Jet Staff To Get Plummeted Relief, Only Rs 52 Cr Earmarked For Employees

It is not yet a happy ending for the Kalrock-Jalan consortium and the insolvency resolution process of Jet Airways, as employees of the grounded airline are unhappy with the relief they are being offered which is heavily slashed down from the actual claims.

The admitted claims of employees stood at Rs 1,265 crore, while the consortium has proposed Rs 52 crore to settle their claims.

According to employees, the airline owes at least Rs 3 lakh to each employee which may well go up to Rs 85 lakh, while now each employee is being offered a total of around Rs 23,000, which one employee, who did not want to be named, described as "peanuts".

The plan proposes to pay each workman of the corporate debtor Rs 11,000 cash, Rs 5,100 cash as medical expense reimbursement for the parents of the workmen, Rs 5,100 cash as school fee reimbursement for children of the staff, Rs 1,100 would be paid for stationary for children of the staff and one-time mobile phone recharge of Rs 500.

This cash payment will be made out of the contingency fund (Rs 8 crores). Additional amounts, if required, will be utilised out of the proceeds of sale of assets received by the corporate debtor.

Now, there is uncertainty among the employees whether to vote in favour the plan or vote against it and lose whatever relief that is being offered.

As per the resolution plan, the employees and workmen would get the relief on if 95 per cent of them vote in favour of the plan.

According to people in the know, it would be tough to garner the 95 per cent votes.

Employees are now in a dilemma whether to legally contest the resolution plan or go with the "little" relief that is being provided

According to the resolution plan that the proposal for employees and workmen (equity stake in the Corporate Debtor; equity stake in AGSL, cash payment for employees and workmen, IT Assets and Free Tickets) is valid only if at least 95 per cent of the employees and workmen of the Corporate Debtor (as on ICD) support this Resolution Plan by not contesting or challenging its approval by the adjudicating authority (the authority) or its implementation in the manner approved by the authority.

"If the above proposal is not accepted by the employees and workmen within 30 days from the Approval Date, then no other creditor will have the right to seek such benefits or any part thereof and such proposal shall stand withdrawn. After expiry of the said period of 30 days from the Approval Date, the equity stake of 0.50 per cent, and cash payments of up to Rs 8 crores currently earmarked for employees and workmen will be given to the AFCs," the NCLT's order copy noted.

With the approval of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to the resolution plan of Kalrock-Jalan consortium, the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of Jet Airways has already concluded.

The seven-member monitoring committee has been constituted to look into the day-to-day operations and the implementation of the resolution plan.

The now-grounded Jet Airways is expected likely to take the skies again within six months from now.

On June 22, the Mumbai bench of the NCLT approved the resolution plan of the Kalrock-Jalan Consortium and gave a 90-day time period to the DGCA and the Civil Aviation Ministry to allot the slots.

--IANS

rrb/sn/ksk/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor