:::::SRI S.B. RODE, OUR BELOVED PRESIDENT, AICBOF AND OFFICER DIRECTOR ON THE BOARD OF CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA HAS BEEN COOPTED AS GENERAL SECRETARY, AICBOF IN E.C. MTG. HELD AT MUMBAI ON 24.02.2014:::::MR. S.C. GUPTA, GEN. SECRETARY OF OUR AHMEDABAD UNIT HAS BEEN COOPTED AS PRESIDENT, AICBOF::::::WE CONGRATULATE THEM AND WISH THAT THE OFFICERS' MOVEMENT IN CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA WILL BE TAKEN TO NEW HEIGHTS:::::LONG LIVE CBOA:::::LONG LIVE AICBOF::::::LONG LIVE AIBOC:::::

CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA CO-SPONSORS HERITAGE PHOTOGRAPHS BY SHRI BENOY K. BEHL

Central Bank of India along with Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, Delhi Kendra sponsored DVD containing 2000 heritage photographs known as Monuments of India taken from all over the country by renowned photographer Shri Benoy K Behl. The DVD – Monuments of India was released by Dr. Karan Singh at Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, New Delhi. Dr. Karan Singh appreciated the efforts put in by Shri Behl in summarizing the heritage of the country in one DVD which is arranged in a systematic manner. Shri S. Sridhar, Chairman & Managing Director, Central Bank of India, lauded the efforts of Shri Behl and congratulated Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan for preserving the heritage of the country. (Third from left) Dr. Karan Singh releases the “ Monuments of India” a DVD containing 2,000 Photographs by Shri Benoy K Behl.


JOINT NOTE ON SALARY REVISION FOR OFFICERS REACHED BETWEEN IBA AND OFFICERS' ASSOCIATIONS

Joint Note Salary Reivision for Officers

JOINT NOTE ON PENSION REACHED BETWEEN IBA AND OFFICERS' ORGANISATIONS

Joint Note Pension for Officers

IBA, BANK UNIONS SIGN AGREEMENT ON PAY REVISION

Bank employees in 26 public and 12 private sector institutions will see their salaries increase by 17.5 per cent, with the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) and bank unions today signing an agreement on pay revision.

The agreement also gives an opportunity to those who had not opted for the pension scheme in 1995 to join the scheme again.

Almost eight lakh employees in 26 public sector banks, 12 private sector banks and eight foreign banks will be benefited from this new wage agreement.

In all, there are over 10 lakh people working in the country's 26 public sector banks and 23 private sector banks in the country, besides 31 foreign banks.

The revision will cost banks Rs 4,816 crore, including arrears payment from November 2007.

There is good news also for employees who did not opt for the pension scheme in 1995.

The new agreement gives an opportunity to those who had not opted for the pension scheme in 1995, but contributed to Provident Fund (PF), to join the scheme again. Those who are interested can contribute to the arrears directly to the pension fund with an amount to bridge the gap in the fund. Those who already retired from the service can also join the scheme.


PRESS RELEASE OF IBA ON WAGE SETTLEMENT

IBA has issued Press Release on wage settlement. We are reproducing the same here for our readers.


HIGHLIGHTS OF SETTLEMENTS DATED 27.4.2010 SIGNED WITH WORKMEN UNIONS & JOINT NOTE DATED 27.4.2010 SIGNED WITH OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION ON WAGE/SALARY REVISION AND ONE MORE OPTION OF PENSION

Today IBA has signed industry wide wage agreement with 6 Workmen unions and 4 Officers’ Associations.  The salient features of the Settlement are as under :

Total no. of employees covered under the Settlement – 5 lakhs workmen employees and 2.5 lakh officers working in 26 Public Sector Banks, 12 Old Private Sector Banks and 8 Foreign Banks.

The wage revision is effective from 1.11.2007.

Total wage increase of Rs.4816 crores representing 17.5% increase on the establishment expenses of Rs.27520 crores as on 31.3.2007.

The pay scales of Officers are Rs.14500-Rs.52000.
The pay scales for Clerical staff : Rs.6200-23900
The pay scales for subordinate staff : Rs.5500-13800
Total wage increase for officers and award staff is Rs.4816 crores.
DA is payable for every rise or fall of 4 points over 2836 points in the quarterly average of All India Average Working Class Consumer Price Index (General) Base 1960 = 100 at 0.15% of Pay.

Rationalisation of Special Pay posts - All the existing special pay posts are rationalized and only three categories will remain – (i) Single Window Operator – A and Single Window Operator-B; (ii) Head Cashier and (iii) Special Assistant.

All part-time employees (lump sum) will be brought to 1/3rd scale wages w.e.f. 01.05.2010.

Pension: Another option of pension will be given to all existing employees who did not opt earlier and also who have retired/died after pension regulations 1995/96; A defined contributory retirement benefit scheme as governed by the “contributory pension scheme introduced for employees of Central Government with effect from 1.1.2004”  will be introduced  for workmen/officers joining the services of banks on or after 1.4.2010.  There shall be no separate contributory provident fund in respect of these workmen/officers.

******
27th April 2010
Indian Banks’ Association
Mumbai

AIBOC CIRCULAR NO. 51 DATED 27.04.2010 ON WAGE REVISION

AIBOC issued its circular No. 51 on wage revision, which is the most awaited one. We are reproducing the same here for our readers.


CIRCULAR NO.51                                               27.04.2010

TO ALL AFFILIATES/MEMBERS:

27TH APRIL 2010 – A RED LETTER DAY IN OUR MOVEMENT - 9TH BIPARTITE AGREEMENT SIGNED - CONGRATULATIONS TO MILITANT COMRADES, WHO MADE IT POSSIBLE

The celebrations commence for the Bank Officers’ fraternity from 27th April 2010, the day on which the 9th Bipartite settlement was inked on behalf of the entire Bank Officers in the Banking industry by the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation bringing curtains down to the historic negotiations that commenced in the year 2007 after submission of a comprehensive Common Charter of Demands by the 4 Officers’ organisations.

The current negotiations involved a series of meetings between the 4 Officers’ organisations and the Indian Banks’ Association as well as between the Government and UFBU since the issue of the 2nd option was kept high on the agenda of the Confederation and also by all other organizations.  The committed rank and file did not dither despite the ups and downs in the progress of negotiations and the vacillating attitude of the IBA coupled with our own detractors and rivals attempting to create bottlenecks in the progress of the negotiations.

The Charter of Demands was also subsequently reinforced by a supplementary Charter taking a cue from the changes that had taken place in respect of the Civil Servants on the implementation of the 6th Pay Commission.  The negotiations were centered on the issue of 2nd option and the viability of the fund and thereafter sharing of the burden on Pension as per the acturial report obtained in this connection. It was also a difficult task for the leadership when it came to sharing of the cost.  It is again due to the ingenuity of the leadership of the Confederation that the burden was lessoned as far as the employees are concerned and the Managements were convinced to accept the major share of the cost.

Comrades, the current negotiations have special features and history has been created through the maintenance of unity and solidarity at all level despite the provocation due to the high maturity and foresight exhibited by the Confederation.

The negotiations across the table apart, it is with the persuasive skills of the leadership of the Confederation, certain ticklish issues were sorted out by holding one to one discussions with the Chairman of IBA.  Thus certain major issues could be resolved during the course of discussions with the Chairman of IBA.  The important ones are clinching the issue of grant of 2 additional stagnation increments for Scale I to Scale III.  Similarly, the stalemate in regard to the construction of anomaly-free scales and avoidance of overlapping to a large extent could be ensured through the efforts of the leadership of the Confederation.  Once, all the major issues were sorted out, the nitty gritty of arriving at the final agreement took some more time and there were threats of the break down of the talks even at the last moment as well, but the maturity of the leadership at the UFBU level could clinch the issues and sign the settlement.

It was a tight schedule on 26th and 27th April 2010.  The leadership of the Confederation was present in Mumbai on 26th morning to give a final touch to the agreement.  The convener of UFBU had convened a meeting on 26th morning.  At that time we were informed that there are certain difficulties, which have cropped up on account of the sharing of the pension cost by the existing workforce due to court cases filed in the Hon’ble High Court of Andhra Pradesh.  The IBA after obtaining the legal opinion advised the convener of UFBU that the contribution towards Pension Fund out of the arrears can be recovered only from the PF Optees who wish to avail the 2nd Option on Pension and not from those who are already become Pension Optees.  There was a hectic discussion amongst all the constituents of UFBU and after threadbare discussions, UFBU unanimously decided to accept the stand of IBA and proceed with the agreement.

On 27th morning again the leadership of UFBU met and held parleys with the representatives of IBA as regards the finalization of the agreement.  Thereafter it was decided that the agreement can be signed at 4.30 p.m. thereby completing the journey of negotiations on the 9th bipartite extending the benefit of revision to over 6 lac employees and also the benefit of 2nd option to over 65,000 Officers.

On behalf of the Confederation, Com. K.S. Shetty, the President accompanied by Com. G.D. Nadaf, the General Secretary, the negotiating team represented the Confederation in the signing ceremony.   The other team members consisted of:

S/Shri.

1.          P.V.Mathew                       
2.          P.K.Sarkar                                   
3.          T.T.Natarajan                               
4.          K.Ananda Kumar                           
5.          T.N.Goel                                      
6.          S.K.Kohli                                     
7.          K.Ramakoteswara Rao              
8.                        G.Muthuswamy
9.                       K.D.Kheda

The 9th Bipartite is yet another mile stone in the history of bipartite relationship in the Banking Industry.  More than 100 members on behalf of the 9 unions representing the entire employees and officers in the Banking Industry signed this historical agreement together as the constituents of the United Forum of Bank Unions.  Following Management Representatives signed the agreement.

S/Shri
          M.V.Nair, Chairman, IBA
          R.Sridharan – Managing Director, SBI
          Narayana Raja – DMD/CDO, SBI
          Rajiv Rishi, E.D, OBC
          B.B.Das – CGM, SBI
          K.Ramakrishnan – CEO, IBA
          K.Unnikrishnan – Dy.CEO, IBA
          N.Venugopalan – Special Officer, IBA

The salient features are:
Highest, in terms of the percentage of increase – 17.5%

a)    Success in getting the 2nd option on Pension which was pending for a long time.

b)    Introduction of 2 additional stagnation increments for Scale I to III;

c)     Ensuring of the better starting Pay without sacrificing the internal relativity and incremental pattern;

d)    Improvements in the LFC by providing eligibility for JMGS I, Middle Management Grade II and III to travel by air;

e)    Settlement of Halting Allowance with substantial improvements;

f)      Improvements in Medical allowance to considerable extent;

g)    Improvement in the Project Area allowance and Special area allowance etc.

Comrades, the success of the settlement squarely belongs to each and every member of this great organization.  The conviction with which the membership marched with the Confederation and participated in the struggles that were launched to ensure realization of the 2nd option on Pension will be recorded in golden letters in the history of our movement.  We on behalf of the Confederation convey our gratitude and compliments for the support that you have extended during the last 2 and half-years, waiting with lot of patience and perseverance to reach the conclusion of the historic settlement.

We are releasing a booklet containing Joint notes on salary revision and pension with details of charts showing D.A, HRA etc, payable.

OFFICERS’ UNITY ZINDABAD – ZINDABAD

AIBOC ZINDABAD - ZINDABAD

With greetings,
Sd/-
(G.D. NADAF)
GENERAL SECRETARY

TEASER RATES IRK FINMIN, MAY BAR NEW SCHEMES

The finance ministry may bar PSBs from launching fresh teaser loan schemes, as it looks to prevent a rate war that could lead to an increase in non-performing assets with the lenders. Teaser loans schemes offer a low fixed rate in the initial years, but shift to market rates after 2-3 years.
HDFC and ICICI Bank relaunched their teaser loan offers this month after State Bank of India decided to continue with its offer, despite credit-tightening measures taken by the RBI. The ministry is keen to stop more public sector banks from offering teaser rates ahead of July 1, when the more transparent ‘base rate’ regime for loans comes into effect.
The government may further ask public sector banks to give details of the number of loans processed under such schemes. Amongst the public sector banks, SBI, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India and IDBI have teaser loan schemes.

Once the base rate comes into existence, the banks will have to redraw their strategy as base rate system will increase the transparency on fixation of reference rates for floating rate loans, said a senior banker who asked not to be named. 
According to estimates, since the teaser rate regime kicked in, loans totalling nearly Rs 45,000 crore have been sanctioned. SBI accounts for over 66% of this, lending almost Rs 30,000 crore since February 2009.

SBI TURNS GREEN, INSTALLS WINDMILLS

State Bank of India (SBI) has become the first bank in the country to venture into generation of green power by installing windmills for captive use. As part of its green banking initiative, SBI has installed 10 windmills with an aggregate capacity of 15 MW in the states of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat. SBI has planned to install an additional 20 MW capacity of windmills in Gujarat soon and aims to touch 100 MW power generation through windmills within five years.

The total cost of installation of a windmill of 1.5 MW is around Rs 10 crore. The operation cost is close to zero.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/banking/finance/banking/SBI-turns-green-installs-windmills/articleshow/5849716.cms

BANK LOANS UP 17 PCT ON YEAR AS ON APRIL 9

As per the RBI’s Weekly Statistical Supplement, Bank loans rose 17 percent on year as of April 9. Deposits were up 16 percent from a year earlier. Outstanding loans rose by 8.26 billion rupees ($186 million) to 32.41 trillion rupees in the two weeks to April 9. Non-food credit rose by 11.67 billion rupees to 31.93 trillion rupees and food credit fell by 3.41 billion rupees to 481.49 billion rupees.

Bank deposits rose by 435.01 billion rupees to 45.30 trillion rupees in the two weeks to April 9, the WSS showed.


SBI'S CREDIT GROWTH TO GO UP TO 22 TO 23 PERCENT

According to Mr. O.P. Bhatt, Chairman, SBI, the credit growth of SBI is expected to be 22 to 23 percent this fiscal, as against the 18 percent registered in the last financial year. SBI expects credit off take on higher side with industries across the country working at 80 percent capacity, close to the peak of 85 percent.

Besides, agricultural and retail sector would be good in the second quarter, while infrastructure and capital expenditure would pick up, pushing the credit growth higher to 22 to 23 percent, Bhatt said.

Asked about the possibility of interest rate moving up, Bhatt, said there was little change of interest moving up. The base rate was expected to settle around eight percent, he said.

Stating that the merger of State Bank of Indore would be materialised by June, he said the merger issue of other subsidiaries would be taken case by case.

On Non-Performing assets, Bhatt said rate of formation of NPA is coming down and if the recovery of agriculture sector is good, it would come down further.

AIBOC CIRCULAR NO. 50 DATED 22.04.2010

AIBOC issued its circular No. 50 on meeting with Hon'ble Finance Minister, Govt. of India. We are reproducing the same here for our readers.


CIRCULAR NO.50                                                                   22.04.2010
TO ALL AFFILIATES/MEMBERS:
MEETING WITH HON’BLE FINANCE MINISTER, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

Members are aware that the date of effect of Pension to CPF Optees was not resolved at IBA level, hence, UFBU requested for intervention of Hon’ble Minister of Finance, Govt. of India.  Accordingly, leaders of UFBU met Hon’ble Finance Minister on 21.04.2010 at New Delhi and forcefully presented the views of the UFBU on the effective date of Pension to CPF optees, from 1st April 2008, as additional cost required for 2nd Option on Pension was assessed by the common Actuaries based on the details made available as on 31.03.2008. 

But the Hon’ble Finance Minister did not agree with the argument as IBA was of the view that, Pension has to be effective from the date of signing the final settlement on Pension. However, he
suggested that, effective date may be from the date of signing the MoU i.e. 27th November, 2009.

The UFBU will meet on 26th April, 2010 at Mumbai, to take a final view of the issue connected with pension, new pension scheme, outsourcing etc.

The IBA has called for a meeting with the UFBU on 27th April, 2010, at Mumbai, with a view to sign the final settlement on Pension and Salary revision.  We shall advise the further developments later.

With warm greetings,
Sd/-
(G.D. NADAF)
GENERAL SECRETARY

AIBOC CIRCULAR NO. 49 DATED 22.04.2010

AIBOC issued its circular No. 49 on Triennial General Council Meeting of All India Bank of Rajasthan Officers' Association. We are reproducing the same here for our readers.

CIRCULAR NO.49                                                   22.04.2010
TO ALL AFFILIATES/MEMBERS:

TRIENNIAL GENERAL COUNCIL MEETING OF ALL INDIA BANK OF RAJASTHAN OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION HELD ON 18.04.2010 AT CHANDIGARH

Our affiliate, All India Bank of Rajasthan Officers’ Association held their Triennial General Council Meeting at Kisan Bhavan, Chandigarh on 18.04.2010, in a grand style. The meeting was attended by a large number of delegates, observers, invitees from all over the Country.

Sri. G. Padmanabhan, CEO of Bank of Rajasthan, was the Chief Guest.  Addressing the large gathering of officers, appreciated the proactive and positive role played by the Association in achieving a concerted and planned growth of the Bank.  He gave a call for hard work with total dedication on part of the officers’ community in the Bank, which is essential to put the Bank on a strong pedestal.  He wished the function all success and expressed the hope that there will be very meaningful deliberations in the Business Session.

During the Business Session, Sri.Aravind Jain, General Secretary of the Association presented his report and many delegates deliberated on the report. The General Secretary’s report was adopted unanimously after the General Secretary’s replies to the debate.  The Audited balance sheets for 3 years were also adopted unanimously.

The following office bearers were elected for the ensuing Triennial Period:

Com. Hemendra Lodha: President
Com. K.K.Sharma – Vice President
Com.P.D.Singhal – Vice President
Com. Pramod Kumar Gaur – General Secretary
Com. Om Singh – Joint Secretary
Com. Suwalal Sharma – Treasurer

We heartily congratulate the newly elected Office Bearers and wish them all success in their future endeavours.

With warm greetings,
Sd/-
(G.D. NADAF)
GENERAL SECRETARY

BANK UNIONS-IBA WAGE PACT LIKELY NEXT WEEK

Bank unions and the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) are likely to ink the final settlement of the industry-level wage revision on April 27 in Mumbai. The wage revision for the banking industry is due from November 2007.

The decks have been cleared for the final settlement after a delegation of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), led by its convenor Mr C. H.Venkatachalam, met the Union Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, at North Block on Wednesday.

In November 2009, the UFBU and IBA had agreed for a 17.5 per cent increase in wages under the proposed ninth bipartite settlement, which would span five years until October 2012. It was also agreed to give both existing as well as certain retired employees another chance to opt for pension benefits.

As many as 7.75 lakh employees from 26 public sector, 12 private and eight foreign banks would benefit from the final wage settlement.

The annual wage bill for the public sector banks, including the State Bank of India Group, was Rs 27,500 crore for the year ended March 31, 2007. This ninth bipartite settlement would lead to an additional annual outgo of Rs 4,816 crore for the public sector banks and Rs 400 crore for private and foreign banks.

About 2.6 lakh existing (non SBI) employees are to get another chance to switch to pension from Provident Fund as a retirement benefit. Also, about 60,000 retired employees, who are PF optees, will now be given another chance to switch to pension benefits.

Public sector bank employees can currently avail themselves of only two retirement benefits — pension or provident fund and gratuity. In the eighth bipartite wage settlement, the bank unions had settled for 13.25 per cent hike.

BILL TO RAISE GRATUITY CEILING TO RS 10 LAKH

A bill to raise the ceiling of gratuity for employees to Rs 10 lakh from the current level of Rs 3.5 lakh was introduced in the Lok Sabha today. 

The Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill 2010, introduced by Minister of State for Labour Harish Rawat, seeks to amend the Gratuity Act to enhance the amount of gratuity payable to an employee from Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. 

The legislation was brought following demands from trade unions and others to remove the ceiling or increase the maximum payable amount which was fixed in 1997. 

Based on these representations, the bill proposes to enhance the ceiling of gratuity
.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/Bill-to-raise-gratuity-ceiling-to-Rs-10-lakh/articleshow/5843991.cms

IBA FIXES 27TH APRIL FOR SIGNING THE SETTLEMENT

AIBOC has informed that IBA has fixed 27th April 2010 for signing settlement on salary and pension to CPF optees

ENHANCEMENT OF GRATUITY CEILING PASSED BY LOK SABHA

As per the available information, Lok Sabha today passed the bill for enhancement of gratuity ceiling to Rs.10.00 lacs. Bill will be placed before Rajya Sabha shortly. Labour Ministry will be deciding the date of effect while issuing notification.

PNB BAD LOANS HIGHEST AMONG PSU BANKS;UP 3-FOLD IN 9 MONTHS

Punjab National Bank (PNB) has earned the dubious distinction of recording the fastest growth in bad loans among state-owned banks. PNB, whose bad loans grew three-fold to Rs 842 crore during the period, was followed by Union Bank of India, Corporation Bank, Bank of India, Vijaya Bank and Canara Bank, said a report of the Standing Committee of Finance tabled in Parliament.

However, some of the leading banks, including Bank of Baroda, Indian Bank, Central Bank of India, UCO Bank and, State Bank of Hyderabad managed to reduce their net NPAs during the nine-month period.

The government attributed the increase in NPAs of PNB and some other state-owned banks to factors like the impact of the global economic recession, bad monsoon and bird flu.

According to the data, the net NPAs of Union Bank of India during the period increased to Rs 573 crore from Rs 193 crore at the end of March 2009. Corporation Bank's net NPAs increased to Rs 266 crore from Rs 144 crore during the nine-month period. In case of Canara Bank, the net NPAs increased to Rs 1,721 crore from Rs 1,350 crore at the end of March 2009, while Bank of India's bad loans stood at Rs 1,457 crore against Rs 834 crore during the same period.

The net NPAs of SBI increased to Rs 10,201 crore from Rs 8,850 crore during the nine-month period.

The net NPAs of 27 public sector lenders, including six associate banks of SBI, increased to Rs 25,610 crore at the end of December 2009 compared to Rs 20,801 crore in March 2009.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/banking/finance/finance/PNB-bad-loans-highest-among-PSU-banksup-3-fold-in-9-months/articleshow/5840245.cms

NO IMPACT ON INTEREST RATES; STATUS QUO TO CONTINUE – ARUN KAUL, ED, CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA

According to Mr. Arun Kaul, Executive Director, Central Bank of India, there was no surprise in the policy announcement made by RBI as RBI's action was factored in by the market. Thus, there would not be any impact on interest rates and status quo would be maintained.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/no-immediate-hike-in-bank-interest-rates/91814/on

AXIS BANK Q4 NET UP 31.54% ;FY10 PROFIT AT RS 2,478.14 CR.

As informed to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Axis Bank’s net profit rose by 31.54 per cent to Rs 764.87 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2010. Total income stood at Rs 3,921.99 crore for the March quarter against Rs 3,884.73 crore for the same period previous fiscal.

The bank posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,478.14 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010 against Rs 1,812.93 crore last fiscal. Besides, the bank has earned an interest of Rs 2,988.45 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, compared to Rs 3,039.22 crore for the same period last fiscal.
     
The consolidated interest earned by the bank for the year ended March 31, stood at Rs 11,639.05 crore compared to Rs 10,829 crore previous fiscal.
    
Source:
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/axis-bank-q4-net3154-fy10-profit-at-rs-247814-cr/91873/on

C.B.O.A. CIRCULAR NO. 8 DATED 16.04.2010

Central Bank Officers' Association, Andhra Pradesh issued its circular No. 8 on Bipartite Talks with IBA. We are reproducing the same here.
Circular No. GS: 2010: 008               Date: 16.04.2010
TO ALL OFFICERS                  PLEASE CIRCULATE
Dear Friends,
We reproduce hereunder the Circular No. CIRCULAR/GS/2010/5 dated 15-04-2010 received from our Federation for your information.
With best regards
Yours sincerely
Sd/-
(C.A. MALLIKARJUNA RAO)
GENERAL SECRETARY
..........................................…………….…………………………
We reproduce hereunder circular received from AIBOC for your information:


“BIPARTITE TALKS WITH IBA
Another round of bipartite talks was held between IBA and UFBU constituents at Mumbai on 13th April 2010.  IBA was represented  by  Mr. R. Ramakrishnan, Chief  Executive,  Mr. K. Unnikrishnan,  Dy. Chief Executive and Mr. M. Venugopalan, Officer on Special Duty.  From UFBU, representatives of all the 9 Unions were present.

In today’s meeting, issues relating to settlement on pension option were taken up.  The draft Settlement was discussed in detail and finalized.

Regarding retirees, the formula for contribution of Rs. 934 crores ( 30% gap ) of the deficit, after refund of the PF amount (Bank’s contribution), it has been decided that the retirees will contribute as under:
Refund of PF amount (Bank's contribution) actually
     received at the time of retirement (no interest
     is payable on this amount)                                  Rs. X
PLUS 56% on this amount of Rs. X                             Rs. Y
LESS Commutation amount receivable from the 
     Bank                                                               Rs. Z
Net Amount refundable to the Bank (X + Y - Z)           Rs. -----

Regarding Existing Employees / Officers, out of the net gap of Rs. 6000 crores, Banks would contribute 70 %  i.e. Rs. 4200 crores. For the balance of Rs. 1800 crores ( 30%) employees / officers would contribute as under: (This will be a onetime contribution and would be recovered from the arrears.)

For existing employees/Officers:
1.6 times of "Pay" payable for the month of November 2007 (Revised Scales)
For employees who have joined the Banks after 1-11-2007:
Their contribution would be proportionately reduced

Date of effect of pension option:  IBA reiterated their stand that pension option would be effective from the date of the Settlement while we have explained our viewpoint that it should be w.e.f. 1-4-2008.  Differences on this issue persist.  UFBU decided to take steps to find a solution to this issue.

Improvements under Pension Scheme:  We took up with IBA various improvements in the Pension scheme like periodical updation of pension along with wage revision for serving employees, 100 % DA neutralization to all pensioners, common indexation of pension, increase in commutable portion of pension, increase in Ex Gratia for Pre-1986 retirees/widows, higher pension for pensioners above the age of 80, covering CPF Optees who resigned etc.  After discussion it has been decided to submit a memorandum on these issues to the IBA and the Government and to be pursued further.

Salary Revision: The Joint note on Salary Revision for officers’ will be finalized very soon. We are planning to meet the Chairman IBA  in connection with certain improvements in service conditions and residual issues, such as: regulated working hours.  5 day week, accumulation of privilege leave, mode of travel for junior officers, transportation charges on transfer, facilities to women officers, enhancement in staff loan ceilings etc.,

Friends, we are aware of the anxiety at the grass root level and are trying our best to finalize the settlements on Salary Revision and 2nd Option on Pension simultaneously at the earliest.  We shall keep you updated.”

Yours sincerely,
Sd/-
(D.S. BHADAURIA)
GENERAL SECRETARY