Respected Members,
On 23rd June 2025, a delegation of GIPAIF met the newly appointed CMD of Oriental Insurance, Mr. Sanjay Joshi.
The delegation included Mr. U. Banerjee (General Secretary), Mr. Shyam Mathur (Deputy General Secretary), Mr. A. M. Kulkarni (Vice President), Mr. Rajneesh Pandey (Vice President), and Mr. S. Ramesh (Secretary).
We presented him with a bouquet and extended our best wishes on assuming his new role.
Although it was a courtesy call, we used the opportunity to raise the issue of unwarranted delay in the issuance of the notification by DFS regarding the increase in family pension from 15% to 30%. He assured us that he would follow up with the DFS on this matter.
We also requested him to look into the delays in pension disbursement occurring after the transfer of annuity management from LIC's Metro Divisional Offices to the Central Office in Mumbai, which has resulted in pensions not being released on the first of each month.
Regarding 87A, effective from 1st July 2025, we pointed out that data has not been properly collected from Oriental Insurance, which may result in TDS deductions for pensioners who are otherwise not liable to pay tax.
Pensioners receiving an annual pension between u20b94.75 lakh and u20b912.75 lakh in the current financial year are tax-exempt. We urged LIC to ensure that TDS is not deducted for those not falling under the taxable bracket.
We further requested the CMD to escalate this issue of service deficiency to LIC's highest authority.
We also met the Chief Manager of the Pension Department at Orientalu2019s Head Office, who informed us that the cases of pensioners who have not received pension for the past six months are gradually being resolved.
The next day, GIPAIF representatives met the new CEO of GIPSA, Mrs. Anita Gupta.
A White Paper on public sector general insurance companies (PSGIs) was submitted to her, along with a request to pursue with DFS the early issuance of the family pension enhancement notification. We also demanded a revision in the protection clause provided to the legal heir of a deceased pensioner u2014 that the condition of "7 years or 65 years of age, whichever is earlier" be changed to "67 years of age".
She assured us that she would raise this issue with the DFS.
We further requested that, in the absence of any pension updation, pensioners should be provided ad-hoc or proportionate increases based on seniority, similar to those extended by LIC and banks. She mentioned that data for this has not yet been received from all companies.
She also suggested that, like central government pensioners, it might be easier to implement a percentage-based increase for very senior pensioners aged 80 years and above.
We were also informed that the Board of Oriental Insurance has approved recruitment for 1500 assistant posts over the next three years.
We had scheduled a meeting with the Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Pankaj Chaudhary, but due to last-minute changes in his schedule, the meeting could not take place.
Wishing all pensioners a Happy Rath Yatra festival.
U. Banerjee
General Secretary, GIPAIF
Mumbai
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