Delhi HC bars 7th CPC pension revision for absorbed BSNL, MTNL staff

The Delhi High Court has held that former Department of Telecommunications employees who took permanent absorption in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) are not entitled to pension revision under the 7th Central Pay Commission. Allowing an appeal by the Department of Telecommunications, a division bench of Justices Om Prakash Shukla and C. Hari Shankar set aside a September 2023 order of the Central Administrative Tribunal that had directed the government to extend 7th CPC-linked pension benefits to such retirees.

The court ruled that these pensioners are governed by Rule 37A of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972, which creates a special regime for government servants permanently absorbed in public sector undertakings. Once they opted for absorption in BSNL or MTNL, they ceased to be government employees and moved to the Industrial Dearness Allowance pay structure, making their pay and pension revisions subject to Pay Revision Committee recommendations rather than Central Pay Commission awards. In its judgment, the bench concluded that neither Rule 37A nor the cited office memoranda confer any right on combined-service pensioners under the IDA regime to seek pension revision on the basis of the 7th CPC, effectively shutting the door on CPC-linked pension hikes for absorbed BSNL and MTNL retirees.

CT Bureau