BMC commissioner's drivers take home bigger pay cheque

In what may come as a surprise to many, civic officials have revealed that Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte's drivers have been earning more than him.
"Yes, it is true that his drivers has been drawing a bigger salary then the commissioner himself, but this is due to the overtime that they do," Additional Municipal Commissioner Mohan Adtani told PTI here today.
He said there are two drivers working in shifts to drive the cars of the BMC commissioner as well as vehicles of the additional commissioners.
"The pay for over time fixed by the government per hour, is one-and-a half times more than their regular salary. Therefore, they draw more salary," he said.

According to a civic department transport official, the BMC chief's driver took home Rs 11.9 lakh (Rs 99,550 per month) during the last financial year, which is more than the commissioner himself, whose monthly salary is Rs 90,000.
The average salary of a BMC driver is in the range of Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000 per month. As per rules, the commissioner's driver is expected to work 12 hours a day and the others are supposed to work eight hours a day.
Additional hours are compensated with twice the sum of dearness allowance, house rent allowance, transport allowance and basic pay. So, if a driver works on a public holiday or weekly off, the entire day is counted as overtime.

One of the reasons for high overtime payments is because officials relieve their drivers only late at night.