Reply To Objections Deebar Case

POINTWISE REPLY TO THE OBJECTIONS RAISED BY DIRECTOR DISTRIBUTION OFFICE 1.

The work of FOC under suburban circle started on 1st June 2017 and was for a period of one year. The work was to provide CHB (complaint Handling Bikes) in all the divisions for a period of one year. The work of FOC (Fuse of Call) for 2017-18 for Ahmedgarh , Jagraon and Suburban Division, (Lalton Kalan) under Suburban Circle was awarded to M/s R.K. Electrical Abohar vide Work order no 02/Sub-Ldh/2017-18 Dated 26-05-201 for Rs. 97,48,477.44/- and the work for Raikot and Adda Dakha Divisions was awarded to M/s Gurm Traders, Amargarh vide Work order No 01/Sub-Ldh/2017-18 Dated 26-052017 for Rs.75,14,451.36. The bills were supposed to be submitted every month, however the contractor was having the practice of submitting bills after 2 or 3 months. These bills were thoroughly scrutinized, pre audited and then paid. All the statutory contributions were made by the contractors in their initial bills which were thoroughly checked and passed for payments hence, both the contractors were paid approximately total Rs 84 Lacs by all the Divisions under suburban Circle. Thereafter the contractor stopped submitting its monthly bills but the FOC workers remained on duty and performed useful work uptill Feb 2018. The division wise details of payments made, work done, and balance payment due is tabulated below for ready reference computed on the basis of minimum basic statutory contributions such as ESI and EPF.

Name of Division

Name of Contractor

Payment Made Payment Made to Contract to the Employees by Contractor up the Contractor to the Month upto Month

Work done upto the Month

Balance Payment Liability Bills submitted Payment to be on PSPCL (as Total value of and payments Made to Principle Employer) Work Done (A) made to Contractor as for Payment to contractors (B) per Work Order Employees of (A-B) Contractor

Lalton

R K Electricals

Aug-17

Aug-17

Feb-18

2995625

1078452

1917173

1184193

Ahmedgarh

R K Electricals

Oct-17

Oct-17

Jan-18

2538665

2005546

533119

460520

Jagraon

R K Electricals

Sep-17

Sep-17

Feb-18

2690986

1945060

745926

377754

Raikot

Gurm Traders

Oct-17

Oct-17

Feb-18

3021013

1751806

1269207

614026

Adda-Dakha

Gurm Traders

Aug-17 TOTAL

Aug-17

Feb-18

3351039 14597328

1781829 8562693

1569210 6034635

1381558 4018051

Therefore it is clarified that an approximate amount of Rs 40 Lacs is only required to pay the salaries to workers for those months for which the workers remained on duty but the contractor did not submit any bills although numerous letters were written to both the contractors by all the divisions and the circle but both the contractors did not respond to any of the letters/ notices.

2. PSPCL had engaged contractors for the work of FOC in suburban circle and the

employees were given appointments by the contractors. The contractor was in habit of submitting 2-3 monthly bills together, therefore after few months of the work, the contractor stopped submitting bills, but the workers remained on duty. Many letters were written by the divisional offices and the circle office but the contractor did not responded to any of the letters therefore proceeding were initiated to terminate this contract which after giving due opportunity both the contracts were terminated on 04.04.2018, However the workers remained on duty after Oct 2017 till Feb 2018. 3. The contractor was in habit of submitting 2-3 monthly bills together, therefore after few months of the work, the contractor stopped submitting bills but the workers remained on duty. Many letters were written by the divisional offices and the circle office but the contractor did not responded to any of the letters, therefore proceeding were initiated to terminate this contract which after giving due opportunity (to avoid legal complications), both the contracts were terminated. 4. Although PSPCL is already in practice of hiring electricians from PESCO and they are given this arduous duty allowance, therefore these contracts were compared with PESCO standards for the equating purpose according to the principal of equal work equal pay and to cover any further legal complications, however fresh calculations based on only statutory contributions having legal impact are done and are reproduced below for ready reference. Sr. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Discription Minimum Wages applicable from 01.09.2017 EPF Employer Contribution (@13.15%) EPF Employee Contribution (@12%) Total EPF Deposit per Worker per Month ESI Employer Contribution (@4.75%) ESI Employee Contribution (@1.75%) Total ESI Deposit per Worker per Month Salary Inhand of a Worker per Month Cost per Worker per Month to PSPCL Cost per CHB per Month to PSPCL

Amount 9300 1223 1116 2339 441.75 162.75 604.50 8021.25 10964.75 21929.50

5. The case is pending in the court of Asstt. Labour Commissioner Ludhiana, who has

verbally conveyed that in this case PSPCL is the principal employer and is bound to pay the salaries to workers for the period they remained on duty. 6. Legal opinion will be obtained before submitting the agenda. Further it is again submitted that the amount of Rs 4.08 Cr has already been approved for both Khanna and Suburban Circles by the committee of WTD’s in its meeting No 192 held on 27.4.17 against CE/Central agenda No 02 dated 22.3.17. and Work order no 02/Sub-Ldh/2017-

18 Dated 26-05-201 for Rs. 97,48,477.44 and Work order No 01/Sub-Ldh/2017-18 Dated 2605-2017 for Rs.75,14,451.36 were issued. Out of which payment of Rs. 84,00,998 Lac has already been paid to the contractors by deducting Rs.3,88,286 as security. The total liability of PSPCL such as statutory contributions and amount required to be paid to the workers is Rs 5102040. Therefore the total expenditure to be incurred in completing this project is Rs. 1,35,03,038 (Rs 84,00,998 plus Rs 5102040), which is within the already approved limit of Rs. 1,72,62,928.80 (Rs. 97,48,477.44 plus Rs. 75,14,451.36). Moreover by making payments by its own PSPCL will save on the contractor's margin and GST other than complying with the legal obligations, being the principal employer. Submitted for kind consideration

ASE/DS Suburban, Lalton

ASE/DS Jagraon

ASE/DS Adda-Dakha

Sr. Xen/DS Raikot

Sr. Xen/DS Ahmedgarh