Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Discrepancies in the ( Amendment ) Regulations, 2017 notified on 6th November, 2017 in the Gazette of India

We reproduce below the letter on the above subject.
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C N VENUGOPALAN
 Former Director (GOI Nominee) State Bank of Travancore & Ex Manager Union Bank of India
 “Nandanam”  Kesari Junction, North Paravur, Kerala -683 513   Mob: 9447747994
 E – Mail: ceeyenvee@gmail.com
 No. MOF :171113                                                                 13th November, 2017

The Secretary (Banking),
Government of India, Ministry of Finance,
Department of Financial Services,
Jeevan Deep Building, New Delhi – 110 001

Sir,

Notification No. 428 in the gazette dated 6th November, 2017 –
Union Bank of India (Employees’) Pension (Amendment) Regulations, 2017

I write to bring to your attention the discrepancies in the above Pension ( Amendment ) Regulations, 2017 notified on 6th November, 2017 in the Gazette of India for doing appropriate corrigendum notification as the contents are unlawful besides being disastrous and detrimental to the subjects of the regulations and infringes their fundamental rights on the following grounds:
1.    The notification is issued in the name of the Ministry of Finance, Department of Financial Services and it bears the authorization of Shri. R R Mohanty, General Manager (HR).  Whereas there is no such designation in the Department of Financial Services, the matter is to be regularized.

2.    Regulation 3.4 originally stood as :
3.  Application: These regulations shall apply to employees who:
    (4) join the services of the Bank on or after the notified date
          This was substituted vide clause 3 of the notification as:
    (4) join the services of the Bank on or after the notified date and on or before the 31st day of March, 2010.
All employees who joined after the notified date were entitled to the benefit of pension vide sub-regulation 3 (4).  This statutory benefit was cut away with retrospective effect in respect of employees who joined after 31st March 2010 through the amendment without the approval of the Legislature.  This is in gross derogation of section.19.1. and 19.4 of the Act,  pursuant to which the Pension Regulations were made, which are cited under clause 5 below.
THE SUBSTITUTION VIDE CLAUSE 3 OF THE NOTIFICATION HAS THE EFFECT OF MAKING THE EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM CONTAINED IN THE NOTIFICATION THAT “INTEREST OF NO PERSON SHALL BE ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY SUCH RETROSPECTIVE EFFECT” FALSE AS THE INTEREST OF EMPLOYEES WHO JOINED AFTER 31.03.2010 IS DETRIMENTALLY AFFECTED BY CUTTING AWAY THE RIGHT TO PENSION.

3.    Sub-regulation 10 of regulation 3 reads as :
Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-regulations (2), (5), (6) and (8), in cases where an employee had retired /died after retirement on or after the 1st day November, 1993, but on or before the 1st day of April,1995, or where an employee had died while in service of the bank on or after the 1st day of November,1993, but on or before 1st day of April, 1995, such an employee or the family of the deceased employee, as the case may be, shall refund within the period specified in aforesaid sub-regulation the entire amount of the bank contribution to the Provident Fund including interest accrued thereon with a further simple interest at the rate of six percent per annum on the said amount from the date of settlement of the provident fund account till the date of refund of the aforesaid amount to the bank or till the 1st day of April, 1995, whichever is earlier.
The notification states that after sub-regulation 10, the following sub-regulations shall be inserted namely:
(11) were in the service of the Bank prior to the 29th September, 1995 and continue in the services of the Bank as on the 27th April, 2010 provided such employee meets the requirements and comply with the conditions laid down in the settlement;
(12) were in the service of the Bank prior to the 29th September, 1995 and retired after that date and prior to 27th April, 2010 provided such employee meets the requirements and comply with the conditions laid down in the settlement;
(13) were in the service of the Bank prior to the 29th September, 1995 and retired after that date and had died in which case their family shall be entitled to the pension or the family pension as the case may be under these regulations, if the family of the deceased meets the requirements and complies with the conditions laid down in the settlement;
(14) were in the service of the Bank prior to the 29th September, 1995 and died while in service of the Bank after that date in which case their family shall be entitled to the pension or the family pension as the case may be under these regulations, if the family of the deceased meet the requirement and comply with the conditions laid down in the settlement.
In the first place, the newly notified sub-regulations 11 to 14 are not co-related to regulation 3 or to sub-regulation 10 and fail to convey any sense.  This apart, there is no mention of any settlement  in the preamble, definitions or in any regulations, linking the “settlement” to any regulation. 
Secondly, if regulations 11 to 14 are linked to regulation 10, and the Joint Note dated 27.04.2010 is presumed as the settlement, it has the following effects:
a)    In terms of sub regulation 10, retired employee had to pay back CPF along with simple interest at six percent till its refund or till 01.04.1995, whoever was earlier to opt for pension.
b)    In terms of sub-regulations 11 to 14, they have to pay back the CPF paid on retirement along with 56 percent of it to opt for pension.

The new sub-regulations 11 to 14 prejudice the Principle Regulations thus and render them unwarranted in terms of section 19.1.and 19.4 of the Act pursuant to which the Pension Regulations were put in place.
THIS TOO HAS THE EFFECT OF MAKING THE EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM CONTAINED IN THE NOTIFICATION FALSE AS THE INTEREST OF THE RETIRED EMPLOYEES IS DETRIMENTALLY AFFECTED.
Thirdly, the last date of option for pension in terms of regulation 3 for any category of employee / family of employee was 120 days from the notification of the principle regulations on 29.09.1995 which ended on 26.01.1996.  In other words no one can be given an option in terms of the settlement, after the last date of option viz. 26.01.1996 without amending regulation 3 suitably. The options given under the settlement and pension paid on their basis from 27.11.2009 continues to be unlawful, thus affecting the interest of the members of the Pension Fund who opted before 26.01.1996.
4.    Per clause 4 of the notification, after the proviso of the regulation 28 of the said regulations, the following proviso is inserted,  namely:
“Provided further that employees who ceased to be in service on or after 29th September, 1995 on account of voluntary retirement before attaining the age of superannuation but after rendering service for a minimum period of 15 years in accordance with the Scheme framed in this regard by the Board with the approval of the Government, shall be entitled to join the Pension Fund, subject to the compliance of the terms and conditions mentioned in the Scheme”.
In terms of gazette notification dated 13th July, 2002, conveyed by Staff Circular No.4904 dated 8th October, 2002 of the Bank, the following clause was inserted below regulation 28 earlier, namely:
“Provided that, with effect from 1st day of September, 2000, pension shall also be granted to an employee who opts to retire before attaining the age of superannuation but after rendering service for a minimum period of 15 years in terms of any scheme that may be framed for such purpose by the Board with the approval of the Government.”.
It is not known as to whether the insertion in terms of clause 4 of the notification is meant to be inserted before the insertion of 13th July, 2002 or after it.  Whereas pension also became payable with effect from 1st September, 2000 through insertion dated 13th July, 2002 to employees retired through voluntary retirement without complying with the “terms and conditions mentioned in the scheme”, compliance with the terms and conditions of the scheme sought through the new insertion is prejudicial to the regulation in force.  THOUGH EMPLOYEES WHO OPTED AND RETIRED THROUGH VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT BECAME ELIGIBLE TO PENSION FROM 01.09.2002, PENSION WAS NOT PAID TO THEM IN DEROGATION OF THE AMENDMENT OF 13.07.2002.
5.    In terms of regulation 7 of the regulations notified on 29.09.1995, the Pension Fund can receive only the components specified in it which excludes a contribution from the employee other than the initial transfer of his CPF balance. Regulations 5.3 mandates that the Bank shall ensure that sufficient sums are placed in it to enable the trustees to make due payments to the beneficiaries under the regulations besides regulation 11 stipulating additional annual contributions to the Fund by the Bank on the basis of an Actuarial valuation.  Evidently, the terms and conditions of the settlement referred to in the notification dated 6th November, 2017 prejudice all the regulations viz. 7, 5.3 and 11 and prescribes contributions to Pension Fund to the tune of 2.8 times salary for November, 2007 in the case of employees in service and 56 percent of CPF paid on retirement in the case of retired employees their detriment. THIS IS YET ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION MAKING THE EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM CONTAINED IN THE NOTIFICATION FALSE AS THE INTEREST OF THE RETIRED EMPLOYEES IS DETRIMENTALLY AFFECTED.  The settlement prejudice the extant regulations and make it unfit to be laid in the Houses of the Parliament vide section 19.1 and 19.4 of the Banking Companies (Acquisition & Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970/1980 pursuant to which the Pension Regulations were stamped by the Parliament.  The relative sections of the Act violated are reproduced in clause 5 infra.

6.    Per clause 8 (a) of the notification,  sub-regulation 52 (1) was substituted with the following:

“Except in the case of an employee to whom provisions of regulation 34 or regulation 46 apply, a pension other than family pension shall become payable from the date following the date on which an employee retires”  

Per clause 8 (b) in the notification in relation to regulation 52, it is stated that in sub-regulation (3), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-
“Provided that pension including family pension to those who opted to join the Bank Employees’ Pension Scheme on or after the 27th April, 2010 shall be payable with effect from the 27th November, 2009”.
Sub-regulation 3 of regulation 52 reads as:
“Pension including family pension shall be payable for the day on which its recipient dies”.
The new insertion in terms of the notification has no relevance to the sub-regulation 3 which pertains to and delineates the day till which pension is payable.
Even after carrying out the clause 8 (a) substitution, a pension other than family pension shall become payable from the date following the date on which an employee retires and this has not been paid to employee to whom provisions of regulation 34 or regulation 46 apply.  This apart, the clause 8 (b) insertion in sub-regulation 3 serves no useful purpose as it relates to the last day for which pension is payable. 
7.    Relative sections of Banking Companies (Acquisition & Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970/1980 referred to earlier lays down as follows:
Section 19.1
The Board of Directors of a corresponding new bank may, after consultation with the Reserve Bank and with the previous sanction of the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette make regulations, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act or any scheme made thereunder, to provide for all matters for which provision is expedient for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of this Act.
Section 19.4
Every regulation shall, as soon as may be after it is made under this Act by the Board of Directors of a corresponding new bank, be forwarded to the Central Government and that government shall cause a copy of the same to be laid before each House of Parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification in the regulation or both Houses agree that the regulation should. not be made, the regulation shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that regulation.

8.    As the Board of Directors of the Bank has no powers to make amendments inconsistent with the Act and any modification or amendment to a regulation shall only be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under the regulation in terms of sections 19.1.and 19.4 of the Act, the terms of the settlement with special reference to clause 3 and 4 supra are unsustainable.  Hence the notification dated 6th November, 2017 which constitutes an affront to the Legislature and to the Constitution of India is to be repealed.


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Click here to view Notification in Gazette of India
Click here to view letter to Secretary (Banking),MOF, GOI






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