The Charter of Demands for the 7th wage Revison submitted to IBA by constituents of UFBU both workmen/Officers today(30-10-2012) morning -for downloading the document go what is new tab
Combined
Charter of Demands
Submitted
by
ALL
INDIA BANK OFFICERS’ CONFEDERATION [AIBOC]
ALL
INDIA BANK OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION [AIBOA]
INDIAN
NATIONAL BANK OFFICERS’ CONGRESS [INBOC]
NATIONAL
ORGANISATION OF BANK OFFICERS [NOBO]
INTRODUCTION:
The
Charter of Demands represents the hopes and aspirations of entire officers’
fraternity working in the Banking Industry all over the country, owing
allegiance to the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation(AIBOC), All India Bank
Officers’ Association(AIBOA), Indian National Bank Officers’ Congress (INBOC)
and National Organisation of Bank Officers’(NOBO) and other Officers’
organizations in the industry. The Charter of Demands is also a statement of
the demands of the Officers’ fraternity for consideration of the Indian Banks’
Association, an accredited representative forum of the Managements of the
Member Banks and as also acting as the spokesperson on behalf of the Government
of India, in the matter of settlement of compensation system in the Banking
Industry on behalf of their member banks in the country.
PREAMBLE:
The Indian Banking system is highly
respected and appreciated all over the world, in particular in the background
of recent economic catastrophe namely, the collapse of the US economy known for
its robustness and size in global scenario which, has impacted the entire world
upsetting most of the Western countries in particular those who are partners of
US including the close ally UK.
The Indian Banking system not only
absorbed these developments but also remained strong as ever in facing the
global upheaval. The European countries suffered a major setback and the Euro
currency was under pressure. The Indian Banking system not only grew from
strength to strength but stood as rock in the middle of this financial tsunami
and continued its onward march in rendering the economic justice to millions
and millions of the people living below the poverty line. The greatest tribute
to the Indian Banking system is its resilience and the courage to take on the
Basel Norms and to meet all its requirements to show the world that the Indian
growth story is not a myth and it has come to stay.
The entire credit to this super
performance must go to the Bank Officers’ fraternity in the country. They
not only defended the public sector Banks but also acted as a stumbling block
in the ill advised initiative of the Government influenced by the proponents of
the globalization to hand over the industry to the private sector as well as
the multinationals. The Government has revisited the issue of
disinvestment and has been acknowledging the performance of the banks and is
now serious to retain the controlling stake in the Public Sector Banks.
The efficiency of the banks has reached
the international standards. There is neither complaint nor an attempt to
denigrate the Indian Banks on the issue of the ambience in comparison with the
foreign and new generation private sector banks due to the effective measures
adopted by the Managements of the banks. The banks are tech-savvy and are in a
position to acquire and to adapt any latest version of the technology to match
their counterparts all over the world.
How did this transformation happen? This
is mainly due to the fact that the entire officers’ fraternity, committed
to the success of the Indian Banking industry, has given blood and sweat of
their youth in ensuring the success of the banks all over the country. They
have also unmindful of their personal inconvenience and discomfort to the
members of their family, have carried the banking facilities to nook and corner
of the country ensuring Banks to be highly competitive with that of their
counter parts both inside as well as outside the country.
Does the compensation system match these
developments? What is the quality of life of Officers? Whether all the
demands and expectations of the Officers have been fulfilled by the IBA and the
Government in the process. We are concerned to observe that there is a gulf
between the hopes and aspirations of officers and the IBA. We all have to strive to bridge this gap in
the ensuing wage revision/service condition.
Before we proceed to present our Charter
of Demands for the 7th Joint Note exercise let us take a close look
at the job market, the compensation environment prevailing with the peers of
the Public Sector, the owner himself i.e. the Government and above all the new sectors of the economy,
to have a proper assessment and justification for the Charter of Demands.
The discernible
gap of exactly a decade between Nationalization and actual date of
implementation of the Pillai Committee Recommendations ie between 19 07 1969
and 01 07 1979 had caused exacerbating
effect of losing at least one settlement of Standardized pay scales and
allowances to Bank Officers in PSBs(
if not two settlements)
COMPARABLES – INFLUENCE THEREOF:
The immediate comparable position is that
of the Civil servants who had the opportunity of getting their compensation
revised during the year 2006. Some of the major initiatives of the 6th
Pay Commission are:-
ADEQUACY OF THE COMPENSATION FOR
OFFICERS’ CADRE:
For the first time the Commission had
recognized the importance of the Officers’ cadre amongst the civil
servants and has ensured that, they are able to get a competitive compensation
in comparison with the executives in the Private Sector. The major theme that
was introduced in the recommendations to provide a better compensation was the
fear that the Government authorities may not get good, capable and competitive
staff, as the compensation was not commensurate with that of the Private
Sector.
The 6th Pay Commission has gone
into these aspects in an exhaustive manner and has apart from the salary
revision, introduced several new benefits to take care of the extra mileage for
the bureaucrats. Hon’ble Justice Shri Krishna
has also in a substantial manner explained the right sense of relativity
between the clerical staff and officers keeping in tune with the global
scenario. Rationalization of Internal Parity amongst the cadres and grade needs
to be extended to the Bank Officers also.
Two major benefits that he has passed on
to the Civil servants were the introduction of Grade Pay, to ensure better
emoluments and also providing the running scale commencing from the lowest to
the highest level so that no one would be compelled to suffer stagnation as
regards the compensation is concerned. In the 6th Pay commission
Govt. Officers salary had increased to
substantial level compared to Bank officers.
SCIENTIFIC
INCREMENTAL PATTERN:
The
increments have been related to the scales in terms of percentage. It has given
a scientific formula where the increments are directly linked to the automatic
basic pay.
MOVEMENT FROM SCALE TO SCALE:
The Banking Industry experimented this
philosophy long time back. However, a more aggressive pattern is now seen
in the 6th Pay Commission where movement from one scale to another
is automatic and it does not stop at any scale. It would ensure against
stagnation at any scale / stage.
SUPERANNUATION BENEFITS:
One of the salutary impacts of the 6th
Pay Commission is the comprehensive improvements in the case of Pensioners and
Family Pensioners in the Central Government. The improvements made in the
Pension scheme in the areas like updation and upgradation of the Pension, the
rationalization of Dearness Allowance, Family Pension etc., needs to be implemented
in the banking industry as our pension scheme amply speaks of being in the
lines of central govt. pension scheme
PUBLIC SECTOR WORKFORCE
The yet another comparable situation as
far as the Banking Industry is that of the Public Sector units owned by the
Government. The salary revision takes place in respect of the Public Sector
Units along with the civil servants. The 6th Pay Commission scales
with certain modifications in a way more beneficial to the Public Sector
officers have been implemented without any hesitation. Whenever a reference is
made to these developments, the authorities concerned will take lame excuse of
the salary being revised to them on the basis of the Pay Commission which is
once in 10 years. This cannot be justified to cause huge disparity
between Bank Officers and Group “A” Officers. Such erosion in the value of
emoluments defies logic of parity at the time of implementation of Pillai
committee Recommendations. The concept of Merger of DA when it exceeds 50% with
Basic Pay ensures protection of superannuation benefits which is missing in
case of Bank Employees.
PRIVATE SECTOR – NEW SECTORS OF THE
ECONOMY:
NEW GENERATION PRIVATE SECTOR AND FOREIGN
BANKS:
There is a sea of difference in the
emoluments between the new generation Private Sector Banks / Foreign Banks and
the Banking Industry covered by the IBA. These Banks adopt the compensation
system that is prevailing in the new sectors of the economy on the plea of attracting
the best talent in the financial sector. The same is true in the case of Public
Sector and old generation banks as well. The fear has come down drastically in
the recent past in view of the fact that there is vast workforce available in
the market. The competitive environment is such that the performance of the New
Generation Private Sector Banks is always quoted as a model for others
including the Old generation Private and Public Sector Banks, whenever the
issue of compensation in comparison with them is raised. The efficiency
parameters are similar and hence the factors of compensation system prevailing
in the New Generation Private Sector and Foreign Banks should be extended to all
Bank Employees as well.
Some of the benefits that they enjoy over the
banks are: (a) the annual assured bonus; (b) the employees’ stock
option plan (c) the liberal reimbursement of expenditure incurred on
recreation, lunch, travel, (d)meeting
the tax obligations etc., with attractive career prospects.
7TH JOINT NOTE EXERCISE
The 6th Joint Note is to expire
on 31.10.2012. The workforce in the banking industry is therefore
eligible for a fair salary revision from 01.11.2012.
EXPECTATION OF BANK
OFFICERS’ FRATERNITY & PRECIOUS
ASSETS FOR THE BANKS:
- Each and every Bank
Officer in the country takes pride in his contribution to the success of
the banking industry. He / she is an integral part of the financial
sector machinery, which undertakes the responsibility of ameliorating the
living conditions of millions and millions of the population in the
country.
- This contribution,
which he / she have been making, should reflect in his compensation
system. This compensation system should be a comprehensive one, comparable
with the peers in the economy of the country and above all one should have
pride of his profession through the compensation package he / she has.
- Compensation system
should also take care of the tremendous sacrifice that the Officers’
fraternity has been making to make the banking industry strong and
efficient even at the cost of his / her own comforts, the family life,
unlimited working hours etc., so that he /she would derive tremendous
satisfaction for having served the industry beyond the call of his / her
duty.
- The Compensation
should also ensure against the erosion of the real wages due to inflation
and adequately take care of his / her social obligation and cultural
requirements, the need for maintenance of standard of life that the
members of his / her family deserve through his / her services to the industry.
- The compensation
system should be so attractive that one should aspire to go higher in the
ladder of the career and continue his / her commitment and conviction to
give the best to the institution.
- Compensation package
should be adequate to attract the best of the talents from the market to
join the Bank services.
- There should be a
regular system of automatic upgradtion of scales upto Scale IV, having
regard to the steep levels of stagnation and resultant demotivation
amongst the officers.
For the purpose of focused negotiations,
the compensation package is divided into different parts. The immediate
attention should be to revise all the monetary areas in one part. The others
are further divided into package of Perquisites and other allowances, including
the Welfare areas. The third part shall be consisting of superannuation
benefits. There is an exclusive part dealing with the issues connected with the
lady Officers and another part on disciplinary matters in the banking industry.
The other general issues have been grouped
into two separate chapters.
The first one will deal with the issues
such as working hours, 5 days a week, compensation for extra working hours,
holidays and weekly off days etc.,
The second part aims at bringing the
Officers service conditions in the banking industry on par with the Public Sector
servants in view of higher level accountability and mobility to make a strong
case for a fair and comprehensive revision in favour of Bank Officers, a
genuine and just aspiration.
The Charter of demands and settlements
shall be applicable to all Public Sector Banks, Private Sector, RRB Sector, and
Co-operative sector on an equal footing.
HENCE:
The Charter shall be divided into:
Part I:
Salary Revision and Allowances
Part II: Perquisites, allowances,
welfare facilities viz., leave rules, the encashment, the LFC/LTC,
Medical facilities etc.,
Part III: The issues concerning Lady
Officers.
Part IV: Superannuation
– Pension, Provident Fund, Gratuity Etc., including all the
benefits that are to be extended to retirees in the Banking Industry
Part V: Non monetary
issues, comparable position in the Government and its extension etc., issues
such as the working hours, 5 days week etc.,
Part VI: General Bilateral Relationship
PART I
SALARY AND ALLOWANCES: BASIC PAY:
Date of effect – 01.11.2012
The last couple of revisions were an
exercise of merging of DA payable upto a certain level of CPI with Basic Pay
and thereafter providing certain cushion (load) for the construction of the
scales with appropriate Increment pattern.
We need to take a fresh look at the way
the scales have to be constructed with a view to have higher start to ensure
that the promotion provides reasonable compensation to officers in comparison
with award staff scale. The higher start will provide proper
differentials on promotion and motivation for promotion.
The span of the scales should be
redesigned to ensure that there is continuity in the drawing of the increment
without break even if the promotions are not assured to all the Officers.
One way of achieving this could be through the integration of the scales and
the other one would be to elongate the existing scales with annual increments.
We tentatively suggest the merger of
scales to reduce number of scales in tune with the 6th Pay
Commission. Further, there should be automatic movement to the pay of immediate
next higher scale in the revised two scale format. Accordingly, we suggest that
the present 7 scales be reduced to 2 scales as follows:
Scale I – Manager Grade
– Integration of the present Scale I to IV
Scale II– Executives Grade
– Integration of Scale V, VI & VII
GRADE PAY:
In order to provide higher emoluments on
promotion as has been done in the case of the Government servants at every
scale/grade, we should introduce Grade Pay, which will be a sort of incentive
to the supervisory cadre for taking higher responsibilities in the bank. It may
be recollected that, until the introduction of Pillai Committee
Recommendations, the banks had a system of providing post allowances in various
forms which was taking care of the higher responsibilities and was providing
tremendous amount of satisfaction to supervisory cadre. Bank Officers
were also compensated earlier in case of transfer from State to State.
The quantum of grade pay should
commensurate with and could be related to the revised scales and refixed at the
end of each scale within the merged scale.
The grade pay should be treated as pay for all purposes.
DEARNESS ALLOWANCE:
The existing Dearness Allowance is based
on a formula arrived through the merger of index at every revision. Taking into
account the unabated price rise and
mounting inflation and the cascading effect that it has brought on the
real value of compensation though stated to be 100% need to be relooked as the
erosion has hurt everyone. Hence the
neutralization should be appropriately increased from the present level. It is
a mere arithmetical calculation and hence suffers from several inequities. The
inequities should be rectified by rationalizing the existing formula for the
purpose of calculation of the Dearness Allowance. The first and foremost
consideration should be to refix the compensation rate for every point of
increase. The current rate of 0.15 per slab of 4 points should be re-fixed for
the purpose of post merger neutralization instead of working out mere
arithmetical equation. To be specific the neutralization which is at present
100% should now be increased to 125%. The conversion factor should be
recalculated accordingly.
The inflation figures are now arrived at fortnightly
basis in order to workout the economic growth of the country. The inflation is
on a day to day basis and the periodicity of price fluctuation is on day to day
basis and in certain instance it is on hourly basis. There has been no instance
of the index coming down in the last several years and it has been on the
increase. The inflation should be compensated then and there only. We
feel that,once the figures are available for the purpose of calculation of the
monthly index – the Dearness Allowance should be worked out and the
compensation passed on to the workforce, on a monthly basis per point of
increase
Thanks to the introduction of technology
in banking system the HRMS departments are equipped with wonderful software and
centralized payment system, where the compensation is calculated within no time
and the same is being passed on to the members of the staff in almost all the
banks. Hence, there is no problem in shifting over from the current system of
quarterly revision of dearness allowance to the monthly revision. This
is one way of reasonably protecting the real wages of the workforce in the
industry. The delay in announcing the index figures should be compensated by
paying arrears for the month the index figure relates.
Example: - For the month of June the
figures are released on 31st July and DA is applicable with effect
from 1st August. We suggest that the DA should be applicable
with retrospective effect from 1st July to ensure virtual compensation
for the inflation.
MERGER OF INDEX FOR THE PURPOSE OF
CONSTRUCTION OF SCALES:
We
propose that the average consumer price index for industrial workers for the
quarter ending 30th September 2012 which was at 4876 (1960=100)
(rounded off) be taken for the purpose of merger of Dearness Allowance for
construction of Scales.
AUTOMATIC MERGER OF DEARNESS ALLOWANCE:
In line with the concept of pay Commission
recommendations there should be mid review of the scales by merging Dearness
Allowance payable at the end of 2 ½ years. To be specific the
revision date is 01.11.2012 – up to 2 ½ years i.e., on 30th
April 2015 the Dearness Allowance payable to be merged and paid as revised
pay. The Principles adopted by the Pay Commission for the purpose of merger
of DA and other allowances should be followed Mutatis Mutandis in case of Bank
Employees.
PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATION PAY:
At present the Professional Qualification
Pay is paid only in respect of CAIIB. However, with the passage of time
revolutionary changes have taken place in the matter of banking business. The
diversification, which we have witnessed, calls for specialization in different
academic fields. We therefore are of the opinion that the officers should
be adequately compensated for the various professional qualifications they
possess during their career in the bank apart from the existing CAIIB
qualifications.
We propose that the existing pattern
should be revised as under:-
EXISTING
REVISED
Part I One
increment
One increment
Part II One
increment
Two increments.
The current system of payment of PQP
should be revised as under:
Part I - The PQP should be
equal to the amount of the last one increment drawn at the end of the new
scale.
Part II - The PQP should be equal to
2 increments in the last stage of the scale (Part I - one increment and
Part II two increments total – 3 increments)
The additional increments shall be granted
for acquiring additional qualifications in Business Management, CISA, Treasury
Management, Technology, MCA, LLB, RISK, Audit, Costing, HR etc and be
considered for sanction of PQP on reaching maximum in the scale.
FIXED PERSONAL PAY (FPP):
We propose that FPP should be treated on
par with PQP in respect of fitment of Basic Pay on promotion and payment of all
other allowances. The fixed character now in existence should be done
away with. The FPP shall be reworked on promotion. FPP should be defreezed and the last increment
in that scale coupled with DA should be paid.
HOUSE RENT ALLOWANCE:
It is incumbent on the part of the banks
to provide accommodation to each and every officer wherever he is posted or
wherever he desires to have his family accommodated with a view to ensure that
the medical and educational facilities are not denied to them.
He should have the option of choosing the
drawing of HRA or availing the housing accommodation provided by the Bank. HRA
should be paid as per the 6th Pay commission on area wise basis.
The gap between the Housing accommodation
provided on lease and the HRA paid to them in lieu of Housing accommodation is
so wide that the Officers feel that they are discriminated when they opt for
the receipt of HRA in lieu of the leased housing accommodation. Hence the
payment of HRA should have correlation to the prevailing leased rentals.
The practice of deducting a portion of the
Basic Pay towards the quarters / leased accommodation / furniture provided
should be done away with.
HRA ON CAPITAL COST BASIS:
For the purpose of calculation of HRA on
capital cost basis the present market value of the property should be reckoned
instead of the original cost of construction.
HRA linked to rent receipt / capital cost
to be enhanced to 200% of the House Rent Allowance.
USE OF OWN HOUSE IN LIEU OF LEASED
ACCOMMODATION:
The Officer should have an option to offer
his own house to the Bank for the purpose of leasing and occupy the same to
avoid frequent shifting of the house and also have the opportunity of living in
his own house.
OFFICIATING PAY:
The existing rate of officiating allowance
should be re-fixed and the paltry percentage prevailing at present should be
revised to 10% of the last stage of the Scale. This pay should be paid to all the officers
who officiate in the next higher grade even for a period of less than 7
days. The officiating allowance should
be treated as part of the pay for DA superannuation purpose also.
DIFFERENTIAL ON PROMOTION:
The differential on promotion from one
Scale to other in the Officers Cadre should be atleast equivalent to 20% of the
Basic Pay and allowances last drawn. In any case the differential should
not be lower than the officiating allowance to ensure against reduction of
emoluments on promotion. A comprehensive fitment formula should be
evolved with the negotiating unions in the industry level.
CITY COMPENSATORY ALLOWANCE:
The existing classification of centre
should be reviewed classified in the following categories:-
CATEGORY CENTRE
I Major Metro
Kolkata,
Delhi
Pune, etc.,
II Metros (Area I) All centres with more than 12 lakh
Population and State Capitals
III Centres with
population of 1 lakh and above and all District Head quarters
RATES
OF CITY COMPENSATORY ALLOWANCE:
Category
I
- 20% of Basic Pay
Category
II -
17.5% of Basic Pay
Category
III - 15% of
Basic Pay
INCENTIVES FOR WORKING IN RURAL CENTERS
AND OTHER SENSITIVE AREAS:
It is necessary to provide incentives to
all those officers who are posted to serve in the rural areas/most sensitive
and difficult areas/ areas with security problems/ areas of weather aberrations
in different parts of the country.
We propose that the following incentive
may be provided to the officer concerned;
- An additional
allowance to the extent of 20% of the Basic Pay drawn by him;
- Weightage for the
purpose of Promotion
- Choice place of
posting on completion of the assignment
- An additional LTC to
enable him to meet the family etc;
CLOSING ALLOWANCE:
All officers irrespective of the office of
posting/ i.e. branch/administrative office etc., should be paid the closing
allowance equal to 15 days of their salary once in 3 months.
HALTING AND TRAVELLING ALLOWANCES
- Review and
rationalization of Halting/Boarding/Travelling expenses.
- The Boarding
expenses should be linked to lodging expenses.
- The existing system
of allowing banks to fix the rates of reimbursement periodically should
continue with a provision to review them annually.
- All officers should
be eligible for travel by Air, irrespective of distance with Executive
Class entitlement for Senior Management.
- For places not
connected by Air, Officers should be permitted to travel by AC-Ist
Class by rail.
DATE OF SANCTION OF ANNUAL INCREMENTS:
Increments
falling due between 1st January to 30th June should be
sanctioned on 1st January of the year itself. Increments
falling due between 1st July to 31st December should be
sanctioned on 1st July of the year itself.
PROTECTION OF ANNUAL INCREMENTS – STAGNATION RELEASED:
An allowance equal to the amount of last
drawn increment should be granted every year after reaching the maximum in the
scale. The allowance so granted should be treated as Basic Pay for all
purposes.
REMOVAL OF EMBARGO ON SANCTION OF
STAGNATION INCREMENTS, PQP AND AUTOMATIC MOVEMENT:
The present Embargo in regard to the
sanction of stagnation increment, automatic movement and PQP in
respect of those officers who have refused promotion should be removed.
PART- II
PERQUISITES, OTHER ALLOWANCES AND WELFARE
FACILITIES:
The perquisites and other allowances as
well as welfare facilities provided by the banks and settled at the industry
level should not be reckoned for the purpose of arriving at the cost of wage
revision. It is an essential area of functional expenditure, as in the
case of business promotion in other sectors of the economy. We therefore propose that the following
benefits should be treated under this heading. The Bank should bear the tax on
perquisites.
POST ALLOWANCE:
Post allowance should be reintroduced in
order to provide incentive for officers for working in the most competitive
sector, to compensate him for taking additional load on account of
diversification, technology initiative etc.,
- 25% of the Basic Pay
should be paid as post allowance to all designated officers viz., Branch
Managers, Divisional Managers, etc.,
- 20% of the basic to
other officers.
RISK
ALLOWANCE :
Risk
Allowance should be introduced to provide cover
to all lending risks to all sanctioning authorities at all grades as
present dynamics of banking involves various types of risks beyond the normal
prudence of banking.
Disturbed Area Allowance
:
Disturbance Area
Allowance of 20% of Basic Pay should be paid to officers working in the branches which comes under disturbed
area and Terrorist prone areas called as The Red Corridor.
MEDICAL REIMBURSEMENT:
The existing Medical benefits should be
rationalized as under:
The family of the Officer, which includes
the spouse, the parents, the dependent unmarried children including step
children and legally adopted children, physically challenged brothers / sisters
with 40% or more disability should be extended 100% reimbursement for the purpose
of hospitalization as well as domiciliary treatment. This should continue even
after retirement.
The definition should be further enlarged
to include deserted widowed sisters , daughters and unmarried brothers and
sisters without physical disability.
Reimbursement of annual medical aid should
be enhanced.
The IBA should also take immediate steps
to revise the existing norms in respect of the income criteria in respect of
the dependents and the same should be increased suitably.
HOSPITALISATION CHARGES:
Reimbursement of domiciliary treatment and
hospitalization – diagnostic investigations etc., should be actual expenditure
incurred by delinking from the AIIMS rates.
The rates so fixed should be revised annually.
Comprehensive Review to be made to include
Hi-tech investigations, surgeries and ailments which are not presently covered
under the scheme. Reimbursement towards
ailments under Dental, Ophthalmic, Orthopedics, which do not require
hospitalization should also be considered under the scheme.
Master Health Check-up for the officer and
his / her spouse once in two years if the officer’s age is less than 50 and
every year if the officer crosses 50 years of age.
LEAVE FARE CONCESSION:
We need to review the existing scheme in a
comprehensive manner.
The entitled mode of travel should be made
as air travel to all officers
For Senior Management Cadre it can be
executive class.
The encashment of leave fare concession
should be the actual expenditure he / she would have incurred had the officer
traveled actually by entitled class.
Foreign Travel to be allowed within the
entitlement upto the maximum distance permissible in India
The IBA should take up with the Government
and seek exemption from payment of income tax whenever the amount is drawn on
the basis of encashment.
SPECIAL ALLOWANCES:
The existing special allowances paid to
different places should be revisited and revised in a comprehensive manner for
example in places like J &K, Sikkim, North Eastern States, Himachal
Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, the red corridor and other
similar centers.
The hardship allowance should be redefined
and new areas should be added on the basis of the norms already available. It
should also be revised wherever it is already being paid.
All the officers serving in those places should
also get these allowances in order to meet the higher cost of living etc., and
wherever it is paid, it should be suitably reviewed.
EXGRATIA:
The concept of minimum exgratia should be
reintroduced in a rational manner. Exgratia is now available to all the
Employees in Private Sector Banks, Foreign Banks etc., which has created a
serious differential in the emoluments between the workforce in the Public
Sector and other sectors. It is also prevalent in Govt. Sector such as Railways/
Postal and in Public Sector Undertakings. Hence, an amount equivalent to
not less than one month’s gross salary should be paid as exgratia to all.
COMMERCIAL BANKING ALLOWANCE:
In view of the onerous responsibilities of
conducting commercial banking operations involving risk, officers should be
paid Commercial Banking Allowance as prevailing in the Reserve Bank of India
PART III
ISSUES CONCERNING LADY OFFICERS:
Thanks to the awareness that has been
created amongst the women in the country over the last several years to excel
on par with men in all walks of life, the intake of the lady officers in the
banking industry has very substantially increased in almost all the banks. It
is nearly 50% of the total recruitment in some of the banks and it may increase
in due course due to the changing demographic profile of employable educated
youth.
They are also to-day accepting challenging
postings, transfers, and specialized areas in the banks without any
hesitation. They are now in a position to accept higher responsibility in
their career and look to head the institutions eventually.
The Officers Organisations have been
receiving a number of representations, memorandum and also resolutions
highlighting the problems of the lady officers through the various conferences
as well as the Women’s wing. Based on these feelers and suggestions, it has
been decided to exclusively devote a chapter to consider their special
situation and demand appropriate relief from the Indian Banks’ Association.
(a) PLACEMENT AND POSTINGS:
One of the major concerns of the lady
Officers has been their placements and postings in the banks. The country is
yet to develop in the matter of infrastructure, the facilities exclusively to
the lady members in different places. Hence, a separate Transfer / placement
Policy taking into account the problems of the lady officers should be designed
and forwarded to the member banks by IBA. The IT sector is a classical example
where a lot of sympathy is shown to the women employees in the matter of
posting and placement in order to get the best from them. Yet another major
consideration is their safety and security at different centers.
The
lady Officers need to be extended the benefit of flexi-time and flexi-place
concept. They should be given choice of their place at the time of transfer and
placement keeping their difficulties in view. The Banks should be advised
to keep one exclusive lady Officer in charge of Personnel Administration
in all the Banks to attend to their exclusive issues including transfer,
placement etc.
The
lady Officers whose spouses are working elsewhere should be accommodated at the
same place. Similarly, where the wife and husband are employed in the same
bank, they should also be accommodated at the same centre.
(b) PROVISION OF CRECHE FACILITY:
The
Banks should provide Creche facility for the benefit of children of lady
Officers who are required to attend to office as the children need parental
attention.
(c) LEAVE FACILITIES:
The
existing Maternity Leave of 6 months at a time should also be extended in case
of adoption of a child (from present 3 months).
3
months’ additional sick leave be sanctioned after attaining the age of 45
years as lady officers are prone to diseases at this age.
Child
Care leave as applicable to the Central Government employees should be made
available to lady officers.
(d) PATERNITY LEAVE:
The
Paternity leave of 30 days should be introduced for officers on 2 occasions.
(e) LFC/HTC:
Spouse
employed in the same bank to be permitted to avail LFC separately as per
individual eligibility. The lady officers should be permitted to take their
dependent parents and parents in law along with them on LFC/LTC.
(f) DEFINITION OF FAMILY:
The parents, father-in-law &
mother-in-law, dependent of an officer, sons and daughters, brothers and
sisters divorced or deserted, daughters or sisters etc to be treated as members
of family for the purpose of LFC/HTC and medical facilities.
PART IV
SUPERANNUATION BENEFITS:
The employer has an obligation to ensure
that the employees having served the institution almost life time are provided
adequate superannuation benefits so that they are able to live a life of
dignity, honour and above all a comfortable life for having given their blood
and sweat to the institution.
The superannuation expenditure cannot be
considered as a cost and be made subject matter of negotiations. The
compensation paid in the form of superannuation have been described by the highest
court of the country as deferred wages paid to all those who served the
institution with devotion and conviction for ensuring the prosperity, not only
for the institution but the nation as well.
At present, the Banking Industry has
provided for the benefit of Gratuity, the Provident Fund or Pension, Leave
Encashment at the time of retirement, Medical facilities, and several other
welfare facilities.
We strongly feel that there has to be an
exclusive and a comprehensive dialogue between the Officers Organisations and
IBA as to the improvements that are required to be made in the present
superannuation benefits.
PENSION:
The Banking Industry has introduced the
Pension Scheme with effect from 1.1.1986 after protracted discussions and
negotiations between the Officers’ Organizations/unions and the Indian Banks’
Association in the year 1993. The Pension Scheme has remained as such
since the beginning of the scheme in the Banking industry.
The Government servants have seen two pay
commissions during this period and if we consider the date of implementation as
1.1.1986 there have been 3 Pay Commission reports providing very comprehensive
improvements in the superannuation benefits to the civil servants in the
Government.
The Pay Commissions have taken a very
pragmatic view in the last 3 Pay Commission Reports and have made very
substantial changes in the scheme. There is a need to take the same view as
regards the Pensioners in the banking industry as well.
The periodical review of Pension scheme is
the responsibility of the Managements of the Banks. It cannot be tagged
to bipartite settlements which has adversely affected the pensioners and
ultimately the pension scheme remain as an archaic one in the Banking
Industry. As and when there are improvements in the central Govt. Pension
scheme, the IBA should invite the negotiating unions and implement the same
Pension consists of the following parts:-
- Basic Pension
- Commutation
- Dearness
Allowance
The Basic Pension is calculated on the
basis of the last drawn 10 months’ average pay by the retirees or the last pay
drawn whichever is beneficial to the retiree. The formula has remained
the same.
The Government servants have been provided
the benefit of updating of pension at periodical intervals to provide
sufficient cushion against inflation and cost of living.
Dearness Allowance be converted as Basic
Pension as and when the cost of living index increases by about 50%. The
Pensioner will therefore have the benefit of enhanced Dearness Allowance and it
provides a small cushion against the inflation.
The other method adopted by the Government
is to bring all the pensioners on a uniform scale by merging the Dearness
Allowance at the time of revision as recommended by the Pay Commission.
The facility of upgradation of pension above the age of 80 years be made
available to Bank Officers as prevalent in Government. We therefore suggest as
follows:-
BASIC PENSION:
Improve the present Basic Pension in
respect of all the earlier retirees on the basis of the merger of Dearness
Allowance at a level to be decided by mutual understanding between the IBA and
the Officers’ organizations and unions.
COMMUTATION:
The present rate of Commutation has to be
revised to 40% with the existing conversion factor. The full pension be
restored after 10 years.
DEARNESS ALLOWANCE:
The DA formula and neutralization should
be at par with serving officers.
GENERAL:
The voluntary retirement provided in the Officers
Service Rules should be incorporated in the Pension rules and they should also
be made eligible for Pension without any discrimination.
Pension scheme should be extended to all
those who have been denied earlier on the basis of the misinterpretation of the
understandings reached with IBA in particular those who retired under voluntary
retirement scheme as per the service regulations / resigned after completing 20
years.
The officers who joined the bank between
01.11.1993 and 26.01.1996 have to be covered under the pension regulations.
Provision of additional service as per the
Pension Regulations to the extent of 5 years should be extended to each and
every retirees in the banking industry.
Those having relaxation of age at the time
of recruitment on account of disability etc., also to be extended additional
period of 5 years to his / her service qualifying for pension.
Also, for Ex-servicemen their past
services rendered in the Armed Force should be added to his / her service for
qualifying for pension.
FAMILY PENSION:
The Family Pension should be on par with
the Government and be at 30% of last drawn pay by the officer across the board
to every one. The regular family pension will be payable for 10 years or till
the 70th year of notional age of the deceased.
NEW PENSION SCHEME
The employees and officers who joined the
banking industry on or after 01.04.2010 should be governed by the original
pension settlement signed on 29th October 1993 and Gazetted in the
year 1995.
GRATUITY:
The Gratuity should be paid at the rate of
one month salary and allowances without any ceiling. The gratuity should
be completely exempt from payment of income tax.
PROVIDENT FUND:
The Provident Fund should be at the rate
of 12% of the total salary and allowances. The Provident Fund should be payable
to all employees.
ENCASHMENT OF LEAVE:
Encashment of entire leave at credit
should also be permitted on resignation, removal and compulsory
retirement.
The existing ceiling on encashment of
leave should be enhanced to 360 days at the time of resignation /
superannuation. The entire amount should be exempted from income tax as
in the case of the Central Government Employees.
MEDICAL BENEFIT SCHEME:
A comprehensive Medical Scheme for
pensioners/ retirees should be framed and introduced in all the banks as
available now in the case of executive directors and CMDs of the Banks.
WELFARE ACTIVITIES:
A separate allocation of funds for
improvements to welfare of the pensioners should be made every year. The
facilities like Holiday Home, clinics, Transit House etc., should be made
eligible for pensioners also.
LFC/ HTC FACILITY:
LFC / HTC Facility should be extended to
the retirees also at par with serving employees.
Part V
NON - MONETORY – ISSUES RELATING TO
WORKING ENVIRONMENT ETC.,
GENERAL ENVIRONMENT – AMBIENCE
– WORKING HOURS ETC.,
It is the duty of the banks to provide an
appropriate environment, ambience and above all the HR systems at all branches.
The officers’ fraternity should also be provided with all amenities such
as supply of refreshment, beverages etc., inside the branch premises in view of
the pressure of work, long stay in the office etc.,
The environment should afford an
opportunity for full exposure of the creativity and also efficiency of the
officers while discharging their duties to the customers as well as the
branches.
The banking industry is now equipped with
excellent technology advancement, continuous updation of computers, servers
etc., there is therefore a need for the Management to adopt appropriate HR
initiatives to encourage and motivate the Officers to acquire knowledge in
these fields and give their best to the institution.
The Banking Industry is entrusted with the
responsibility of enhancing the economic prosperity of the country and also the
GDP growth with a view to enhance the standard of living of the common
man. The management should ensure that reasonable working hours are fixed
rather than pressurizing the officers which may lead to failure and resultant
loss of health or upset the officers’ routine. Hence, the working hours
for officers should be defined and regulated.
5 DAYS WEEK:
Five Day week is
already available in the international banking system. It is also available in our country in RBI,
Central and State Governments and in Public Sector Undertakings. Hence, it should be introduced immediately in
the entire banking industry.
The working hours should not exceed 36.5
hours in a week. The daily working hours should not be more than 6.5 hours in
the normal course.
Any working hours, more than 7 hours a
day, should be compensated monetarily to the extent of twice the actual hourly
salary in the normal course.
They should also be made eligible to take
weekly off to the extent of additional hours of duty rendered by them.
The Officers who are called upon to work
on weekly-off days and holidays, should be compensated as above and in addition
be permitted a compensatory off on a date convenient to them and such weekly
offs be credited to the leave account.
LEAVE RULES:
The existing leave rules will have to be
comprehensively reviewed and made officers friendly and flexible as available
in several other sectors of the economy.
The availing of leave should be made
flexible. The officers should be free to avail the leave as and when
required. They should also have the benefit of splitting the day into
hours and half-day, full-day etc., and longer period as in the case of several
other corporates.
TYPES OF LEAVE:
The existing system of maintaining
separate leave accounts may be done away with. A common account of leave
should be introduced where they should be able to combine all types of leave
into total number of days of leave available to them and use the same as per
their own requirement.
However for the purpose of better
understanding we re-produce the types of leave available and the need to review
the same.
- Casual leave should
be increased to 15 days;
- Privilege Leave – 33
days in a year.
- Sick Leave 15 days
in a year ( on full pay) without any ceiling;
- Restricted
holidays: A minimum of 10 days in a year for festivals and other
personal, religious functions etc., may be permitted to be availed as
holidays by the officers.
- Special leave for
study, sports, social and cultural activities
- Leave on loss of pay
- Sabbatical leave
INTRODUCTION OF LEAVE BANK:
The leave so calculated should be credited
to the leave account of the officer on a consolidated basis. The officer should
be eligible to avail the leave on the basis of his requirement. The
intermittent holidays and weekly offs should be excluded while sanctioning
leave.
The Officer should have the opportunity of
encashing the balance available in the consolidated leave account once in a
year to the extent of 50% of the leave available in his account at the
beginning of the subsequent year. Further, an officer should be permitted
to encash the entire leave at his credit at the time of retirement including
sick leave and no ceiling should be imposed for accumulation of leave. The
officer may be permitted to transfer leave to another officer in case of need
for medical purpose.
OUTSOURCING
:
Work done on a
regular basis should not be outsourced.
DISCIPLINARY RULES PROCEDURE:
We have submitted a very comprehensive
note to the Indian Banks’ Association for the review of the existing conduct
rules and procedure and to introduce certain changes in tune with the changing
environment. (Copy enclosed) The issue should be discussed for implementation.
ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNALS:
The IBA should take up with the Government,
the introduction of an exclusive Banking Administrative Tribunal for the
banking Industry in order to deal with all the service as well as disciplinary
matters in respect of officers similar to Central Administrative Tribunal.
Discussion
of Disciplinary Action procedure
An exclusive exercise should be carried
out by IBA for bringing appropriate amendments in the Discipline and Appeal
Regulations in due consultation with all the Four Officers’ Organisations.
PART VI
GENERAL
BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP:
The
7th Joint Note exercise on Officers wage revision when resume, will
have a historical significance in the sense that the Management and the
Officers’ organizations have come a long way in the structured negotiation
systems and have matured enough to decide and arrive at a compensation which is
generally acceptable to both the parties. In the process we need to have
a clear demarcation as regards the issues concerning the Officers’ fraternity
and Officers’ organizations should have exclusive right to negotiate on behalf
of the officers in the banking industry. Hence, all the issues connected with
both the directly recruited officers as well as the Officers promoted from
clerical cadre have to be decided between the IBA and the Officers’
organizations. For example, the fitment formula, which is now in a state
of confusion, will have to be discussed and settled between the Officers’ organizations
and the IBA. Similarly the issues of promotion policy, transfer policy, etc.,
will have to be settled bilaterally with Officers’ organizations both at the
bank and the industry level.
STRUCTURED FORUM AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR SETTLEMENT:
The
Officers’ organizations have been holding discussions and negotiations
with the representatives of the Indian Banks’ Association over the last 40
years. The system has got itself streamlined during the last 3 decades and the
issues that are related to the compensation and also certain issues of urgent
nature are brought to the IBA forum and decided between both the parties. There
is a need to structure this conventional arrangement and ensure that all issues
affecting the industry and the impact of the directives of the outside agencies
on the officers’ fraternity are brought to this structured forum and
decided to avoid unnecessary irritations in industrial relations in the banking
industry. The proper detailed and codified account of all discussion should be exchanged.
The
structured forums are already in vogue in all the banks. The issues
referred to the banks by the IBA and the Government is discussed at the bank
level negotiations by each organization which leads to discrepancies in the
implementation of any understandings reached between the organizations and the
management.
Certain
Industry level issues have to be discussed at IBA / Government Level. Hence,
there is a need to have structured forum at IBA / Government for periodical
discussions. Hence, there is a need to bring all such issues/directives of the
IBA and the Government before a structured meeting and settle to avoid frequent
agitation and industrial unrest in the banking industry.
RECRUITMENT / RETIREMENT:
The
Banking industry is in doldrums due to inadequacy of the workforce. The
lopsided policies and the conventional approach of the Government and the Managements
of the banks at the instance of the IBA and the Ministry of Finance have
created a big gap in the average age of the various groups of employees in the
banks. There were no recruitments virtually for more than 2 decades and as a
result, the age difference between the old employee and the new employee is so
wide that the average age of the workforce is adversely affected.
A
close review of the situation should be considered and necessary steps to be
taken for a pragmatic succession plan. The large scale retirement is adversely
affecting the workforce since experienced hands are getting retired where as a
large chunk of new recruits are forced to take up higher positions and the
promotions are getting accelerated in comparison with the earlier situation
thereby causing serious problems of seasoning and grooming of higher level
officers in the banking industry.
A
crash programme should be worked out to tackle this serious issue.
In
view of shortage of manpower, the retirement age should be re-fixed. We
have the following suggestions:-
VOLUNTARY
RETIREMENT:
Redefine
the voluntary retirement and re-fix the minimum eligibility for the
purpose.
AGE OF SUPERANNUATION:
The
age of superannuation to be raised to 65 years for all officers.
WITHHOLDING OF GRATUITY ON RETIREMENT / RELEASE OF TERMINAL
BENEFITS :
The
present adhoc system of withholding gratuity and harsh decision to set off the
gratuity amount towards loss caused etc., should be reviewed keeping in view,
the recent judicial pronouncements. In any case, there should not be
stoppage or denial of gratuity to the officers.
No disciplinary action should be
initiated after superannuation.
All Terminal
benefits should be released pending disciplinary proceedings if bank fails to
complete the proceedings before superannuation as is being done in the case of
CBI cases being pending.
WELFARE FACILITIES:
CEILING :
Present
Ceiling of 3% of net profits to be increased to 5% of net profit without any
ceiling.
LIFE COVER :
Suitable
Life Cover should be taken for normal as well as accidental death.
REVIEW OF LOANS AND ADVANCES
:
In
view of the increase in cost of construction of house and flats, we need to
have a comprehensive review of House Building Advance to officers by suitably
enhancing the limit to Rs.50 lacs at Simple rate of interest without any slab.
Since
the Conveyance Loan has not been revised for long, we need to enhance the Car
Loan limit to Rs.10 Lacs and Two Wheeler Loan limit to Rs.1 lac at Simple rate
of interest without any slab.
The
repayment of the above loans should be extended upto 75 years of age.
ROAD TAX ON VEHICLES:
In
view of All India transferability of officers, the Road tax on vehicles of
different States should be paid by the bank on inter-state transfers.
DATE OF RETIREMENT:
Those
who were born on the 1st of a month to be retired on the last day of
the same month, and not the previous month.
PROTECTION OF EMOLUMENTS:
The
emoluments drawn by an Officer should be protected on his transfer from one
place to another.
TRANSPORTATION OF PERSONAL BELONGINGS:
The
Banks should take the responsibility for shifting the personal effects of the
officers on transfer from one place to another. In the absence of such
facility, the Officers should be reimbursed the full expenditure on certificate
basis.
INCIDENTAL EXPENDITURE ON TRANSFER:
To
meet additional expenditure towards education of children, housing etc.,
officers should be paid two months’ salary to compensate incidental
expenses on transfer. In case of transfer outside the State, 3 months' salary should
be paid towards incidental expenses. In case of transfers to far off
centers and the places of inclement weather and living conditions, there has to
be high compensation as incidental expenditure on transfer.
OTHER ALLOWANCES SUCH AS HILL AND FUEL ETC.
All
the allowances other than what have been covered in the earlier chapters should
be enhanced appropriately.
AREAS DECLARED AS SEZ/NEZ/EPZ:
The
branches coming under the above areas should be treated on par with Metro
Centres for all allowances and perquisites.
SPECIAL ALLOWANCE TO NORTH EAST, SIKKIM
Special allowance as prevailing in Central
Government/RBI for Officers serving in these areas should be extended to Bank
Officers.
IMMUNITY FROM TRANSFER POLICY, SPECIAL PRIVILEGES TO
OFFICE-BEARERS OF THE ORGANIZATION:
In
view of the positive role played by the Officers Organizations there is a need
to revise the existing arrangements as regards the special leave to the
office-bearers of the organizations. The existing arrangement is grossly
inadequate in comparison with the size and the growth of the banking industry
and equally the membership of the officers’ organization – the
structure of the organization and hence appropriate enhancement in the leave
facility needs to be considered.
The
senior office-bearers of the Officers’ organizations should have the duty
off in view of the fact that they will be dealing with all the personnel
matters relating to the officers’ fraternity and they may not be able to
attend to their deskwork. If the Office Bearers are denied this facility it
would cause great harm to the officers’ organizations in the banks.
The
Office-bearers of Associations should be extended immunity from
transfer/placement. The Central /State level office-bearers should be given
duty-off on par with workmen organizations. The facility is due for review.
THE LOAD FACTOR:
The
negotiations on cost of salary revision should be confined only for the purpose
of deciding the load factor in respect of Basic Pay and Dearness Allowance.
DATE
OF EFFECT:
The
date of effect for implementation of the settlement on the basis of the charter
of demands should be from 1.11.2012.
RIGHT TO SUBMIT SUPPLEMENTARY CHARTER:
The
Officers’ Organizations reserve the right to include, amend or alter the
demands, as made out in the Charter during the course of bilateral
discussions.
All anomalies arising out of Salary
Revision should be resolved irrespective of the cost factor involved.
Long
pending issues on regulated working hours, 5 days week and standardization of
retirement benefits and improvement in compassionate Appoint Scheme should be
discussed before commencement of regular wage revision negotiations.
(P.K.SARKAR) (D.S. RISHABADAS) (S. NAGARAJ)
CONVENOR
GENERAL SECRETARY GENERAL SECRETARY
UFBU AIBOC AIBOA
(K.K. NAIR) (S. U. DESHPANDE)
GENERAL SECRETARY GENERAL SECRETARY
INBOC NOBO
Mumbai 30.10.12 ---------------------------------------------
ANNEXURE
DISCIPLINARY & VIGILANCE
PROCEEDINGS
Issues
to be considered
(i)
Classification
of Misconduct
(ii)
Abuse
of the omnibus conduct Rule
(iii) Authority for imposing
Major Penalties
(iv) Definition of Moral
Turpitude & amendment of B.R.A.
(v)
Disposal
of disciplinary cases & appeals
(vi)
Copy
of CVC/CVO advice
(vii)
Provision
of Personal Hearings
(viii)
Interpretation
& Effect of Penalties
(ix)
Debarment
period
(x)
Sanction
of Prosecution/Arrest
(xi)
Suspension
& Subsistence Allowance
(xii)
Defence
Representatives- No.of pending cases
(xiii)
Agreed
List- LODI
(xiv)
Jurisdiction
of CAT
(xv)
Proceedings
after Retirement
(xvi)
Issuance
of Charge Sheet
(xvii)
Other
issues
(i)
CLASSIFICATION OF MISCONDUCT
In the Officers Service Regulations, Minor
and Major penalties have been classified, but there is no classification of
Minor and Major misconduct. Breach of any provision of the conduct rules is to
be deemed as Misconduct. It is left to be decided by the Disciplinary Authority
(in short DA) whether to initiate
proceedings under Minor/Major penalty clause thereby leaving scope for
subjectivity. In case of Award Staff and also Government employees, major and
minor misconduct has been defined as a result one doesn’t get major penalty for
a minor misconduct. In case of Officers, though a large number of cases of
proceedings under major penalty end up in exoneration or award of a minor
penalty depending upon gravity of misconduct proved after enquiry but in very
many cases of minor misconduct, the officers end up getting a major penalty.
Also, there are mental blocks in the minds of some DAs who think that if Major
Penalty proceedings are initiated, minor penalty or exoneration or withdrawal
of charge sheet etc.cannot be done.
Recommendation
Minor and Major misconducts should be
defined with clear provision that minor penalty or exoneration may be awarded
after conclusion of major penalty
proceedings but major penalty cannot be imposed in cases of defined minor
misconduct.
(ii)
ABUSE OF THE OMNIBUS CLAUSE
Though conduct rules have been elaborated
in the Regulations, the regulations at
the same time contain an Omnibus Clause to fit the misconduct not specifically
defined into the omnibus clause. The tragic reality is that in more than 90-95%
cases, the officers are booked under this Omnibus Clause. It proves beyond
doubt that where misconduct is specifically defined, violation is minimal. But
more importantly, it indicates that there is an unbridled tendency among the
DAs to abuse this provision and any conduct is dubbed as misconduct by invoking
this clause which ought to be attracted in rare cases but which is applied in
an overwhelming number of cases. If this clause is annulled and instead if the
vast variety of misconducts covered under this clause over the last over three
decades are analyzed and specifically provided in the conduct rules, it will
lead to better compliance and minimal breach on the part of the officers. In particular, what is unbecoming of a Bank
Officer must be explicitly stated in the conduct rules.
Recommendation
The omnibus clause in the conduct rules
should be deleted.
(iii) AUTHORITY FOR IMPOSING MAJOR PENALTIES
As per Article 311 of the Constitution of
India, Disciplinary Authority for imposing capital punishment should not be
lower than the Appointing Authority. Since all capital punishments leading to
cessation of service are classified under major penalties, it automatically
follows that for imposing any major penalty, the Disciplinary Authority should
not be lower in rank than the Appointing Authority. Though this principle is
followed in the Government and various other Organisations, including the State
Bank of India
Recommendation
No Authority lower in rank to the
Appointing Authority should be competent to award major penalty.
(iv) MORAL TURPITUDE &
AMENDMENT OF B.R.A.
Though the term Moral Turpitude appear
prominently in the Disciplinary &Conduct Rules and on a great number of
occasions, important decisions to proceed against the Officers or to place them
under suspension have to be taken for the acts involving Moral Turpitude, it is
a queer paradox that what constitutes Moral Turpitude has not been clearly or
exhaustively defined either under law or in the conduct rules, though there are
various court judgments which to some extent explain this term. Existence of a
general provision in the Banking Regulation Act Section 10(1)(b)(i) which
states that no employee who is convicted by a court of law for an act involving
moral turpitude can be continued in service enormously increases the need and
importance of defining what is Moral Turpitude, particularly in the context of
normal day to day bank work in order that large number of bank officers do not
become unwary victims of these provision and suddenly lose their job with no
recourse available or a reasonable hope of
reclaiming the lost job due to a painfully slow and exasperating legal
system and no provision for getting full back wages if the conviction is set
aside later on. When the officer is
convicted, he is summarily discharged or even dismissed without holding enquiry
etc but when the conviction is set-aside after proper trial, the intervening
period is at best treated as deemed suspension for payment of subsistence
allowance only instead of payment of back wages. In the Indian Overseas Bank,
even the subsistence allowance is not paid and this period is treated as break
in service.
To elaborate, the gravity of prejudice
suffered by Officers on account of this while performing the normal day today
duties in the bank can be seen by the fact that Moral Turpitude has been defined
thus in the American settled law:
Moral
turpitude refers generally to conduct that shocks the public conscience.
Offenses such as murder, voluntary man slaughter, kidnaping, robbery and
aggravated assaults involve moral turpitude. However, assaults not involving
dangerous weapons or evil intent have been held not to involve moral turpitude.
Conviction of crimes of moral turpitude may also disqualify someone from an
employment opportunity. The precise definition of a crime that involves moral
turpitude isn't always clear, but the above serious crimes only are always
considered crimes of moral turpitude.
In
terms of the above and umpteen judgments given by the courts in India
Recommendation
Moral
Turpitude should be clearly defined in the conduct rules. In the banking
context, acts of accepting bribe or fraud on the part of the officer himself
should be considered the one involving moral turpitude. Full back wages should
be paid if the officer is held to be innocent and his conviction is set aside
after disposal of appeal. During pendency of the appeal, the officer may be
placed under suspension. Admission of appeal and/or stay against sentence
should be deemed as stay against prosecution for the purpose of compliance of
provisions of Banking Regulation Act since the case is accepted for
retrial. We should also demand from the
government
Suitable
amendment to Sec. 10(1)(b)(i) of the Banking Regulation Act.
(v)
DISPOSAL OF DISCIPLINARY CASES & APPEALS
It is laid down in the special chapter of
CVC Manual that no cognizance of the misconduct will be taken if the action of
the officer is more than two Inspections or four year old provided there is no
fraud in which case there will be no limitation of time. But charge sheet continues to be served even
after lapse of 10 or more years.
Further, though the maximum time permitted for service of charge sheet
and for completion of disciplinary proceedings are laid down, in practice, it
is rarely adhered to. The time for
filing of an appeal against decision of the disciplinary authority as also the
time for disposal thereof are laid down in the said chapter. Though, limitation of time is insisted upon
for filing of the appeal and delay in filing is rarely condoned, the time limit
for disposal of the appeal is rarely adhered to and disposal of appeals in many
cases is delayed for years together.
Consequently, the officers continued to suffer particularly when they
are under suspension or when cessation of service has been effected.
Recommendation
It is recommended that the laid down
instructions should be meticulously followed and no fault should be found with
the act of the officer after 2
Inspections have taken place or a period of four year has expired. Further, if the charge sheet is not served
within the stipulated period of three months or if the entire proceedings are
not completed within the stipulated time of six months as provided in the
Vigilance Manual, the suspension of the officer should be automatically revoked
with back wages and in case the
proceedings are not completed even within a period of one year, the case should
be deemed to have been concluded in officer’s favour and he be deemed to have
been exonerated. In case, the charge sheet
is not filed by CBI within the time
limit of 90 days, bail is automatically
granted but same principle is not applied for revocation of suspension. It is recommended that in such cases,
suspension should be revoked without prejudice to the decision of the Court
case. Similarly, if the appeal preferred
by the officer is not disposed off within the stipulated period of three
months, it should be deemed to have been allowed.
(vi)
COPY OF CVC/CVO ADVICE
As per laid down instructions a copy of
CVC advice is required to be furnished to the delinquent officer. In practice, however, it is observed that the
authorities simply provide the operative part of the CVC advice but the entire
correspondence between the Disciplinary Authority and CVC is not made available
which defeats the very purpose of the provision. Further, there is no system of providing the
advice of the Chief Vigilance Officer of the Bank where CVC jurisdiction is not
attracted. This distinction is wholly
unwarranted. The advice of CVO is at a
lower footing must be furnished when there is explicit provision to provide the
advice of the CVC.
Recommendation
The CVC/CVO advice alongwith the entire
correspondence should be made available.
It is further, recommended that the CVC/CVO should only recommend
category of penalty to be imposed i.e. Major or Minor and not the specific punishment because in
that case he assumes the role of the Disciplinary Authority himself. Further, in case of appeal further reference
should not be made to CVC particularly if the Appellate Authority proposes to
give a lower punishment within the same category already recommended by the
CVC.
(vii)
PERSONNEL HEARING.
The disciplinary procedures have been
gradually evolving in favour of the charged officer and in the past some
favourable changes have taken place like provision of enquiry, making available
report of the Inquiring Authority to the charged officer so that he can argue
against his findings, making available of copy of CVC advice etc. But, an important provision like grant of a
personal hearing to the charged officer before award of the penalty has all
along been denied. As a result, he does not get a chance to argue against the
proposed penalty before hand so that some aspects of the case which might have
escaped the notice of the Disciplinary Authority can be pointed out in good
time and he will be able to take a more balanced and reasoned view. After the final decision is taken by the DA,
it becomes difficult to undo the injustice as there is general reluctance to
correct the mistakes and the appeal system is also loaded against the
employee. There is already a provision
for grant of a personal hearing to the workman employees. Recently, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has
decided in a case related to State Bank of India
Recommendation
The
DA should take a tentative decision and grant a personal hearing to the
charged officer along with his Defence Representative before taking a final
decision. The same procedure should be
adopted by the Appellate Authority / Reviewing Authority while disposing off
the appeal of the officer.
(viii)
INTERPRETATION & EFFECT OF PENALITIES.
While the minor penalties are simple and
easily understandable, some of the major penalties are very technical and can
not be easily understood by the charged officer and even most of the Competent
Authorities. At times promotion of the
officer is withheld when no promotion is actually due to him. This results in undue prolongation of the rigour
of the penalty which might not have been the intention of the DA and the
penalty though minor in effects become harsher then a major penalty. Likewise, penalty of recovery of loss is a
minor penalty and logically a symbolic recovery of small sum should be effected
but at times it is clubbed with a major penalty and amount of recovery runs
into lacs. For example removal of
service with recovery of two lacs.
Further, when an officer is reverted to a lower grade, the reversion is
taken as a permanent reversion unless the officer re-qualifies and earns back
the promotion, whereas in government reversion is for a period of two years
whereafter the officer is placed back in the higher scale from where he was
reverted. It is also a practice to give
more than one penalty like reversion to lower or the lowest grade coupled with
reduction in pay etc.
Recommendation
CCA Rules should be followed in this
respect in the banks also.
(ix)
DEBARMENT PERIOD.
Debarment Rules are different in different
banks. In some banks, there is no
debarment when minor penalty is awarded while in some others debarment period
extends to 15-20 years also. No
debarment period is stipulated in case of the penalty awarded is Reversion to a
lower grade whereas in case of Govt employees debarment period of reversion is
defined. In some organizations, when
criminal proceedings are pending whether for misconduct pertaining to Bank or
some other criminal misconduct, result of the officer is held in sealed cover
throughout the pendancy of criminal proceedings which sometime run for 8-10
years also and sometime beyond the normal retirement date as well.
Recommendation
In case of minor penalty, there should be
no rigor and no debarment for promotion
and results if any placed in the Sealed Cover should be given effect
to. The maximum debarment / rigor for a
major penalty should not be more than one year.
(x)
SANCTION OF PROSECUTION/ARREST
There are different rules in different
banks. The authority empowered to
sanction Prosecution of an officer always acts under the influence / pressure
of the CBI / CVO and is not permitted to act
independent. Further, while provision
has been made for obtention of sanction of the Competent Authority before
launching prosecution against the officer but no such provision has been made
to obtain similar sanction before arresting the officer.
Recommendation
The power to sanction Prosecution of an
officer should be vested in his Appointing Authority. The ground rules should be laid down for giving
sanction for prosecution and the Appointing Authority or the Disciplinary
Authority should be given a free hand to act independently. Once he declines to give sanction, he becomes
a functus officio and sanction cannot be sought unless fresh evidence is
presented before him. A provision should
also be incorporated to obtain sanction of the Appointing Authority before
arresting the officer.
(xi)
SUSPENSION & SUBSISTENCE ALLOWANCE.
Though the instructions provide that an
officer will not be placed under suspension before investigation, in practice
frequent deviations are made. Ground
rules for ordering suspension of an officer are seldom followed. Suspensions are mostly effected as a knee
jerk reaction and is invariably behind the back of the officer without giving
him any hearing. In most cases the
option of transferring the officer instead is not even considered. Once the officer is placed under suspension,
there is virtually no review thereof.
Review mechanism is totally absent.
Review is generally on the papers and in almost all the cases
reinstatement of the officer takes place only after the proceedings are
concluded and final order is passed. At
the time of passing final order, the DA is niggardly in his treatment of the
suspension period. In case of arrest of
an officer, there is provision of deemed suspension after 48 hours of the
arrest but there is no simultaneous provision of a deemed reinstatement after
he is acquitted. There are different
rules about payment of subsistence allowance in the government, in the award
staff within the banking industry and within the different banks.
The Disciplinary Authorities are too
niggardly in the matter of treatment of
suspension period while passing final order. It has been seen that except in cases where
the officer has been exonerated, suspension period is treated as such irrespective of the gravity of the penalty
awarded and nothing more than the
subsistence allowance already paid is paid at the time of reinstatement which is grossly unfair. Benefit of Annual increment also is not given
even for calculation of the subsistence allowance.
Recommendation
Ground rules of suspension must be
meticulously followed. Suspension of an
officer prior to completion of investigation should not be effected. The option to transfer the officer to a
distant place instead of placing him under suspension should be mandatorily
considered as it is good for the officer as well as Bank. In the rare case where suspension of an
officer is the only choice, the officer should be given an opportunity to show
cause before placing him under suspension.
Review of suspension should be regular and meaningful. Suspension should not be continued after
investigation completed since the accused officer would not then be in a
position to tamper with the evidence or influence the witnesses. In case, the bank or the Investigating
agencies fail to serve the charge sheet within the time stipulated in the
Vigilance Manual or the proceedings are not concluded within the given time
frame the officer should be reinstated.
In case of detention beyond a given period or conviction by a Court,
there is a provision for Deemed suspension of the officer. Similar provision of deemed reinstatement
needs to be provided in cases where regular bail is granted or when the
conviction is set aside.
The rate of Subsistence Allowance should
be uniform. For the first three months half the salary and allowances
should be paid and after six months, which is the period provided for completion
of proceedings, subsistence allowance equivalent to full salary and allowances
should be paid.
If the disciplinary proceedings conclude
in the imposition of the minor penalty, the suspension ought to be held as
totally unjustified as already held by the Hon’ble Supreme Court , and full
back wages should be paid. The Committee
was of the view that barring the cases where the penalty awarded is cessation
of service, full salary for the
suspension period should be paid as there is no justification to continue
suspension after the initial few months when investigation is conducted.
Notional annual increment should be taken
into account for the purpose of calculating subsistence allowance and if salary
revision is taking place during the period of suspension, arrears should be
paid for the period prior to date of suspension and enhanced subsistence
allowance from the date of suspension should be paid.
(xii) DEFENCE REPRESENTATIVES
The position is not uniform. In all the Nationalized Banks, Defence
Representatives are allowed to have 2 pending cases at any point of time as
against 3 cases laid down in the CVC
Manual. Only in State Bank of India
Recommendation
There should be no restriction on the
number of cases to be taken up by any defence representative as in the case of
Presenting Officer / Inquiring Authority so that the Officers are not deprived
off the assistance of trained persons who are not easily available and
particularly because officers are not allowed to take the assistance of
lawyers, there is a strong case for allowing the retired officers of the bank
to give this service to the officers of his parent bank.
(xiii)
AGREED LIST / LODI
This list of officers whose honesty /
integrity is taken to be doubtful is prepared at the back of the officers and
in many cases it is not as per the letter and spirit of the laid down
norms. Even where after enquiry the
fraudulent motive is not proved and the penalty awarded is not so serious and
where acquittal is more or less on merit, names of officers are kept in the
LODI and cases are not scarce when officers are unnecessarily put under watch
by placing their names in the agreed list and the officers concerned do not
even come to know about it because the sensitive and non sensitive positions
are interchangeable. The list of
sensitive positions has been exhaustibly drawn up by including a large number
of assignments which are not sensitive at all.
This result into under utilization of talent and experience and in many
cases officer not actually placed in the agreed list when posted to these
assignments get an impression that their integrity are under watch.
Recommendation
There is a need to revisit the issue and
carefully draw the list of sensitive assignments. The officers whose names are placed in LODI LODI
(xiv)
JURISDICTION OF CAT.
The Central Administration Tribunals were
first established in the year 1985 with the laudable objective of reducing the
burden on the various Courts and reduce pendency as also to provide the persons
covered by these tribunals a speedy and relatively less expensive and effective
remedy. The Tribunals have served the
declared objective to a great extent but only the employees of the Central Govt and other notified organizations are
covered. Bank employees have not been
brought within the jurisdiction of these tribunals sofar even though banks are
now owned by the Government. As a result
the bank employees are suffering enormously as they are at the mercy of the
bank management and do not get justice in most of the cases. The handling of the cases in the banks is
highly subjective, perfunctory and whimsical.
However, the bank employees in general and officers in particular keep
suffering and do not in most cases approach the Court of Law because of the
huge cost and delays involved.
Recommendation
Since the tribunals are working
satisfactorily and have now come to stay and through these the working class is
able to get speedy and less expensive adjudication of disputes in respect of
recruitment and condition of services as also the employees are able to
challenge instances of gross miscarriage of justice in disciplinary matters
where Principles of natural justice are violated at will by the Disciplinary / Appellate authorities. We strongly recommend that special
administrative tribunals for bank officers and employees should be set up by
the government.
(xv)
PROCEEDINGS AFTER RETIREMENT.
The provisions in the Service Rules that
Disciplinary proceedings may be continued after retirement of the officer was
kept to take care of the situations where some fraud or gross misconduct is
committed shortly before the superannuation of the officer. However, in practice this provision is
grossly misused and even abused to stall / stop the normal retirement of the
officer by digging out some act of misconduct committed years before the date
of retirement and charge sheets are issued on the very eve of the actual
retirement. Cases are not lacking where
the alleged misconduct was discovered years before the retirement date but the
proceedings like investigation, preliminary explanation etc proceed at snails
pace and actual charge sheet is issued when the officer is on the eve of his
retirement by invoking the provision to keep him in bank’s service for the
limited purpose of completing the departmental proceedings. Resultantly, his retiral benefits are withheld
and the officer is made to undergo all sorts of stigma and social
ignominy. Out of sight is out of
mind. Once the officer is not on the
rolls, the proceedings progress at even slower pace and the officer keeps
suffering for years on end. Government
instructions to put up such cases at least one year before retirement and these
should be subjected to quarterly review by an authority no less than the CEO
himself are not being adhered to.
Recommendation
It should be clearly provided that this
particular rule can not be applied for misconduct which is more than say one
year old at the maximum. Further, this
rule 19 (3), 20(3) in some banks should not be invoked in the last quarter
unless some fraud / act of misappropriation has been unearthed. It should be further provided that if the
proceedings are not completed within three, or at the maximum six months of the date of superannuation, the
retrial benefits will be released. Even
when this rule is invoked and officer is retained in service for the purpose of
completion of proceedings, the amount of leave encashment, which is not a
retrial benefit, should not be withheld.
Further, such officers are being paid provisional pension so that the
organization is not legally called upon to pay salary for the period,
proceedings remain pending. Provisional
commutation value should also be paid.
Similar relief should be provided to officers who are not pension
optees.
(xvi)
OTHER ISSUES
(a)
Effect of criminal proceedings
Since criminal proceedings takes a long
time to conclude and even if decided, against the officer result in award of a
sentence under the law, it should not affect the promotion and / or retirement
of the officer, if it is not related to misconduct pertaining to official
banking transactions.
(b)
Provision of additional documents
As in the case of government employees and
as per the provisions of the CCA Rules on which the bank officers disciplinary
rules are also based, all the management documents must be accompanied with the
charge sheet and additional documents should not be allowed to be presented by
the prosecution side unless so agreed by the charged officer since presentation
of additional documents in case of government employees is taken as amendment
to the charge sheet itself. The existing
rules about amendment of charge sheets may be reviewed.
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