Report by Kamgar Ekta Committee (KEC) correspondent
The employees, officers, agents and surveyors involved in Public Sector Insurance Companies (PSGICs) have been opposing the report of Ernst & Young (E&Y). General Insurance Employees’ All India Association (GIEAAA) general secretary Trilok Singh said “today, it is a matter of serious concern that under the pressure of some department of financial services (DFS) officials, the management of public sector general insurance companies are blindly imposing the report of the consultant E&Y in regards to closure and mergers/restructuring and imposing key performance indicators in haste.”
He added that the management of PSGI companies have not shared the complete report with the employees, officers, and other stakeholders and are moving ahead unilaterally. The chief labour commission of the Government of India intervened and directed General Insurance Public Sector Association (GIPSA) management, DFS, and the corporate management of public sector general insurance companies twice, to have bilateral discussions with the unions/association and welfare groups. Still, the same was violated and dishonoured.
The Joint forum of trade unions and associations have submitted memorandum to more than 25 Members of Parliaments (MPs). Many MPs have urged the finance minister and the senior-most authorities of the Government of India to take judicious action in this regard to protect, save, and strengthen these public sector general insurance companies.
On the intervention of the chief labour commissioner (CLC), the joint forum of trade unions and association has deferred their strike call on 4th of January and 29th of March. But the same was not given serious cognizance by the PSGIC management and the DFS officials. In this situation, the General Insurance Employees Association demands to have CAG and statuary audit of E&Y, to blacklist the said consultant and to scrap the report of E and Y.
GIEAAA has raised concern over the selection of E&Y, accused in Wirecard scandal by GIPSA. “The consultant E&Y, selected by GIPSA management to bring efficiency, profitable growth and restructuring in PSGICs, was fined for a 100 million $ penalty for cheating on Certified Public Accountant (CPA) examinations. The said news was published in international newspapers such as The Guardian, USA Today, and various other newspapers on 20th June 2022. Additionally, as per the news on 4th April 2023 in Economic Times, the German Audit watchdog has banned E&Y, over the Wirecard scandal, from taking up new audits for companies in public interest for 2 years, and handed the firm a fine of 500,000 Euro dollars,” said Trilok Singh.
If the immediate corrective measures are not taken, GIEAAA said that they along with Joint Forum of Trade Unions (JFTU) will be forced to go for a series of agitation in the coming days, for which the PSGIS management, GIPSA, and some DFS officials will be held responsible.