April 6, 2019:
State oil companies have traditionally been far more profitable than firms in other sectors & so are the biggest revenue contributor to the govt.
Resource rich state oil firms, including ONGC, Indian Oil & Bharat Petroleum, plan to reward their tens of thousands of retired staff by offering cash that rises with their age, a move that would require hundreds of crores of rupees in funding. ONGC, IOC & BPCL have separately decided on plans to reward retired employees.
The plan is aimed at “acknowledging the contribution made by its seniors in building the organisation,” a spokesperson for Indian Oil said.
“It mitigates to a small extent the hardship faced by the seniors who are drawing a meagre pension as their only means of livelihood.”
State oil companies have traditionally been far more profitable than firms in other sectors & so are the biggest revenue contributor to the government. All state run firms follow the Department of Public Enterprises’ guidelines on employee benefits, & require the government’s nod to bring about any significant change in compensation policy for serving or retired employees.
“The corporation has decided to acknowledge the contributions of retired employees & felicitate them on reaching the age-related milestones,” BPCL said in a March memo to its management staff. “The scheme will be applicable only to those who are alive when they complete the milestone, on or after 10.01.2019.” The reward rises with age & a retired management staff is eligible for higher cash than workman.
BPCL would give away Rs 70,000 to a retired management staff & Rs 50,000 to a retired workman if they are 70 years old. At age 75, the reward would rise to Rs 75,000 & Rs 55,000 in the two categories respectively. For an 80-year-old, it would be Rs 80,000 & Rs 60,000; for an 85-year-old Rs 85,000 & Rs 65,000; for a 90-year-old Rs 90,000 & Rs 70,000; for a 95-year-old Rs 1,00,000 & Rs 80,000; & for a 100-year-old Rs 2,00,000 & Rs 1,60,000.
Spouses of deceased employees will be ineligible for the scheme, as per BPCL memo. Employees who have separated on medical ground would be eligible but those who were fired, resigned or opted for voluntary retirement will be ineligible. The cash reward details of Indian Oil & ONGC were not available.
BPCL didn’t respond to ET’s emailed query while ONGC only said it was a 2012 scheme that had been revived. Companies didn’t give away details on the number of beneficiaries or the extent of financial burden the scheme would bring.
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