Bank staff unions to raise old pension restoration issue with IBA

Banks, represented by IBA, and UFBU, representing employees and officers, had signed an MoU for wage revision in Dec 2023 and had agreed to continue discussions on residual matters, including pensions

The bank staff unions will raise the issue of restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) with the Indian Banks’ Association this week, days after the central government approved for its employees the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) which will be effective from April 1, 2025.
 

Rupam Roy, General Secretary of All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOC), told Business Standard that unions had gone through the notification (OPS for government employees). The issue of pension will be raised at a meeting with the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) this week. 

“What the central government implements influences the decision-making of bank managements. Our principal demand is for OPS where the employee does not contribute. It is a social security benefit," Roy said. AIBOC is a member of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU).

Banks, represented by the IBA and UFBU, representing employees and officers, signed a memorandum of understanding for wage revision in December 2023 and had agreed to continue discussion on residual matters, including pension. The pension fund of banks does not service the employees recruited on or after April 1, 2010, who are covered by other schemes like the National Pension Scheme (NPS) under the aegis of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).

Those recruited before April 2010 are eligible for the bank pension scheme. The person who has served for 28 years in a bank will get the complete benefit of a pension. The pension is calculated as 50 per cent of the average of their basic pay over the last 10 months of service. 

One senior office bearer of the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) said while the UPS is better than the NPS, it will take a while to understand the full implications and how close it is to the OPS.

The demand for restoration of the OPS for bank employees will come automatically. The detailed response from banking sector unions will be formulated after examining details, the AIBEA office bearer said.