64 1. Daily subsistence allowance 16. A daily subsistence allowance (DSA) is payable for each day involving a required overnight stay away from the expert’s residence (in essence, it is paid on the basis of nights rather than days). This includes travel time both outward and inward, and weekends between meeting weeks, as required. DSA is paid to cover meals, accommodation, local transportation (including taxis), gratuities and any other personal expenses, such as personal telephone expenses. In this connection, experts should be advised that when travelling with OHCHR staff, they would still be required to cover all their personal expenses, including taxis, hospitality and meals. 17. DSA for travel time is payable where official travel starts before midnight. The allowance paid during travel time is the DSA rate applicable for the area of destination, i.e., for a mission to Geneva the expert would receive the rate for Geneva for an overnight flight. For the last leg of a return travel on official business, the allowance is paid at the rate applicable to the last authorized place where the traveller spent the night. 18. The International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) establishes a monthly updated DSA rate for every country and, in some cases, for different regions within a country. The DSA rate paid to experts is the standard rate of DSA plus an additional 40 per cent. The experts receive an additional 40 per cent of the applicable DSA rate to cover representational costs that they may potentially incur due to their official functions. The rate including the 40 per cent allowance is currently SwF 532 for Geneva and $529 for New York but varies depending on the exchange rate. For each travel of an expert on mission outside their country of residence, the applicable DSA rate, including the 40 per cent, is applied. In some instances a fraction of the DSA is paid. If travel does not involve an overnight away from the residence, no DSA will be paid for a journey of less than 10 hours while 40 per cent of the allowance will be paid for a journey of 10 hours or more. An expert who resides at the place of the meeting shall receive DSA at 20 per cent of the usual rate for each full day of attendance to cover their incidental expenses. Finally, DSA is reduced by 50 per cent if accommodation is provided, by 30 per cent if meals are provided or by 80 per cent if both accommodation and meals are provided. 19. When experts are required to attend meetings in Geneva, their DSA will be paid by bank transfer to their bank account or transferred to a local UBS bank account, as indicated below. It is to be noted that the DSA covers accommodation, meals and all other expenses while the experts are on official mission to Geneva. Other expenses such as bank charges or exchange losses should also be covered by the DSA allowance as the United Nations does