Recently decision of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Mumbai has come out as a boon for the pensioners. It enables the restoration of reduced pensions that were commuted after 12 years instead of 15 years of retirement benefit to postal workers.
What is Commuted Pension?
Another option that is available when an employee is retiring is the partial commutation of pension which means that one is given a certain amount of cash that will enable him or her to buy pension and then receive a smaller amount of pension monthly. Full pension is generally recovered after 15 years as per Rule 10A of CCS (Commutation of Pension) Rules, 1981.
Pensioners’ Request
Currently one group of pensioners who were from the Department of Posts seek full pension back after only 12 years. They equally pointed out that the amount that has been commuted was fully recovered from within this period. The pensioners claimed that the 5th Pay Commission recommendation was to bring down the recovery period from fifteen years to twelve years. Other states such as Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh have already reduced their working hours for employees.
Tribunal’s Decision
The CAT Mumbai supported the pensioners arguing that having recovered the full commuted amount, there was no justification for further cuts on the pensions. This verdict may alter the pension guidelines of other CGEEE as well which has been eagerly demanding the reduction of the commutation period for many years now.
The Bigger Picture
On that note, this decision could open up the flood gates regarding pension policies in the rest of the country. To be more precise, an early-year proposal was made to the central government to cut the period of pension commutation to 12 years. As we have also noted, this ruling has led to restored focus towards the issue.
This advancement is a move towards enhancing political struggle to ensure that pensioners who have provided years of service deservedly deserve a decent treatment in their golden age.
