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UTI reduces retirement age for officers to 58

Our Bureau

MUMBAI, Oct. 11

UNIT Trust of India (UTI) has decided to reduce the retirement age of its officers by two years from the current retirement age of 60 years to 58 years.

The board of trustees of UTI, which met here on Thursday to consider the audited accounts for the year ended June 2001, has also asked the management team to prepare a paper on the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to be implemented by UTI, top officials said. The details of the VRS will be submitted later to the board for its approval.

The board approved amendment to the staff rules concerning retirement age, top officials said. The new reduced retirement age will be applicable with immediate effect to all those who may reach the age of 58 years. But what will happen to those who have already completed 58 years is not clear.

The immediate fallout of the reduction in retirement age is likely to affect half-a-dozen senior management cadre. UTI currently has 52 branch offices across the country and a total staff strength of 2,400.

UTI's decision to implement a VRS will cover about 1,200 officer staff. UTI's current total staff strength is about 2,400 comprising nearly half of officers and half of support staff including assistants, attendants and drivers.

UTI has been losing talent over the past few years to private mutual funds due to better pay-package offered by the industry. The reduction in retirement age and introduction of VRS may only hasten the drain of manpower resources, independent market obse rvers said.

The board also accepted the audited accounts for various schemes of UTI for the year ended June 2001. UTI currently has a total of 84 schemes and manages investors' assets worth over Rs 59,000 crore.

The IDBI Chairman and Managing Director, Mr P.P. Vora, attended the UTI board meeting for the first time on Thursday after joining UTI board of trustees recently.