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August 3, 2001
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Money > Business Headlines > Report August 3, 2001 |
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PSU bank chiefs get swanky carsTamal Bandyopadhyay The next time you are waiting to meet a public sector bank chairman, you could be in for a surprise. For, he will not be arriving in the ubiquitous Ambassador or the standard issue 118 NE. He may be seated in a Mitsubishi Lancer, Honda City, Suzuki Baleno or even a Siena Weekend. What's more, even the general managers of public sector banks may soon be dumping their old four-wheel faithfuls for Wagon Rs and Maruti Esteems. All this is thanks to the banking division of the finance ministry which, about a month back, allowed Scale VII executives (general managers) to use cars valued up to Rs 500,000. But before the general managers started celebrating, another notification was issued allowing chairmen and executive directors of state-run banks to use cars valued up to Rs 800,000. Now that was real good news for the status-conscious CEOs who have been suffering from an inferiority complex ever since the Reserve Bank of India allowed its senior executives to zip around in Maruti Esteems about two years ago. And bank chairmen and executive directors have lost no time in booking Mitsubishi Lancers and Honda Citys. After all, when you are brushing shoulders with corporate chieftains, arriving in a classy car can make a difference. Still, the CEOs of a few state-run banks, which are not in the pink of health seem to be too embarrassed to order new cars. But even they may not stay away for too long as there will be peer pressure, quips one bank chief. The chief of another PSU bank not doing particularly well these days has refused to pick up the bait saying his shareholders will lynch him. But his second-in-command wants to be seated in the latest models and has apparently told his boss: "I don't know what's the issue with you, you continue driving your jalopy; but I am going for a Honda City." There is one deterrent though, the stiffer tax on perquisites that has just come into effect. Most of the bank CEOs, even those who have opted for new cars, apprehend that they just might, be taken for an expensive ride if they have to cough up huge taxes on perks. "It's better to stick to my old white Ambassador. I am even thinking of surrendering the telephone provided by the office and getting my own phone," quips a bank chief. Powered by YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO READ:
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