Sebi refutes media reports, condemns ’external elements’ behind employee protest

India’s market regulator has strongly refuted allegations reported in the media about the ‘unprofessional work culture’ of the organisation, calling them “misguidance by external elements”.

In a media release issued on Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) stated that the claims were misplaced.

“It is unfortunate that some elements have attempted to diminish the significant capabilities of Sebi employees by instigating employees to believe that, as ‘Employees of a Regulator’ they should not be required to have such high standards of performance and accountability,” the release said.

The regulator stressed that it would not like to speculate on who the external elements are or their motives.

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“Sebi is committed to serving the complex market ecosystem to a high level of transparency, and responsiveness. Equally it is committed to enhancing the capacity of all its employees and giving them the opportunity to actualize their full potential,” the release said.

Demands and protests

The response from Sebi stems from reports about an employee protest that allegedly mentioned about their working conditions and allowances and perks.

The Sebi release states that employees were demanding 55% increase in house rent allowance (HRA) over the allowance set in 2023, amongst numerous other benefits.

Employees also raised an issue on updating Sebi's automated management information system for key result areas (KRAs), which had been designed to bring in more transparency, fairness and accountability within Sebi.

“A 15-minute silent protest was held in this context,” the release stated.

Sebi claimed that a group of employees consciously designed a strategy to change the narrative to frame the issue as relating to the work environment, with an objective to have bargaining power to seek more benefits, adding that a letter was sent to the human resources ministry on 6 August.

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Seven days later, another letter was sent with a long list of 16 demands for numerous monetary and non-monetary benefits including the increase in HRA.

“In fact, the letter of August 6 was not sent by Sebi employee associations to the government, it was an anonymous email and the association and officers themselves condemned it,” the release said.

The regulator expressed its apprehension that junior officers have been receiving messages from external elements outside their group, effectively instigating them to approach the media, ministry and Board to serve their own purpose.

Sebi clarified in the release that Sebi officers are well paid and for entry level officers at Grade A, the cost to company is approximately ₹34 lakh per annum, which compares extremely favourably even with the corporate sector. The new demands placed by them would amount to an additional CTC of almost ₹6 lakh per annum.

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