Fees of part-time bank directors may be hiked

 The finance ministry is considering a proposal to hike by almost five times the sitting fees payable to part-time directors on the boards of these financial bodies.

 With state-owned banks raking in bumper profits in the last few years and majority of them getting listed, it has been proposed that part-time directors should get Rs 5,000 (Rs 1,000 now) for attending board meetings and Rs 2,500 (Rs 500) for attending committee meetings.

 The contemplated revision in remuneration still pales in comparison to what is offered by the private sector.

 As per the Companies Act, companies with paid-up share capital and free reserves of Rs 10 crore and above can offer sitting fees not exceeding Rs 20,000 and in the case of other companies the fees should not exceed Rs 10,000.

 The last time the sitting fees was hiked was about three years back. Then the sitting fees for board meetings and committee meetings was doubled to Rs 1,000 and Rs 500.