BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The government has released a regulation aiming to punish officials who improperly hand out allowances.

Officials responsible for misappropriating state-owned funds or funds for special use and grant them to individuals in the name of allowances will receive a serious demerit, while those involved in serious cases will be demoted or sacked, according to the Regulation on Punishments for Improperly Releasing Allowances.

The rules, published Friday on the Ministry of Supervision's website, was jointly promulgated by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Finance and the National Audit Office.

Allowances include salaries, living subsidies and retirement funds, as well as bonuses.

Officials may also be demoted or dismissed if they are found to have gained allowance money by defrauding fund-granting units or wielded their power to receive allowances from other organizations.

According to the regulation, violations also include releasing too many allowances or giving allowances to personnel who are not supposed to receive them.

The regulation will take effect on August 1, 2013.