of rule 19 shall present with it challan (in duplicate, triplicate or quadruplicate as specified by the concerned Ministry or Department) in Form GAR 7 showing distinctly the nature of the payment, the department or office on whose account it is made, particulars of the concerned Pay and Accounts Office, proper account classification of the credit, and where necessary, information relating to its allocation between Government Department concerned. As far as possible separate challans should be used for moneys creditable to different heads of account.
(2) Save where any other arrangement has been authorised by the Government for the supply of challan forms, printed forms of challan, which may with advantage be bi-lingual, shall be supplied by the departmental officer or by the bank free of charge.