Courtesy : "Bank workers unity" online magazine

 

 

 PRESS RELEASE   

                                                                                                      

25TH August 2024

CITU DENOUNCES UNIFIED PENSION SCHEME!

ANOTHER DUBIOUS DESPERATE EFFORT DECEIVING EMPLOYEES!

URGES FOR RESTORATION OF OLD PENSION SCHEME!

Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) denounces the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) approved by Union Cabinet on 24.8.2024 as another dubious desperate effort to deceive the Govt employees of their due full right to Old Pension Scheme known as OPS. 

CITU urges for restoration of old Pension Scheme.

The Old Pension Scheme was non-contributory and with assured pension existing as per Central Civil Service Rules 1972 now 2021. A. B. Vajpayee led NDA Govt had introduced the National Pension Scheme (NPS) in 2004 surreptitiously through an Executive Order for those recruited from 1.1.20O4. 

The central and state Govt employees and central trade unions opposed it from that day and were on path of struggles against it urging for restoration of OPS. The Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority Act 2013 notified in February 2014 enabled statutory basis for the NPS.

The unprecedented struggles by the Govt Employees for restoration of Old Pension Scheme(OPS) and the whole hearted support rendered to such struggles by the Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions and Federations could compel the arrogant BJP regime to shift from its arrogant stance of sticking to NPS, but the package offered by it in the name of so called UPS reflects the same deceptive ploy of depriving the Govt employees of their legitimate dues on account of pension.  

Several State Govts also reverted back to the OPS and were urging for their share of state govt Employees contribution to PFRDA to be refunded to their State Govts. Modi Govt had rejected all of such requests of State Govts which reverted back to OPS. It was countered by the relentless struggles of employees and trade Unions. Hence this dubious attempt of deceptive UPS is made by Modi led ND Alliance Govt. The Finance Secretary T. V. Somanathan Committee recommendations to study modifications in NPS, which was also boycotted by several Employees federations, are used for this desperate attempt of UPS - a cocktail of NPS and truncated OPS is approved by the Union cabinet.

The Modi led ND Govt with its neo liberal pursuit of safeguarding the interests of speculative crony capital has come with this UPS with some modification of benefits with additional contribution of 4.5% from the Govt only to further its investment of pension funds of Rs. 10,53,850 crores called Asset under Management (AUM) of total 99,77,165 employees under NPS as on by 31.7.2024 in the share market.

The previous Andhra Pradesh State Govt had proposed similar or somewhat better than UPS in place of NPS in the name of Guaranteed Pension Scheme (GPS) with 50% of last drawn pay as pension for minimum 10 years of service with defined contribution and purchase of 40% annuity, which was correctly rejected by all the State Govt employees of AP urging for nothing short of OPS. 

Now the Union Govt has come with similar rather less beneficial scheme with some modifications in NPS which should are also aptly rejected by vast majority of the employees urging for nothing less than OPS.         

UPS is based on the continuity of 10% contributions by the employees with the Government contribution increased to 18.5% from present 14%. 

While in NPS the subscriber can take 60% and has to invest 40% in an annuity and get pension, under UPS entire pension wealth will have to be foregone to the government. 

In lieu of which government will give 10% of the employee emoluments i.e., basic pay plus DA for every completed six months of service. For 25 years of completed service the employee will get 5 months emoluments and for 10 years of service will get 2 months of pay on retirement as benefit in addition to gratuity.

In UPS, employee will get 50% of 12 months average basic pay as pension on normal retirement at the age of 60 with the completion of 25 years of service, effective from 1-4-2025 that is for those retiring on 31-3-2025 but not applicable to those retired before it. In OPS for 10 years of service 50% of last month's pay is pension and for voluntary retirement after 20 years of service employee gets 50% of pay as pension.

Employees with service less than 25 years will get proportionately lesser pension in UPS. Employee with 20 years of service will get only 40% of 12 months average basic pay as pension. For 10 years of service employees will get only 20% of average basic pay as pension. In case of proportionate pension for less than 25 years up to 10 years a minimum pension of Rs 10,000 is proposed by government.

 While Minimum pension in OPS is Rs 9000 plus DA (which as on 1-4-2025 will be 57% that is Rs. 5130) so minimum pension as on 1-4-2025 will be Rs.14,130. Hence the proposed Rs.10000 pension is half of that of OPS. For less than 10 years of service at the time of superannuation employee is not eligible for any pension

Under UPS family pension is 60% of pension i.e., 60% of 50%. It means 30% of last pay for 25 years of service at the time of superannuation.  For employee with minimum pension of rupees 10,000 it will be 60% of it, i.e., Rs 6000. Minimum pension of rupees Rs 10000 applies only to superannuation and not for family pension. But under OPS family pension is 50% of last pay if the pensioner dies before 7 years after retirement or before 67 years of age. There after family pension will be 30% of last pay. Minimum pension as on 1-4-2025 will be Rs.14130. But in UPS minimum family pension will be only Rs 6000.

DA/DR will be given to assured pension or minimum pension or family pension based on the Consumer price index as in the case of serving employees. Whether they will start a new base index from 1-4-2025 or they will grant the same percentage of DA/DR as for serving and OPS pensioners are not yet spelt out. In OPS if the pensioner or family pensioner completed 80 years of age additional pension of 20%, for 85 years 30%, for 90 years 40%, 95 years 50% and 100 years 100% is given with Same DA for additional pension also. In UPS this additional pension is not available. 

In OPS pension/family pension/minimum pension is revised whenever pay commission is implemented while there is no such assurance under UPS. Commutation of pension i.e., withdrawal of 40% pension in advance available in OPS is not available in UPS. For those employees who die or become invalid becoming all class unfit in NPS, OPS is applicable to them already. Employees can opt to UPS or NPS, once opted will be final.

There may be many more shortcomings in UPS which may be known after the full text of UPS is notified. 

Hence the CITU denounces the UPS and urges the Union Govt to restore the non-contributory defined assured Old Pension Scheme.  CITU calls for extending full support to the Govt employees struggle for restoration of OPS. 

Issued by,

Tapan Sen

General Secretary

 

 What’s happening in Kotak Mahindra Bank?

May 4, 2024

Bank Workers Unity 

The fourth largest private sector bank viz. Kotak Mahindra Bank is in the news, recently, for all the wrong reasons.

It is an institution which is always in the good books of the Union Government.   In March 2017, Kotak Mahindra Bank launched an online digital savings account called Kotak 811, the number denoting the date on which Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation in 2016, which according to Uday Kotak was “the day that changed India”.  Uday Kotak is the promoter and single largest shareholder of Kotak Mahindra Bank, with a 25.71 percent stake.  The Mumbai based Infina Finance promoted by the Bank donated electoral bonds worth Rs.60 crore to the BJP in three years from 2019 to 2021.  In 2018 the Bank dragged the RBI to Bombay High Court on the issue of shareholding of the promoter which ended in 2020 with the RBI yielding to the pressure and allowing the promoter to hold 26 percent of shares (to own a higher stake than what the regulator had stipulated earlier), but had voting rights capped at 15%. 

Presently, the RBI, on April 24, 2024 has prohibited the Bank from on boarding new customers through its online and mobile banking channels and issuing fresh credit cards, citing supervisory concerns.  According to the regulator, serious deficiencies and non-compliance were observed in various areas, including IT inventory management, patch and change management, user access management, vendor risk management, data security, data leak prevention strategy, business continuity, disaster recovery rigor and drill.  For two consecutive years the Bank was assessed to be deficient in its IT Risk and Information Security Governance and was found to be non-compliant with Corrective Action Plans issued by the RBI.  The compliance submitted by the Bank were found to be either inadequate, incorrect or not sustained.

The stricture of the RBI on the Bank would result in the inability of the lender to on-board new customers through its online and mobile banking channels and could severely impact the new retail customer additions for the bank, given its smaller branch network compared to peers and higher reliance on digital channels. 

The Bank’s overdependence on digital channels for on boarding new customers gets seriously affected due to the RBI’s stricture with its Kotak 811 zero balance digital savings accounts unable to add new customers.

All is not well within private banks which are known for their flamboyancy and adventurism.  Four years earlier Yes Bank, the new generation private bank, was on the verge of collapse and it was the SBI under advice from the RBI steadied the Bank with adequate investments and quality man power.  There are many such instances like the present one in Kotak Mahindra Bank which are overcome with the timely intervention and correction by the RBI and Public Sector Banks and, some people of India, advocate privatisation, oblivious to the ills of privatisation.