Bank Strike on 7th July 2011 against Govt Policy On Banking Reforms

The National Convention  of United Forum of Bank Unions,held at New Delhi on 20th May 2011,declared All India bank strike on 7th July 2011 against Govt Policy on  Banking Reforms

-  New Licensing Policy,
-  Khandelwal Committee Report, 
-  Outsourcing
-  Appointment of Business Correspondents,
- Merger of Public Sector Banks,
-Removal of ceiling on voting rights of FDI in Private Banks, 
-Arbitrary instructions of Government freezing improvements in staff benefits etc.
Also demanding:

- Adequate Recruitment, -Release of Compassionate appointment Scheme as agreed between IBA & UFBU
-Improvements in Pension Scheme on the lines of 6th Pay Commission Report  etc.

As far as  bank retirees are concerned,  long pending genuine demands  of Pensioners  are also focused  this time by Bank Unions, as  follows:

1. Improvements in pension scheme on the lines of the 
   Government   Scheme like updation of pension
2.100% DA neutralisation on Pension
3. Improvement in commutation, family pension
4. Ex-gratia for pre-1986 retirees, etc.

Public interest litigation for updation of pension and other issues

Our bank pensioner group member Shri T Ashok  Shenoy from Bangalore has send a public interest litigation to Supreme Court of India, regarding various pension related issues like updation of pension, neutralization of DA etc. We reproduce below the petition letter sent to Supreme Court of India. Copy of  this petition has been sent to Shri  M Virrappa Moily, Honorable Union Minister for Law and Justice.

Quote

T.ASHOK SHENOY,B.A.B.L.,CAIIB.,                                BANGALORE
ADVOCATE,
A1-401, SHRIRAM WHITE HOUSE,                      DATED 18th May,2011
15TH CROSS, 6TH MAIN,
R T NAGAR, 2ND BLOCK,
BANGALORE- 560032.
Karnataka State


TO:

THE HONBLE CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA,
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA,
NEW DELHI- 110001



                            

      PUBLIC INTERESTLITIGATION PETITION
                  BEFORE THE HONOURABLE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

1. EARLIER SENIONER CITIZENS WERE CONSIDERED TO BE THOSE WHO HAVE COMPLETED 65 YEARS.NOW A SENIOR CITIZEN IS A PERSON WHO HAS COMPLETED 60 YEARS.

2.I AM REFERRING TO THE PENSION REGULATIONS OF BANK EMPLOYEES IN INDIA,1995.

3.I HAVE PUT IN 41 YEARS IN THE BANK AND WORKED IN VARIOUS CA[ACITIES AND VOLUNTARILY RETIRED AS A DIVISIONAL MANAGER. MY PRESENT MONTHLY PENSION IS RS, 15833/= WHILE CLERK WHO RETIRED RECEINTLY IN JUNE,2010 IS GETTING A MONTHLY PENSION OF OVER RS. 18000/=

4.IN THE BANK EMPLOYEES PENSION REGULATIONS 1995, IN THE LAS PARA IT IS MENTIONED THAT IN CASE ON ANY POINT OR MATTER THE REGULATION IS SILENT, THE PENSION RULES APPLICABLE TO THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES SHOULD BE APPLIED. IN THE CASE OF CENTRAL GOVERNEMENT EMPLOYEES, AS AND WHEN THE PAY IS REVISED AS PER PAY COMMISSION REPORTS, PENSION ALSO IS UPDATED BY NEUTRALISING DEARNESS ALLOWANCE AND UPDATING THE PENSION. THIS IS NOT FOLLOWED IN THE CASE OF RETIRED BANK EMPLOYEES. ALL RETIREES ARE SENIOR CITIZENS AND MANY OF THE RETIREES HAVE ALREADY EXPIRED. NATURALLY THE PENSIONERS WANT TO GET THE BENEFITS DURING THEIR LIFETIME INSTEAD OF AFTER DEATH.

5.THE GOVT OF INDIA, MINISTRIES, INCOME TAX DE[T, INDIA RAILWAYS ARE GIVING CERTAIN CONCESSIONS TO THE SENIOR CITIZENS. PENSION CAN BETTER BE CALLED AS A SOCIAL SECURITY. IT IS DURING OLD AGE, THE PENSIONERS GET SICK AND HAVE TO SPEND LOT ON MEDICINES AND TREATMENT.

6.IN THIS MATTER SEVERAL WRIT PETITIONS AR PENDING FOR YEARS IN VARIOUS HIGH COURTS IN THE COUNTRY WHICH ARE YET TO COME UP FOR HEARING AND JUDGEMENT. THIS PROCESS MAY TAKE MANY MORE YEARS AND  BY THAT TIME EVEN THE PRESENTLY LIVING OLD AGED PENSIONERS MAY LEAVE THIS WORLD.

7. BY WAY OF ANNEXURES, I AM ATTACHING TWO JUDGEMENTS ON WRIT PETITION AND APPEAL, PRONOUNCED BY THE HONBLE HIGH COURT OF RAJASTHAN WHICH ARE SELF EXPLANATORY. IN THIS CONTEXT, I MAY MENTION THAT DELAY DEFEATS JUSTICE AND JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED.. I HUMBLY AND RESPECTFULLY PRAY  YOU TO TAKE INTO COGNIZANCE THIS PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION PETITION ON PRIORITY AND ISSUE SUMMONS TO MINISTRY OF FINANCE,GOVT.OF INDIA,CHAIRMEN OF PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS AND THE INDIAN BANKS ASSOCIATION TO HEAR THEIR ARGUMENTS. THEY SHOULD KNOW THAT THE SITUATION IN WHICH I AM PLACED NOW, WILL HAVE TO BE FACED BY THEM. LET THEM KNOW THIS CLEARLY. NOW THEY DONT UNDERSTAND THIS AND DONT CARE TO LISTEN TO OUR GRIEVANCES NOR READ OUR REPRESENTATIONS.

       I THOUGHT IT FIT TO APPROACH THE HIGHEST JUDICIAL AUTHORITY OF THE COUNTRY IN ORDER TO GET QUICK JUSTICE AND HENCE THIS PETITION.
 

T.ASHOK SHENOY
ADVOCATE AND PETITIONER
REPRESENTING ALL RETIRED BANK OFFICERS ,


I HAVE DESPATCHE D THE PUBLIC INTERESTLITIGATION PETITION TO THE HONBLE CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA, SUPREME COURT, TILAK MARG, NEW DELHI-110001. A COPY OF THE PETITION HAS BEEN SENT SHRI M. VEERAPPA MOILY, HONBLE UNION MINISTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE, GOVT. OF INDIA, 4TH FLOOR, SHASTRY BHAVAN, A WING, NEW DELHI-110001 WITH A REQUEST TO KINDLY LOOK INTO THE MATTER AND SEE WHAT BEST CAN BE DONE TO ENSURE JUSTICE TO THE RETIREES OF BANKS.

Unquote

We thank Shri T Ashok Shenoy for taking up all pensioners cause on his own and wish every success for him .

PSU banks to take 4,000-cr hit on pensions - Economic Times

MUMBAI: State-run banks will take a hit of Rs 4,000 crore this fiscal with the banking regulator directing these lenders to provide for the pension liabilities of their retired staffers in the balance sheet for FY10-11.
RBI's decision is bound to reflect in the profitability of these banks this fiscal. Banks had made out a case to RBI to amortise the pension liabilities over the next five years to ease the strain on their books. But the regulator does not appear to be convinced by their argument and conveyed to the Indian Banks' Association, or IBA - the lobbying arm of banks, that lenders would have to set aside funds for their pension liabilities in one shot rather than spreading it out, a senior banker said.
Among the government-run banks, Punjab National Bank , Central Bank of India , Bank of Baroda , Canara Bank and Bank of India have a huge employee base and initial estimates are that the pension liabilities for them could range between Rs 200 crore and Rs 300 crore. For some of the smaller banks such as Corporation Bank , Dena Bank and Andhra Bank , liabilities could be in the range of Rs 100-150 crore each.
SBI , the country's largest bank, will not be impacted by this decision as it has been offering pension benefits to all its employees since its inception unlike other state-run banks who provided post-retirement benefits to only those employees who had opted for the scheme in 2000. In February, RBI allowed banks to amortise pension liabilities for serving employees over five years.
However, in the same circular, the central bank stated that all amounts relating to retired employees need to be provided in 2010-11 itself. Following this, IBA requested RBI to allow banks to amortise the pension liabilities of retired employees as well. "It is estimated that of the total employees who have opted for the pension scheme, 20-25 % are retired employees.
Therefore, IBA had proposed to RBI to allow banks to amortise it over the next five years since it will impact the profitability of banks," pointed out IBA deputy chief executive K Unnikrishnan. He said close to 45,000 retired employees have opted for the pension scheme. While rejecting the proposal, RBI told IBA that the norms cannot be eased as in its view, banks should have anticipated the impact and were even aware of these liabilities during wage negotiations.

The total pension liability for serving and retired employees was estimated at Rs 20,000 crore. However, since money needs to be set aside for only those retired employees who had opted for the pension scheme, the impact on the bottomline could be much lower at around Rs 4,000-4,500 crore. Bankers said RBI may allow banks to dip into their reserves for setting aside money to provide for pension payments of retired bank staffers.
However, the dispensation of dipping into reserves would be made only on a case-to-case basis and only for those banks which may have to take a huge hit on their bottomlines. "The impact will depend upon the amount of provision the bank has already made and the number of retired employees who have opted for the pension scheme," said MD Mallya, chairman of IBA and the CMD OF Bank of Baroda. 

Source - Economic Times  20th April 2011

Karnataka HC judgement on 5 yrs additional service to SVRS pensioners of State Bank of Mysore decided favourably

Our group member Shri Prasad C.N. has informed that Karnataka HC has given judgement in  pensioners' favor .Congratulations on the hard , long fought court battle .His letter is reproduced below

Dear friends,

A long wait of 8 years is finally over with a favorable verdict. The Hon'ble High Court of Karnataka has delivered judgment allowing our both prayers, viz., Notional addition to the extent of 5 years of service for those who retired under SBMVRS - 2001 (SVRS) and calculating pension based on pay drawn during last 10 months prior to retirement (not adding DA upto 1616 points to 6th BPS pay). The Hon'ble High Court has ordered  :

a.    Payment of pension by adding (maximum of ) 5 years of notional service as available under Regulation 29 of SBM Pension Regulations to those who retired under SBMVRS (SVRS) - 2001

b.   Calculating Basic pension based on 'Pay' of last 10 months before retirement from the date of retirement to 30.04.2005 and consequent Commutation of pension.  Since all the petitioners are those who retired under SBMVRS - 2001, this judgement is applicable to them.  However, every
one of those who retired during the period 1.4.1998 to 31.10.2002 are eligible for this benefit.    However, pension based on last 10 months pay is being paid from 01.05.2005.  Consequently, those who have completed more than 32 years of service and retired between   1.4.1998 & 31.10.2002 are entitled to arrears of pension & commutation.  But, thereafter, pension gets reduced on account of recovery of commutated portion of pension, as they are already in receipt of revised pension.

        Arrears have to be paid within 90 days, failing which, interest at 6% is payable from the date of judgement.

        Copy of the judgment would be uploaded by us, immediately after it is made available to us.

         Thanking you,

     With regards,

      Prasad C N

pension option for resignee / VRS (under Bank's Regulatios) Officers - AIBOC Circular

The Officers working in the Banking Industry and who

(i) Retired under Voluntary Retirement Scheme of individual banks, as enshrined in the Officers’ Service Regulations.

(ii) Exit Option Scheme introduced by Subsidiary Banks of State Bank of India.

(iii)  Resigned from the service of the Bank for various reasons including health reasons in the absence of the provisions in OSR for Voluntary Retirement but after completing pensionable service of more than 20 years.

(iv) Were retired  by the Bank prematurely by imposing punishment of compulsory retirement, discharge, termination etc.

(v)  Retired under Voluntary Retirement Scheme of the Bank after 27.04.2010 on which date the Joint Note was signed by IBA and AIBOC along with other Officers’ Organisations etc.

have been denied pension option. AIBOC has been per-suing the  the matter with IBA. AIBOC has issued a circular in this regard.
  Click here to view AIBOC  circular.