Bangladesh Bank in a report submitted to the High Court has argued that there are abnormal differences between the salaries of the high and low-ranking officials of private banks.
The central bank also said there are 15 posts or grades on an average in the private banks and the average difference between the salary of the highest and lowest level employees is more than 48 times.
The Bangladesh Bank submitted the report to the High Court recently in response to a rule issued over fixing the minimum salary for the entry-level officials and staff of private banks.
Following a writ petition, the High Court bench of Justice Mamnoon Rahman and Justice Khandaker Diliruzzaman on February 7 issued a rule upon the concerned bodies of the government to explain within a week as to why the BB circular that fixed the minimum salaries with allowance of assistant officer, trainee assistant officer, trainee assistant cash officer and equivalent officer at Tk 28,000 and also fixed the minimum total salary of those officers upon completion of probation period at Tk 39,000 should not be declared without lawful authority.
In the report, the central bank also said on average additional managing directors (AMDs) of these banks are getting approximately Tk 0.6 million per month as gross salary, however, an entry-level official (assistant trainee officer or equivalent) is getting around Tk 20,000 to Tk 25,000 as gross salary and in individual cases -- sometimes below this amount.
According to the report, a committee of the Bangladesh Bank found that comparatively lower-level employees of the banks are deprived of, prejudiced and harmed. The amount paid as salary to them is illogical compared to services provided by them. But the banks set the targets of deposits collection in the beginning of the year for those lower-level officials.
“Fulfilling the targets of deposits collection cannot be the only criterion of promotion and salary increase as they are recruited after the fulfilment of the criteria of educational qualification of postgraduate degree and recruitment tests by the banks. Some of the private banks are fixing salaries of the entry-level positions of assistant cash officers or equivalent as per their wish instead of basing on merit,” also read the report.
The report said from April 2020 to September 2021, a total of 7167 bank officials of private banks lost their jobs. Of them, 5875 have voluntarily resigned and 1292 have been sacked by the bank management.
Such a situation requires Bangladesh Bank to step in and bring discipline and accountability in the banking sector and above all to make the banking sector employee-friendly. Therefore, under the power conferred by section 45 of the Bank Company Act 1991 the Bangladesh Bank issued the circular fixing the minimum salaries for the first time.
Bangladesh Bank deputy director Md Riad Arefin sent the report and lawyer ABM Siddiqur Rahman Khan placed it before the court.
Meanwhile, the court has started the rule hearing on Wednesday and it will continue on Thursday.
Lawyers Fida M Kamal and ABM Siddiqur Rahman Khan appeared in the court hearing on behalf of the Bangladesh Bank, while lawyers AM Masum, Md Farhad Bin Hossain and Saifur Rahman Rahi appeared for the writ petitioner, and deputy attorney general Bepul Bagmar represented the state.
Lawyer Md Farhad Bin Hossain, also a shareholder of the One Bank through BO account, filed the writ petition challenging the BB circular issued on January 20 in 2022 fixing the minimum salary of the staff.
The court has already appointed four renowned lawyers as ‘amici curiae (friends of the court)’ to hear if the central bank has any authority to issue such circular.
The amici curiae are attorney general AM Amin Uddin, lawyers Ajmalul Hossain, Rokanuddin Mahmud and Probir Neogi.
For the first time in history, Bangladesh Bank on January 20 this year fixed the minimum salary of entry-level officials of private banks in order to encourage talented young to take banking as a career and play a role in the economic advancement of the nation.
