Panel suggests inflation-guard for regulators salary

As the government continues its search for new heads of two key regulators Sebi and CCI, the Seventh Pay Commission has recommended guarding their salaries against inflationary erosion.
At present, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and Competition Commission of India (CCI) Chairmen are given a consolidated pay package of Rs 4.5 lakh per month.
While the Pay Commission has recommended the same package for the Chairpersons of nine regulators including Sebi and CCI, it has also suggested steps to guard against inflation.
The regulators have been demanding for periodic revision of consolidated pay on the pattern of the government servants.

The Commission, however, said the consolidated pay structure was delinked from the pay and allowances structure and the pension drawn by re-employed government retirees is also not deducted from the consolidated pay.
Therefore, the revision in the consolidated pay package cannot be linked to six monthly Dearness Allowance increase provided in the case of central government employees, the Commission noted.

"However, keeping in view the erosion of purchasing power through inflation, the Commission recommends that the consolidated pay package may be raised by 25 per cent as and when Dearness Allowance goes up by 50 per cent. All other benefits, including medical facilities, TA/DA on tour etc may be provided by the regulatory bodies as per their rules and regulations," it said in its recommendations.

For members of these nine regulatory bodies, the panel has recommended a consolidated pay package of Rs 4 lakh per month.
In case of retired government servants, their pension will not be deducted from their consolidated pay, it added.
While it will take some time before the government decides on implementation of the new recommendations, these are likely to further increase the lobbying among the government officials for positions at these regulatory bodies.
At regulatory bodies, there are two types of pay packages -- one with the government pay structure and other with a consolidated pay package.
The rationale for consolidated pay package is to ensure comparability with packages available in the market so as to attract professionals and experts from the private sector.

However, barring a few exceptions, most of the regulators continue to be retired government employees, the Commission said in its 900-page report.
"The Commission is of the view that professionals and experts from the private sector will not look just at the monetary compensation but also at the prestige involved and the contribution that can be made by a regulator for the development of the sector and the economy.
The pay panel's recommendation comes at a time when
processes are underway to appoint new Chairpersons at Sebi and CCI, as the incumbents would be retiring in early 2016.
More than 50 applications have been received for the post of Sebi chief, while the number of applicants is much higher in case of CCI. Most applicants are government officials, including those close to the retirement age.

The Commission has recommended a pay of Rs 2,25,000 per month for Secretary to the Government of India.
As per the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission, the government had extended a consolidated pay package (without house and car) of Rs 3 lakh per month for Chairpersons and Rs 2.5 lakh for the Members of five regulators including Sebi and CCI.
To neutralise the effect of inflation, the consolidated pay package for these regulatory bodies later for revised twice and at present it stands at Rs 4.5 lakh per month for Chairpersons and Rs 3.75 lakh for members. Four more regulators were extended this package later, taking the total to nine.

These include the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDAI), Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA), and Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERAI).