Uniform pay mooted for regulators

The Department of Personnel amp; Training has proposed uniform salary and perks for regulatory bodies,with the option of taking home a handsome consolidated package.

The Department of Personnel amp; Training DoPT has proposed uniform salary and perks for regulatory bodies,with the option of taking home a handsome consolidated package.

The Chairman/member will be offered an option to retain the pay and allowances to the post or to choose a higher pay package of Rs 3 lakh per month for chairman and Rs 2.5 lakh for member without house and car, says the proposal.

The consolidated package option will be available to over 50 regulatory bodies,including 20 tribunals.

Currently,there are seven beneficiaries,all sectoral regulators. The Sixth Pay Commission identified Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TRAI,Insurance Regulatory Development Authority IRDA,Central Electricity Regulatory Commission CERC,Securities and Exchange Board of India SEBI and the Competition Commission of India CCI for the package.

The Petroleum amp; Natural Gas Regulatory Board PNGRB and Pension Fund Regulatory amp; Development Authority PFRDA were added to the list later.

Those not opting for the consolidated package will get a monthly salary of Rs 90,000 as Chairman and Rs 80,000 as member with dearness allowance as applicable to a government officer of similar grade. They will also get an official car and house rent allowance at 30 per cent of pay,but no house will be allotted by the government.

Leave travel concession will be provided as admissible to re-employed pensioners,but additional pension and gratuity will not be given.

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These changes have been proposed after the Second Administrative Reforms Commission urged greater uniformity in the terms of appointment,tenure and removal of regulatory authorities,considering they were set up for similar objectives and functions,and should be enjoying similar degrees of autonomy.

The DoPT has listed 36 regulatory bodies that have varied salary structures ranging from Rs 12,000 to Rs 90,000 per month. The allowance schemes are also different for each,with some not providing any perks.

According to the proposal,there will be a uniform tenure of five years with the retirement age fixed at 65 years for ex-bureaucrats.