MUMBAI, November 2: The board of directors of UCO Bank have reviewed the criteria for service conditions and it has decided that an officer may seek voluntary retirement from the service of the bank if he has completed 20 years of service in the bank, or has attained the age of 50 years, or if he has become physically or mentally incapacitated in such a manner that he is not able to discharge his duties in the bank. It is the same scheme that the bank had introduced in 1984, with minor changes.

The provision to regulation 19 of the United Commercial Bank (Officers) Service Regulations, 1979, reads ``provided also that nothing in this regulation shall be deemed to preclude an officer employee from retiring earlier pursuant to the option exercised by him in accordance with the rules of the Bank''.

An officer can seek voluntary retirement from the bank instead of resigning basically for the following two reasons:

If he resigns, all leave to his credit lapses. However, in case of voluntary retirement, he is deemed eligible, in the United Commercial Bank (Officers) Service Regulation, 1979, to be paid a sum equivalent to the emoluments of any period of privilege leave that he had accumulated.

If he retires voluntarily, he is, as provided in Regulation 43 of the UCO Bank (Officers) Service Regulations, eligible to claim travelling allowance, baggage and other expenses for himself and his family as on transfer from the last station at which he is posted to the place where he proposes to settle down on retirement.

This facility is not available in case of resignation of an employee of the UCO Bank.

The procedure and conditions for voluntary retirement from the bank's service as approved by the board of directors: The application and relevant documents for voluntary retirement from the service of the bank shall be, in case of officers working in divisions, routed through the respective divisional offices. In case of officers posted at the head office, such applications for voluntary retirement shall be routed through the assistant general manager of the concerned department.

The procedures for voluntary retirement from the company requires that an officer complete 30 years of service in the bank or attain 55 years of age or that he be physically or mentally incapacitated in such a manner that he is not able to discharge his duties in the bank and such physical or mental incapacity be duly attested by any medical officer not below the rank of a civil surgeon or any other authority approved by the bank.

The VRS can also be availed under extraordinary circumstances, which are within the satisfaction of the bank, compelling an officer to seek voluntary retirement from the bank's services. However, in such a case, the officer must have completed at least 15 years of service in the bank.

An application seeking voluntary retirement shall be made by an officer in writing to the competent authority not less than three months prior to the date from which he seeks retirement. The application shall be supported by the relevant documents wherever required.

In appropriate cases, the competent authority may, if he is fully satisfied, reduce or waive altogether the period of three months required for submission of application. It shall be supported by the relevant documents. It shall be open to the competent authority to withhold permission to an officer under suspension who seeks the voluntary retirement scheme.

The officer seeking voluntary retirement from the service of the bank shall give an undertaking not to take up any employment for a minimum period of two years from the date of such retirement without prior consent of the bank. Claims with regard to gratuity and provident fund of an officer permitted to retire voluntarily shall be settled as per the rules relating to it.

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