ALL INDIA BANK OFFICERS’ CONFEDERATION
(Registered under the Trade Unions Act 1926, Registration No.3427/Delhi)
6th Floor, E-Block, Samriddhi Bhavan, 1, Strand Road, Kolkata -700 001

c/o State Bank of India Officers’ Association (Bengal Circle)

Circular No. 2021/19

Date: 01.03.2021

Dear Comrade,

COVID-19 PANDEMIC: TREATMENT OF PAYMENT / REIMBURSEMENT OF HOSPITAL EXPENDITURE MADE BY THE BANK MANAGEMENT – FOR TAX PURPOSE

We reproduce hereunder the text of the joint communique from four officers’ organisations addressed to the Chairman, CBDT, New Delhi dated 01.03.2021 on the captioned subject for your information. Copy of the letter has also been sent to the Chairman, IBA and MD & CEOs of all banks.

With revolutionary greetings,

sd/-
(Soumya Datta)
General Secretary

ALL INDIA BANK OFFICERS’ CONFEDERATION (AIBOC)
ALL INDIA BANK OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION (AIBOA)
INDIAN NATIONAL BANK OFFICERS’ CONGRESS (INBOC)
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF BANK OFFICERS (NOBO)

The Chairman,
Central Board of Direct Taxes,
North Block,
NEW DELHI – 110 002.

Date: 01.03.2021

Respected Sir,

COVID-19 PANDEMIC: TREATMENT OF PAYMENT / REIMBURSEMENT OF HOSPITAL EXPENDITURE MADE BY THE BANK MANAGEMENT – FOR TAX PURPOSE

At the outset, we, the four officers’ organisations viz. AIBOC-AIBOA-INBOC-NOBO, representing the entire fraternity of officers in the banking industry, convey our sincere gratitude to you for providing breathing time by extending time norms for various income-tax-related activities as a solace to the taxpayers against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is a well-known fact that bank employees and officers, being part of the country’s financial army, have been rendering uninterrupted and yeoman service from the front line and therefore have been exposed to the contagion. More than lakh bank employees and officers and their family members have been affected by Coronavirus and many have succumbed to the deadly virus.

Sir, we wish to point out that the banks, as a part of the industry-wide bipartite settlement, are reimbursing the hospitalisation medical expenditure of employees within certain limits for the medical treatment taken by them from various hospitals for COVID-19 treatment. This reimbursement is of two types – direct payment to the hospital and reimbursement to the employee against relevant bills.

Any reimbursement of medical expenditure on account of hospitalisation is being classified into taxable and non-taxable income / perquisite for the employees. This classification is based on the specific diseases provided for in Circular no. 747 dated 02.12.1996 issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes. COVID-19 is not a part of the said list of specific diseases.

Consequently, the reimbursement of hospitalisation expenditure for COVID-19 being spent / reimbursed by the bank management to the employees is being classified as taxable.

Sir, it is a hard reality that the hospitals are charging hefty amounts for treating COVID-19 patients. It ranges from Rs.4.00 lakh to Rs.15.00 lakh depending on the severity of the disease. The employees are incurring huge amounts towards other related expenditure apart from the hospital bills. Unfortunately, after incurring such expenditure, many of our employees and their dependents did not survive.

Most of the senior officers / employees are in 30% tax slab and when the said reimbursement is added to their taxable income, they have to pay 30% of the said reimbursement amount as tax – ranging from Rs.1.20 lakh to Rs.5.20 lakh, even though there is no profit element or gain is there out of such payment / reimbursement of medical expenses made by the bank management.

The guidelines of CBDT about specific diseases are of 1996 and several new diseases have cropped up since then. Needless to emphasise, COVID-19 is one of the latest additions to critical diseases ever faced by the mankind.

Hence, considering the fact that the reimbursement / payment of medial expense made by the bank to its employees / officers is towards the treatment charges made by the hospitals and that there is no profit element to the employees, we urge upon your good office to revisit the list of specified diseases and notify a revised list of specific diseases including COVID-19, which will certainly be of immense help to the affected employees and / or their families.

We are certain that your good office will take a pragmatic and sympathetic view in the matter and issue necessary directives in this regard.

With regards,
Yours sincerely,

Sd /-
(Soumya Datta)
General Secretary
AIBOC

Sd /-
(Nagarajan S)
General Secretary
AIBOA

Sd /-
(Prem Kumar Makker)
General Secretary
INBOC

Sd/-
(Viraj Tikekar)
General Secretary
NOBO

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“It has been decided to call upon all our Officers not to attend/respond to the ‘official’ SMS/WhatsApp messages, received from their Controlling Authority/Zonal Heads between 8pm and 8am”

JOINT APPEAL TO ALL MEMBERS FROM FOUR OFFICERS’ ORGANISATIONS ON WORK – LIFE BALANCE

ALL INDIA BANK OFFICERS’ CONFEDERATION (AIBOC)
ALL INDIA BANK OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION (AIBOA)
INDIAN NATIONAL BANK OFFICERS’ CONGRESS (INBOC)
NATIONAL ORGANISATION OF BANK OFFICERS (NOBO)

Date: 29th September, 2018

To
All Affiliates (For Circulation)

To
All Affiliates of AIBOC/AIBOA/INBOC/NOBO

Dear Comrades,

Observe Work-Life-Balance, in letter and spirit

You are aware that the officers fraternity has been subjected to enormous stress due to ever increasing workload, inadequate staff, continuous pressure from multifarious controllers, over-ambitious targets, mis-placed business priorities, extended working hours et al. This has taken a heavy toll on the efficiency level and is the root cause of frustration and anxiety disorder resulting in depression, helplessness and life-style diseases viz Diabetes, High BP and Cardiac problems etc. Officers are constantly receiving SMS and instructions over WhatsApp messages even at odd hours. This has adversely affected their social and family life. Banking system has forgotten that an Officer is just not an employee of the Bank, but also a spouse/son/father/mother and an integral part of society. This situation has become intolerable as we find Officers are virtually chained to their official duties and have no respite, even while at home.

Work-Life-Balance is the need of the hour. Many top global companies are addressing this sensitive issue through various measures. State Bank of India has issued a comprehensive instruction addressing the need for a Work-life balance. However, the ground reality almost in every institution is that majority of the officers are stressed and do not have a work-life balance, which is attributed specially to the instructions received through SMS and WhatsApp.

All four officers organisations have unanimously decided to address this menace. It has been decided to call upon all our Officers not to attend/respond to the ‘official’ SMS/WhatsApp messages, received from their Controlling Authority/Zonal Heads between 8pm and 8am.

We urge upon our members to respond to our clarion call and implement the instructions in letter and spirit forthwith.

Yours comradely,

General Secretary – AIBOC
General Secretary – AIBOA
General Secretary – INBOC
General Secretary – NOBO

Source: http://aisbof.org

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