All India Punjab National Bank Officers’ Federation (AIPNBOF) has filed a writ petition in the Madras High Court against Punjab National Bank (PNB) alleging discrimination on the issue of perquisite tax on lease of houses.
According to the federation, PNB has decided not to deduct the perquisite tax on house leases for a section of employees who are members of the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC). In contrast, the rest of the officers are mandated to bear the tax burden.
“As per the PNB’s recent decision, perquisite tax on lease will not be deducted from the officers who are member of AIBOC, while rest of the officers will see tax deduction. This is discrimination against one section of officers,” said Krishna Kumar, general secretary, All India Punjab National Bank Officers’ Federation.
He added that the AIBOC has filed a case in Madras High Court on the same issue and verdict is still pending. The bank has decided not to deduct perquisite tax from the members of AIBOC until the court announces the final verdict.
AIPNBOF members said that AIBOC is a national level body which has members in all the public sector banks. However, only PNB has decided to deduct tax from one section of officers which has caused confusion among the employees.
AIPNBOF has called two-day strike on December 26 and 27 on various issues, including implementation of a 5-day work week for bank employees, clarity on perquisite tax on lease, freedom for employees to choose pension fund managers under the National Pension Scheme (NPS) and other related issues. The All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA) has already extended support to the two-day strike call by AIPNBOF. “This support underscores the growing sentiment among bank employees for systemic reforms to improve work-life balance and operational efficiency,” said Kumar.