Bankers gloomy as Reserve Bank scans salaries

Despondency stalks boardrooms and corner offices of private banks, as the regulator keeps top-level compensation under its thumb to prevent risktaking of the kind that led to the global financial crisis of 2007-08.

- Gopika Gopakumar

MUMBAI: In several instances, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has refused to approve a pay hike, delayed approving higher remuneration or even directed an outright pay cut.

For instance, six months after he was promoted as executive director at IDFC First Bank Ltd, Madhivanan Balakrishnan stepped down in December. In his resignation letter, Balakrishnan, who joined IDFC First in 2019 as chief operating officer, said he plans to pursue an opportunity in healthcare that matches his long-term plans for his family and offers higher pay.