Gratuity calculations for employees in foreign missions are governed by Ministry guidelines, excluding COLA, despite local laws.

ORDER

(Hon'ble Ms. Veena Kothavale, Member(J)

The applicant has filed this original application praying for the following relief: –

“to call for the records of the 2^nd respondent in its order No.Q/LC/585/15/2022 dated 10/03/2023 and quash the same and consequently direct the respondents to revise the gratuity payable to the applicant by including the cost of living allowance (COLA) in his last drawn pay and to further sanction the pro-rata Ramadan bonus applicable to applicant for 294 days of service (from 13/04/2021 to 31/01/2022) and pay both amounts within a timeframe to be fixed by this Hon’ble Tribunal and pass such other order or orders as may be deemed fit and thus render justice.”.

2. It is the case of the applicant that he was initially appointed as temporary typist in the Consulate General of India, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in the year 1996 and later on 11/07/1998, he was appointed as Arabic-cum-English Typist. Subsequently on 06/03/2002, he was appointed as senior clerk cum Translator and continued as such till his superannuation on 31/01/2022, after completing 25 years of service.

3. The applicant submits that he is a locally recruited staff and such staff are governed by the Saudi Labour rules and regulations, whether or not they are the citizens of the local country. As per Saudi labour laws, the employer shall pay gratuity to the employee on cessation of his employment, calculated at a prescribed percentage on the basis of last drawn pay. At the time of his superannuation in January 2022, the applicant was drawing salary of 13,772 Saudi Riyals (SR). However, while computing his gratuity, only his basic pay of 10,760 SR was taken into account and the cost of living allowance (COLA) of 3012 SR was excluded, resulting in reduction by more than 70,000 SR in the gratuity amount payable to the applicant.

4. The applicant was also denied the benefit of Ramadan bonus on pro-rata basis. Therefore, the applicant gave a comprehensive representation dated 09/12/2022 to the respondent requesting for grant of relief as claimed. However, the respondents, vide their impugned order dated 10/03/2023, stated that COLA is not included in salary while calculating retirement/terminal gratuity and basic salary alone is considered. Thus, being aggrieved, the applicant has filed this OA.

5. After notice, the respondents have appeared through their counsel, Mr. M Kishore Kumar, SPC and filed their reply stating that as per para 11 of the labour contract signed between CGI, Jeddah and the applicant on 06/03/2002, the grievances, if any, are to be settled according to the rules and regulations of the Government of India, and not according to the laws of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Applicant has duly signed the contract in acceptance of the terms and conditions of service of local employees of CGI, Jeddah and he is bound by the same.

6. It is further stated that the gratuity payable to the applicant was calculated in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Ministry of External Affairs. As per the Ministry of External Affairs’ order No. F/8 (1)/LC/62 dated 08/10/1965 (Annexure R-1), “emoluments” for the purposes of calculation of gratuity will be the pay of the employee in the prescribed scale but allowances such as House Rent Allowance, Family Allowance, Overtime Allowance and allowance for Cost of Living (COLA) will not form a part of emoluments. Thus, the gratuity payable to the applicant has been calculated on the basis of extant rules and guidelines and therefore, there is no merit in the claim made by the applicant for grant of gratuity as per Saudi Arabia labour laws.

7. It is further stated that there is no difference in the calcu