Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Officers - Salaries and perks
Kind courtesy - Anil @ FlyingArjan
Video commentary of RBI Salaries and benefits
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is one of the premier employers of India. It is the giant of money market and banker to the nation. For those who are looking for a handsome career option it has plenty of benefits in terms of salary and quality of life even by the standards of Government Jobs.
IAS, IPS, IRS, IFS, etc. are one of the most coveted jobs for all the recent graduates because these jobs offer authority, power, respect, benefit and future security. However, they can also end up as some of the toughest and unsatisfying jobs because of bureaucratic controls and widespread corruption. I don't want to offend the ones with inclination for social work and national service by saying that Civil Services are not the best career option available. But, they have their own limitations and things like these make us look for more predictable and brighter options like Reserve Bank of India.
Reserve Bank employees, generally, have a 5-day week at work, postings in metros or state capitals, easily adjustable work atmosphere and best in industry pay packages. Let us talk about the RBI Pay Package in details.
RBI
Source: Reserve Bank of India
RBI Hierarchy Levels
Seniority levels of RBI Officers are divided into Groups (A to F). Group 'A' is junior-most while Group 'F' is the senior-most level containing Officers like Deputy-Governor, Governor, etc. All these officers collectively are called as Class-I employees. Apart from these employees RBI also has a large number of Class-III and Class-IV employees which work as service staff and other subordinate levels. Strangely, there is no Class-II level in RBI. Almost annually, direct recruitment of Officers is carried out at Group 'A' & 'B' levels and at Group 'C' & 'D' levels for experienced people. While Group 'A', 'C' & 'D' recruitment is nominal, there are frequent recruitment of college graduates and postgraduates at Group 'B' level through examinations conducted by Reserve Bank of India Services Board (RBISB). It is important to understand the entry level salaries of RBI. I hope it is easy to understand the hierarchy in RBI in terms of Groups. Salaries of officers are also differentiated on the basis of these levels.
Basic Pay
Basic pay or base salary is the amount on which other components of salary will be based. This information also shows the annual increment by which base pay will increase (normally irrespective of performance). As you can see (in the table below) the starting Basic Salaries for Group 'B' Officers are 21000. These will be supplemented by Dearness Allowance (58+%), House Rent Allowance(10+%), etc. making the gross salary well above 40,000 (excluding the sweet little perks). The increment 1,000 which looks very small ( nearly 5%) isn't bad given that the inflation is balanced by incremental revision in DA every 6 months. It is expected to increase by 7% in December to 6%.
CADRE LEVEL
|
BASIC PAY AT START OF SCALE
|
ANNUAL INCREMENT
|
|---|---|---|
GROUP 'A'
|
17,100
|
1,000
|
GROUP 'B'
|
21,000
|
1,000
|
GROUP 'C'
|
28,350
|
1,000
|
GROUP 'D'
|
39,850
|
1,200
|
GROUP 'E'
|
42,300
|
1,300
|
GROUP 'F'
|
60,600
|
1,600
|
BASIC PAY
Local and Family Allowance
Although it is not clear what is the meaning of Local allowance but all Officers are eligible for it. it is available for all Officers other than Group 'F'. It is subject to maximum ceiling which varies with Level. Like Local Allowance, all Officers are also eligible for Family allowance except Grade 'F' Officers. Please refer table below for details.
CADRE LEVEL
|
LOCAL ALLOWANCE
|
L.A. CEILING
|
FAMILY ALLOWANCE
|
F.A. CEILING
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
GROUP 'A'
|
5% OF BASIC
|
1,300
|
4% OF BASIC
|
1,100
|
GROUP 'B'
|
5% OF BASIC
|
1,300
|
4% OF BASIC
|
1,100
|
GROUP 'C'
|
5% OF BASIC
|
1,300
|
4% OF BASIC
|
1,100
|
GROUP 'D'
|
5% OF BASIC
|
1,600
|
4% OF BASIC
|
1,200
|
GROUP 'E'
|
5% OF BASIC
|
1,600
|
4% OF BASIC
|
1,200
|
GROUP 'F'
|
NIL
|
0
|
NIL
|
0
|
LOCAL & FAMILY ALLOWANCE
Grade and Special Allowance
These allowances are given to all officers who are confirmed in their grade. In addition to being confirmed, officers should satisfy the eligibility criteria. The amount of Grade and Special allowance per month is:
CADRE LEVEL
|
GRADE ALLOWANCE
|
SPECIAL ALLOWANCE
|
|---|---|---|
GROUP 'A'
|
1,500
|
2,500
|
GROUP 'B'
|
2,250
|
2,500
|
GROUP 'C'
|
4,500
|
2,500
|
GROUP 'D'
|
6,750
|
2,500
|
GROUP 'E'
|
9,000
|
5,500
|
GROUP 'F'
|
10,000
|
0
|
GRADE AND SPECIAL ALLOWANCE
Monthly Reimbursements - Educational, Household and Telephone
Employees are also eligible for reimbursement of amounts incurred on Education fees, Telephone bills and also for employing domestic helpers. These reimbursements are:
CADRE LEVEL
|
EDUCATIONAL (Rs)
|
HOUSEHOLD (Rs)
|
TELEPHONE (Calls)
|
|---|---|---|---|
GROUP 'A'
|
2,000
|
2,000
|
500
|
GROUP 'B'
|
2,000
|
2,000
|
800
|
GROUP 'C'
|
2,000
|
2,000
|
1,500
|
GROUP 'D'
|
2,000
|
3,000
|
2,000
|
GROUP 'E'
|
2,000
|
3,000
|
2,000
|
GROUP 'F'
|
2,000
|
4,000
|
3,500
|
MONTHLY PERSONAL REIMBURSEMENTS
Conveyance Expenses
All the employees are eligible for a quota of petrol depending on their City and Grade. Those living in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad or Bangalore get an extra 30 litres above the quota for the Group. Those who don't own a car are given cash instead of petrol. however, it is advantageous for car owners because the cash payment is less and also the fact that car owners also receive monthly vehicle maintenance allowance. Below table clears the picture.
CADRE LEVEL
|
PETROL FOR CAR OWNERS (Ltrs)
|
REIMBURSEMENT FOR OTHERS
|
CAR MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCE
|
DIRVER ALLOWANCE
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
GROUP 'A'
|
120
|
4,000*
|
0
|
0
|
GROUP 'B'
|
120
|
4,000*
|
0
|
0
|
GROUP 'C'
|
150
|
5,000*
|
1,000
|
5,500
|
GROUP 'D'
|
180
|
6,000*
|
2,500
|
5,500
|
GROUP 'E'
|
210
|
6,000*
|
2,500
|
7,000
|
GROUP 'F'
|
270
|
6,000*
|
2,500
|
7,000
|
CONVEYANCE ALLOWANCE *REVISED PERIODICALLY
Official Car and House A/C
Grade 'E' and 'F' Officers above are eligible for car and Home AC facility. In case of Grade 'E' officers additional condition of 5 years in same Grade should be met to avail of official car facility. While no such condition exists for home AC. Maximum permissible price of car and AC is Rs. 8,00,000 and 20,000 respectively. Additional 200 units of free electricity is also provided by the employer for paying AC costs. Condition for purchase of car is that on retirement, the officer will be buying the car at Rs. 50,000 or the actual depreciated value of car, whichever is higher.
Annual Reimbursements - Medical, Book Grant and Briefcase
Apart from monthly reimbursements, there are certain allowances which are permitted to be reimbursed annually. These are eligible on showing the receipts or bills. The maximum permissible amount for medical, book grant and briefcase allowances are:
CADRE LEVEL
|
MEDICAL
|
BOOK GRANT
|
BRIEFCASE
|
|---|---|---|---|
GROUP 'A'
|
4,000
|
4,000
|
5,000
|
GROUP 'B'
|
4,000
|
4,500
|
7,000
|
GROUP 'C'
|
4,000
|
5,000
|
7,000
|
GROUP 'D'
|
5,500
|
6,000
|
9,000
|
GROUP 'E'
|
5,500
|
6,000
|
9,000
|
GROUP 'F'
|
5,500
|
7,000
|
9,000
|
ANNUAL ALLOWANCES
Easy Loan for Purchase of Car/Bike/PC
Concessional loans are available to all employees planning to purchase either a car, bike or a Personal Computer/laptop. The quantum of advance, interest rates and the conditions are given in the below table. Loan can be retaken after repayment of old loan and expiry of minimum period of 4,1 and 5 years for Car, Bike and PC, respectively.
CADRE LEVEL
|
AMOUNT PERMISSIBLE
|
|---|---|
GROUP 'A'
|
70,000
|
GROUP 'B'
|
70,000
|
GROUP 'C'
|
90,000
|
GROUP 'D'
|
1,10,000
|
GROUP 'E'
|
1,50,000
|
GROUP 'F'
|
2,00,000
|
RESIDENCE FURNISHING ALLOWANCE
PURCHASE ITEM
|
LOAN ELIGIBLE
|
INTEREST RATE
|
CONDITIONS
|
|---|---|---|---|
CAR
|
7,00,000
|
7%
|
MAXIMUM LIMIT = 90% OF COST
|
MOTOR BIKE
|
75,000
|
6%
|
MAXIMUM LIMIT = 90% OF COST
|
PC
|
50,000
|
6%
|
MAXIMUM LIMIT = 90% OF COST
|
CAR, BIKE AND PC LOAN
Ohhhh!! Wasn't that exhaustive? Well there's more
Well, No. That isn't quite all about what you get at RBI. There are a bagful of other allowances and reimbursements which, for the sake of preserving my energy, I will list down in short.
Furnishing of Residence: All officers are eligible for furnishing their residence on periodic basis. This furnishing allowance can be availed once in every five years.
JAIB/CAIIB Allowance: For those who have cleared CAIIB or JAIB course from Indian Institute of Banking and Finance, a banking college having MoU with RBI. This course can be done while on job.
Special Functional Allowance: For those working as Private secretaries in Grade 'A' & 'B'.
Provident Fund, Gratuity and Retirement: Though PF will be provided for by the basic pay, retirement is a true asset.
Leave Fare Concessions: AC 2nd Class for all employees with basic pay Rs. 33,200 or less. And airfare for those with basic pay above 33,200.
Deputation Allowance: Up to 7.75% of basic pay can be allowed in addition to existing pay for those working on deputation in RBI.
Intangible Benefits
That was all about the tangible benefits which can be felt by putting a hand down the pocket. But what about those benefits which we don't and can't anticipate because of lack of foresight. RBI presents a safety net for future through Life Insurance Coverage, Medical Insurance, OPD Expence reimbursements, Education Leaves, etc. While the cost of these benefits is bone by the employer, the actual gain can never be overlooked. These all benefits take the salary of RBI recruit above Rs 10 Lac on Cost to Company basis.
Beyond Salary and Perks
Even if we forget the CTC, job at RBI offers handsome prospects of learning and growing with the organisation. It has the ingredients of a be-all-end-all institution for budding graduates who can dream to become Deputy Governors before retirement, provided that they land a position at right age. Some others like to make this job their launch pad for going to world stage after a short stint. They move to World Bank, IMF, ADB and the likes to explore opportunities of learning and growth. Some others move to limelight jobs in investment banks for lure of big paycheck and all expense paid holidays.
Before venturing so deep into the future it's good to perform a reality check. Getting recruited to RBI is as much tough as it is easy to like the Salaries. Around 4,00,00 aspirants apply for a meagre 200-300 entry level jobs on offer every year. Man can only try and let destiny to take him home.
I wish that this detailed hub inspires those who regard RBI as their cup of tea. They will be the ones who make the cut in the end because 'You get only what you really and passionately want'. Good luck for the long march to victory.
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