RBI seeks FinMin nod on employees pay revision

Amid concerns raised by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) over its autonomy, the central bank has for the first time sought the Finance Ministry's nod for wage revision in the apex bank.

The wage related negotiation has reached a conclusion, but no agreement has been signed between RBI management and the employee unions, sources said.

The details, however, have been shared with the Finance Ministry as per the directive of the ministry issued a few months ago, they said.

The RBI has shared the information with the Finance Ministry to get its approval. Following the clearance from the Ministry the agreement would be signed.

Earlier, RBI used to intimate the Finance Ministry about wage revision after signing the agreement with the unions.

It used to be just a customary affair, sources said.

Wage revision of RBI employees usually happens every 5 years in line with PSU bank employees.

Sharing the negotiation details with the Finance Ministry and seeking its nod seems to be a dilution of RBI's autonomy, sources added.

The development happens, even as the RBI has been voicing concern over autonomy of financial sector regulators.

Earlier this week, RBI in its annual report for 2009-10 had asked the government to ensure that its freedom was not compromised while carrying out a mechanism to sort out jurisdiction issues between the watchdogs in the financial sector.

RBI Governor D Subbarao had also expressed concern over a recent ordinance for a joint mechanism between the financial sector regulators and the Finance Ministry to sort out issues over jurisdiction.

To replace the Ordinance, the government introduced the Securities and Insurance Laws (Amendment and Validation) Bill 2010 in Parliament and assured the regulators that their autonomy will not be compromised.

"During the Parliamentary debate on the Bill, the government gave an assurance that the scope of the proposed Bill will be restricted to jurisdictional disputes on regulation. In operationalising the arrangement envisaged under the Bill, it is important to ensure that the autonomy of the regulators is not compromised, either in fact or in perception," the RBI said in its 2009-10 annual report.

The recent enactment of the Securities and Insurance Laws (Amendment and Validation) Bill 2010 amending inter alia the RBI Act, 1934 had raised concerns in this regard," the central bank said.

The RBI said the issue has assumed greater importance since responsibility of central banks has increased since the global crisis.