The Sixth Pay Commission on Monday recommended an increase in the salary of chairpersons of regulators, including Sebi, Trai, Cerc, IRDA and CCI, to up to Rs 3 lakh per month and their delinking from government salaries, a move to attract expertise from outside the government. The commission, headed by Justice B N Srikrishna, is the first to make recommendations on the structure of emoluments in regulatory bodies. It has sought to delink salaries of members or chairperson of the regulators — Securities and Exchange Board of India, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority and the Competition Commission of India — from government salaries.According to the recommendations submitted to the government, those appointed as members through the revised process should be paid a consolidated salary of Rs 1,50,000 per month, while the chairperson may be paid Rs 2,00,000 per month, in case a car and house are provided. In case no car and house are given, the chairperson should be paid a consolidated salary of Rs 3,00,000 per month and members Rs 2,50,000. “The proposed salary is considered adequate for attracting experts in the field, who, in the Commission’s view are not looking just at the monetary compensation but also at the prestige involved in and the contribution, which can be made by a regulator in the development of the sector and the economy as a whole,” the report stated.The rates of the consolidated salary may be taken up for revision periodically by the government so as to neutralise the effect of inflation.
