SBI Deducts Disability Pension of Defence Personnel; Indian Army, Defence Ministry Officials In Talks With Bank to Resolve Issue
A day after news surfaced that the State Bank of India deducted defence pension after calculating the tax arrears, sources in the Indian Army said that senior officials of the force and the Defence Ministry contacted the bank to resolve the issue.
New Delhi, March 1: A day after news surfaced that the State Bank of India (SBI) deducted defence pensions after calculating the tax arrears, sources in the Indian Army said that senior officials of the force and the Defence Ministry contacted the bank to resolve the issue. The sources told news ANI that the Indian Army had no role in the heavy deductions made by the SBI for defence pensioners in February, 2020. The force also refused to comment of the matter as it is “subjudice”. Military Reform: CDS General Bipin Rawat Pitches For Retirement Age Increase to Reduce Pension Expenditure.
Last week news surfaced that the SBI implemented the taxation policy and deducted the entire pension for the month. The move drew flak from the Army veterans and pensioners. They termed it as unjust.
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Last week, news also surfaced that the political leadership, including the Defence Minister, was not informed about the withdrawal of income tax benefits to disabled veterans. In October last year, the tax benefit for the disabled soldiers was withdrawn. The disability pension for defnce personnel should be exempt from income tax only upto a certain limit. As per reports, the move was initiated by officers of the defence ministry’s finance wing. Indian Army Always in Favour of Disability Pension: Gen Bipin Rawat.
The entire process to recommend the withdrawal of benefits was taken on June 24 last year with approvals from all levels within the finance ministry and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), reported Economic Times. Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat, recently also pitched to increase the retirement age of certain classes of non-combatants and medical staff to 58 years from 39 to reduce the pension expenditure.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 01, 2020 05:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).