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New Delhi: After a gap of 64 months, the government has notified a 12% wage hike for employees of public sector general insurance companies effective from August 2017. “This Scheme may be called the General Insurance (Rationalisation of Pay Scales and other Conditions of Service of Officers) Amendment Scheme, 2022,” a gazette notification dated October 14, 2022, said. The four public sector general insurance companies are New India Assurance, National Insurance, Oriental Insurance and United India Insurance.
The officers and employees will get the arrears for five years since the wage revision is effective from August 1, 2017. This will be applicable to those who were in the service of these companies. Only those who have worked in these companies during this time will get arrears for five years.
The next revision due from August 2022 will be in the form of variable pay based on the performance of the company and the employee, the notification added.
Unions are not happy with the imposition of pay linked to the performance of the company and their performance. “We are having strong reservations about the way the wage revision has been done after the wait of 64 months. Linking wages with performance seems to be illogical as we employees undertake so many government schemes,” General Insurance Employees’ All India Association (GIEAIA) general secretary Trilok Singh said.
He further emphasised that unions are not against reforms but it should be done keeping in mind the public sector nature of these companies. Employees of state-owned insurance firms make all the government schemes successful and not the private sector.
With the 12 per cent hike along with five years of arrears, the wage bill for New India Assurance, National Insurance, Oriental Insurance and United India Insurance would be around Rs 8,000 crore, an official source said.
Wage revisions for public sector banks and insurance companies are done every five years. The next wage revision for employees of insurance companies is due in August 2022.
(With inputs from PTI)
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