The Sixth Pay Commission on Monday recommended an increase in the salary of chairpersons of regulators, including Sebi, Trai and Irda, to up to Rs 300,000 per month and delink them 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, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority and the Competition Commission -- from government salaries.

According to the recommendations submitted to the government on Monday, 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.

The report has recommended modifications in the process of recruitment of members into regulatory bodies. The present procedure should be modified and applications should be invited through proper advertisements so as to ensure fair and transparent selection.

Selection should be done by a committee on the lines of Public Enterprises Selection Board, which evaluates the professional competence of the applicants in detail.

However, the secretary of the concerned ministry or department should not be a part of the selection board, as it is also stakeholder. It is also proposed that the appointed members would have a contractual tenure of 3-5 years.

The Commission also recommended that the TA/DA may be regulated by the concerned authority themselves keeping in view all relevant considerations, while the existing provisions for medical facilities should continue as such.

A restriction has been recommended for members seeking re-employment in the same sector for a period of two years. If a serving government employee is appointed as a member, he would be deemed to have retired from his post. But, he can be granted the same package provided the selection is made through the same process, the report recommended.

The same recommendation has been made for retired government employees also. Government employees might be considered for grant of the higher package provided they have not worked in the concerned sector during the preceding two years, it said.

Regulatory bodies like Trai, Irda and CERC had been set up for regulating areas such as telecommunication, insurance, power, as part of the government's efforts to restructure the administrative machinery consistent with economic reforms.

Sixth Pay Commission: Coverage