The petitioners pointed out that the system was introduced with a view to occupational risks arising from employment
The petitioners pointed out that the system was introduced with a view to occupational risks arising from employment
The Kerala High Court has ordered Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) to continue offering the Post Retirement Medical Benefit Scheme (PRMBS) to employees with less than 15 years of service in accordance with the long-term settlement.
The Court ruled on a number of written applications submitted by workers’ unions at BCPL, Kochi Refinery, Ambalamugal. The court granted the motion and also overturned the company’s notification that medical benefits were withdrawn from employees who had not completed 15 years of service as of June 1, 2021.
The petitioners said the system was introduced as part of social measures to provide eligible workers and their dependents with sustainable medical benefits given the occupational risks arising from employment. In fact, the benefits have been enjoyed by the petitioners through a binding agreement. It cannot therefore be withdrawn unilaterally by the company.
The Company took the position that the written motions could not be upheld because the dispute fell strictly within the scope of an industrial dispute as expressly defined in Section 2(s) of the Labor Disputes Act. The court found that any issue of denial of benefits under the provisions of PRMBS that were included in a settlement with a group of workers could not constitute an industrial dispute within the meaning of the section.
The court also pointed out that the settlement, which applied to the entire lower management level, had now been undermined by cutting out a group of people and refusing them the benefits.
