Mumbai: Sixty three-year-old S K Datta, who retired from Britannia in 2003, hoped to spend a peaceful retired life as Britannia was among the few private companies which offered a pension. But now with Britannia's sudden change in pension rules, Datta is left scanning the documents, which promised a lot but failed to deliver.
The company used to date pension accumulation from the date of joining under the defined benefit scheme. But that was changed to defined contribution, which meant pension accumulation would start only from the date of launch of the fund.
Britannia also took Rs 12 crore from the pension fund stating it was an excess payment - trust rules clearly prohibit such a refund - and refused to pay a 15 per cent increment every three years - a decision approved by the company's board earlier.
Employees say they were cajoled into signing the new pension agreements, which they refused
“They told us we will hire the best of lawyers in the country and will drag the case in court for 20 years. The other option is that you sign on these papers and accept the changed pension scheme,” says Datta.
Former head HR, Britannia Ashit Sarkar adds, “People who have worked for 30-35 years suddenly find their pension reduced by one fourth or one fifth of what they had earned. This is the sad story.”
But Britannia in an email response has stated that – Rs 12 crore was illegally transferred from the Company to the retrial funds. By the act of refund, the new trustees only 'repaired the damage’. While the periodic increase in the pension was neither a 'right' of the employees nor a part of any contractual obligation.
Employees say the company owes them just Rs18 lakh a year while continuing to pay huge commissions of Rs 48 lakh to chairman Nusli Wadia and Rs 65 lakh to MD Vinita Bali as shown on the balance sheet of 2005-06.
It shows that employees who have given a lifetime of service are no longer on the priority list for Britannia.
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