AIRRBEA Circular No. 56 dated 07-06-2018
Salient features of Pension Regulations/ Scheme in PSBs
ELIGIBILITY:
a) The person employed in service of the Bank on full time work on permanent basis or on part time work on part time basis on scale wages.
b) They must opt to be a member of the Bank’s Pension Scheme.
c) Option must be submitted to Bank within 120 days from the implementation of the Pension Regulations i.e. from the date of publication of Bank’s Pension Regulations in Govt. Gazette. (Notified Date)
d) Option must be submitted by the undernoted three categories of proposed beneficiaries. Option Format are group specific.
1. Employees in Service
2. Retired Employees
3. Spouse/Dependents of Deceased Retired Employees (Proposed Family Pensioner).
e) Retired Employees / Spouse/Dependents of Deceased Retired Employees must refund the entire bank’s contribution to Staff Provident Fund (SPF) with interest up to the date of settlement of SPF on superannuation/retirement PLUS interest @ 6% p.a. from the date of receipt of SPF to the date of refund to the Bank. Such refund of Bank’s contribution is to be made by the retired employee / Spouse/Dependents of Deceased Retired Employees within 60 days.
PENSION FUND:
The Bank shall constitute Employees Pension Fund under an irrevocable trust within 120 days from the notified date. The Fund shall have for its sole purpose the provision of the payment of Pension or Family Pension in accordance with these regulations to the employee or his/her family.
The Bank shall be a contributor to the Fund and shall ensure that sufficient sums are placed in it to enable the trustees to make the due payments to beneficiaries under these regulations.
The Provident Fund Trust shall, immediately after the constitution of Pension Fund, transfer the accumulated balance of the contribution of the Bank to the Provident Fund and interest accrued there on up to the date of such transfer in respect of every working employees opted for pension.
The employees retired before the notified date and opt for pension will refund the Bank’s contribution towards Provident Fund along with the interest up to the date settlement and interest @ 6.00% pa from the date of settlement to the date of refund. The family of the deceased employees / retired employee died before the notified date and opt for pension will also refund the Bank’s contribution towards Provident Fund as above Board of Trustee (BOT) of Pension Fund: The Bank shall constitute the BOT with 3 to 9 persons. The Bank shall nominate one person as Chairman and another person as Alternate Chairman. The Alternate Chairman shall act as Chairman in absence of Chairman.
The Bank shall cause an investigation to be made by an Actuary into the financial condition of the Fund every financial year, on 31st day of March, and make such additional annual contributions to the Fund as may be required to secure payment of the benefits under these regulations.
QUALIFYING SERVICE :
1. The concerned employee must render a minimum of 10 years of active service to the Bank.
2. Active service of the concerned employee should by 33 years to avail full pension. If the active service of the concerned employee is less than 33 years , a proportionate pension will be allowed.
3. Active service means the difference of the date of retirement and the date of joining in the Bank’s service less extra ordinary leave with loss of pay more than 12 months during the entire service less period without pay, excluding extra ordinary leave with loss of pay sanctioned by the competent authority up to 1 year as mentioned above Less period of suspension (not exonerated by Disciplinary Authority/ Appellate Authority). All such figures are in Years- Months- Days Format. Months of the final figure more than 6 months should be considered as a full year otherwise that period is to be ignored. In case of Part-Time permanent scale wages employee the date of active service will be counted from the date he/she was included as a member of Staff Provident Fund.
BASIC PENSION / ADDITIONAL PENSION / FAMILY PENSION:
Basic Pension is Ten months average Pay (Pay attracting DA & PF) multiplied by Years of active service divided by 66 (sixty six)
Additional Pension is Ten Months average Allowances (Allowances attracting DA) Multiplied by years of active service divided by 66 (sixty six).
Family Pension is allowed to the family member of the deceased employee or staff pensioner as below:
Normal Family Pension = Last Month’s Pay X 15% subject to cap
Enhanced Family Pension = Normal Family Pension X 2 up to 7 years from the date of Retirement /death of the pensioner or 65 years whichever is lower,
FAMILY:
1. Spouse (wife in case of male employee or husband in case of lady employee)
2. A judicially separated wife or husband, if such separation is not being granted on the ground of adultery and the person surviving was not held guilty of continuing adultery.
3. Son up to the age of 25 years
4. Unmarried daughter up to the age of 25 years
5. Legally adopted son/ un-married daughter up to the age of 25 years. (If such son or daughter is one among two or more children of the employee/retired employee, the Family Pension shall be initially payable to the children in order of age until the last child attained the age of 25 years
6. The Family Pension allowed to the son / daughter, suffering from disorder or disability of mind or physically crippled or disabled, for their life. If such children are more than one, the Family Pension will be allowed as per DOB i.e. younger of them will get family Pension after the elder next above him / her ceases to be eligible.
7. Family Pension to the minor child will be made through guardian.
8. Family Pension payable to son/daughter will be stopped if he or she starts earning his/her lively hood .Monthly certificate in this regard including non-marriage certificate is to be submitted to Pension Paying Branch.
In case of disability of any manner for which Family Pension is allowed to child, a disability certificate from the Bank’s approved Medical Officer is to be submitted once in three years.
COMMUTATION :
An employee shall be entitled to commute for a lump sum payment of a fraction not Exceeding one-third of his/her pension. The lump sum payable to an applicant shall be calculated in accordance with the table given below:
The table above indicates the commuted value of pension expressed as number of years’ purchase with reference to the age of the pensioner as on his/her next birth day. The commuted value of Re 1.00 in the case of an employee retiring at the age of 60 years ( age next birthday is 61 years) is Rs 9.81 X12 i.e. Rs 117.72.
An employee who had commuted the admissible amount of pension is entitled to have the commuted portion restored after the expiry of a period of 15 years from the date of commutation.
No medical examination is required if the application for commutation of pension is made by the eligible pensioner within one year from the date of his/her retirement. However, if such pensioner applies for commutation of pension after one year from the date of his , / her retirement the same will be permitted subject to medical examination by the Bank’s approved Medical Officer.
NOMINATION :
The trust of the Pension Fund shall allow every employee governed by Pension Regulations to make a nomination conferring on one or more persons the right to receive the amount of pensionary benefits under these regulations in the event of his/her death before that amount becomes payable or having become payable , has not been paid.
IMPORTANT GENERAL CONDITIONS:
1.Future good conduct shall be an implied condition of every grant of pension and its continuance under the Bank’s Pension Regulations.
2. Where a pensioner is convicted of a serious crime by a Court of Law, action shall be taken in the light of the judgment of the court relating to such conviction.
3. The competent authority may, by order in writing, withhold or withdraw a pension or part thereof, whether permanently or for a specified period, if the pensioner is convicted of a serious crime or criminal breach of trust or acting fraudulently or is found guilty of grave , misconduct.
4. An employee who has retired on attaining the age of superannuation or otherwise and against whom any departmental or judicial proceedings are instituted or where departmental proceedings are continued, a provisional pension, equal to the maximum pension which would have been admissible to him, would be allowed subject to adjustment against final retirement benefits sanctioned to him/her, upon conclusion of the proceedings but no recovery shall be made where the pension finally sanctioned is less than the provisional pension or the pension is reduced or withheld etc. either permanently or for a specified period. Any recoveries to be made from an employee shall be adjusted against the amount of gratuity payable.
5. The Bank shall be entitled to recover the dues to the Bank on account of loans and advances from commutation value of pension or the pension or the family pension.
6. If a pensioner who immediately before his/her retirement was holding the post of an officer and wishes to accept any commercial employment before the expiry of two years from the date of his/her retirement, he/she shall obtain the previous sanction of the Bank to such acceptance.
RESIDUARY PROVISIONS:
In case of doubt, in the matter of application of Pension Regulations, regard may be had to the corresponding provisions of Central Civil Services Rules, 1972 or Central Civil Services (Commutation of Pension) Rules, 1981 applicable to Central Government employees with such exceptions and modifications as the Bank, with previous sanction of the Central Government , may from time to time determine. The Pension Regulations as mentioned herein above will cover the employees of Public Sector Banks who joined the Bank’s service on before 31st March, 2010.
MILES TO GO
1. Pension updation :
In case of Central Government Employees Pension is revised with every Pay Commission whereby the pension of retirees of past years are brought to closer to the pension of current retirees having the benefit of last pay commission. Similar updation was agreed to be provided in the pension settlement signed in 1993. This was duly incorporated in Pension Regulations under Regulation 35 which provides for updating pension as per formula given in Annexure 1. Moreover the Government is upgrading the pension of their retirees after the age of 80 years ( 20% increase in Basic pension for a block of 5 years commencing from 80 years) and the pensioner reaching the age of 100 years get his full pay updated as pension i.e. Basic Pension is doubled for them. But unfortunately nothing was extended to the pensioners of the Public Sector Banks.
2. Family Pension:
Though Bank Pension is framed on the lines of Government Pension Scheme, uniform family pension at 30% of pay without ceiling as obtaining in Government and in RBI was not extended to the retirees of Public Sector Banks.
3. Government of India asked IBA to formulate a medical insurance scheme for the working employees and retirees of the Banks . Though it was not indicated in the said instruction of Government of India that the premium for the Health Insurance to be borne by the beneficiaries but the same has to be paid by retirees themselves for the retiree and his/her spouse and no dependent family members even the physically / mentally challenged child is covered under the Health Insurance scheme. The working employees with their dependent family members are getting the insurance cover against the premium paid by the Banks.