KOLKATA: A Calcutta high court division bench on Friday upheld a single-bench order on payment of dearness allowance to employees of state-run power utilities.
West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd (WBSEDCL) and West Bengal State Electricity Transmission Co Ltd (WBSETCL) were told to pay DA in accordance with the central rate between 2016 and 2019, with an additional 10% interest on the dues. The payout will amount to a few hundred crores.
The engineers’ associations of both companies had moved the HC in 2016 after they stopped getting DA as per the central rate, as was agreed to by the two companies in the 2009 Revision of Pay & Allowance Agreement. An interim order in 2019 directed the companies to adhere to the central rate.
