An order has been issued to ensure employees and officials of public sector banks (PSBs) get Dearness Allowance (DA) at a revised scale. The order concerns the DA to be paid for the months of February, March and April this year.
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The order
The February 1 order, from the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) to all banks under it, says: "Dearness Allowance for workmen and officer employees in banks for the months of February, March and April 2017 under X BPS[the Xth bipartite Settlement] / Joint Note dated May 25, 2015."
The order explains: "The confirmed All India Average Consumer Price Index Numbers for Industrial Workers (Basel960-100) for the quarter ended December 2016 are as follows:- October 2016: 6345.60, November 2016: 6322.77, December 2016: 6277.12." It adds: "The average CPI of the above is 6315, and accordingly the number of DA slabs is 469."
The order then goes on to explain that the DA bank employees and officials should get must be 46.9 per cent of their pay. It concludes: "We advise banks to pay the difference between the old and revised salary and allowance to officers on an ad hoc basis, pending amendments to Officers' Service Regulations."
What this means for bank employees
With the order having been sent by the IBA to all banks under it, the onus is now on the banks to ensure that their employees get the DA component in their salaries of February, March and April as per the new scale. There should not be much of a hurdle on that front, unless some unforeseen circumstance halts the process.
However, this new pay scale may take a little more time to be implemented in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Manipur, where Assembly elections are yet to take place and the Model Code of Conduct is currently in place.
