Staff of 22 commercial banks file case against SSF at Supreme Court

KATHMANDU, July 4: The trade unions of 22 commercial banks on Sunday filed a case at the Supreme Court against the Social Security Fund (SSF) for being forced to join the fund.

Out of 27 commercial banks, the government has exempted the provisions to the workers of three government entities including Agriculture Development Bank, Rastriya Banijya Bank and Nepal Bank Limited whereas Laxmi Bank and Standard Chartered Bank have already been associated with the SSF. The employees of 22 banks have been protesting against the SSF for the past one week.

The government is making it mandatory for private firms to be incorporated into the SSF from the commencement of the new fiscal year. While the state-owned SSF has turned firm on its decision, employees of commercial banks and insurance companies in particular have been demanding the government first amend the Social Security Act 2018 to take them to the SSF.  

According to the bankers, if they join the SSF, many of the benefits that they are enjoying at present will be snatched away. They have been demanding the authority first amend the provisions that are ‘unfair’ to the workers to implement the mandatory rules.