SEBI Officers To Stage Protest Over Allowances, Association Says In Active Discussion With Leadership

In a developing story, approximately 700 officers from SEBI's Grades A, B, and C are set to stage a protest at the organisation's head office, SEBI Bhavan One, in Mumbai on Monday, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

It is driven by growing discontent among the Indian market regulator's employees with the organisation's leadership, which has been building over the past 2.5 years. It was also revealed to NDTV Profit that the employees have not been happy with the leadership over the period.

However, late on Saturday evening, the SEBI Employees Association (SEA) in response termed reports of discontent as "misinformation". It further said that employee-related issues are critical to SEBI and the SEA and SEALS (SEBI Employee Association for Legal Stream) regularly interact with SEBI management on HR-related issues, including allowances impacting a large number of employees, which are dealt with in a consultative manner.

Key issues fuelling the protest include dissatisfaction with SEBI’s allowances, which have not been updated to align with those offered to RBI officers. Additionally, a new system for uploading Key Result Areas has been introduced, with threats of allowance stoppage for non-compliance exacerbating the unrest.

Despite a follow-up apology email from SEBI attempting to address these grievances, employee agitation has persisted. A person familiar with the situation, speaking to NDTV Profit, highlighted a broader issue of mistrust within the organisation.

While SEBI is working to improve conditions for external stakeholders, there is a growing mistrust among its own employees that needs to be addressed, the person said.

A query has been sent to SEBI for a response.