Around 200 employees of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) staged a protest on Thursday at the market regulator’s headquarters in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), Mumbai. The protestors called for the resignation of SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, expressing dissatisfaction with the current leadership. Their protest comes in the aftermath of a recent statement issued by SEBI, which dismissed an earlier letter from the employees to the Union Ministry of Finance (MoF) addressing concerns over an unprofessional work culture, labelling it as ‘misguided by external elements.’

The protest lasted for approximately two hours, after which the employees dispersed and returned to their respective offices.

The report says, “The protest is for the purpose of showing dissent and unity against the arm-twisting exercise done by the top management in the garb of a press release. The immediate demand is withdrawal of press release and resignation of SEBI chairperson for spreading lies against SEBI’s employees.”

In response to reports of a toxic work environment, SEBI released a statement on Wednesday evening, dismissing the allegations of an unprofessional work culture as ‘misplaced.’ The regulator further clarified that these claims were not supported by any of its employee associations.

In the statement issued, the market regulator says, “It is our belief that SEBI’s junior officers, who were in large numbers, originally aggrieved in respect of house rent allowance (HRA), have been misguided, perhaps by external elements to believe that as ‘employees of a regulator’, they should not be held to high standards of performance and accountability even though, they have in fact demonstrated that they are fully capable of delivering to high standards to the market ecosystem.”

“To believe that they are being ‘underpaid’, even at a cost to company (CTC) of Rs 34 lakh per annum and that it would be in their interest to use issues of work culture to bargain for monetary benefits and to believe that they should get automatic promotions,” SEBI says.

Last month, SEBI officials from grades A to C conducted a 15-minute silent protest at the regulator’s headquarters in Mumbai. Their grievances included concerns about the newly launched digital management information system (MIS) for key result areas (KRAs).

Sources say that key issues faced by SEBI employees include grievances related to house rent allowances (HRAs), employee loans (which they seek to be on par with those offered by the Reserve Bank of India), strict attendance policies, creche facilities, allowances, management information system (MIS) concerns, study leave, computer allowances, pensions, work-from-home options, health check-ups, and opportunities for bonding beyond work.

However, SEBI says, “…a group of employees consciously designed a strategy to change the narrative to frame the issue as relating to the work environment, with an objective to have bargaining power to seek more benefits. Accordingly, a letter focused on ‘work culture’ was crafted and sent to the human resources department (HRD) on 6 August 2024. Thereafter, after seven days, apparently, as part of the strategy, a second letter was submitted with a long list of 16 demands for numerous monetary and non-monetary benefits, including an increase in HRA. Further, automatic promotions at lower performance ratings without interviews have also been ‘demanded’.”

According to SEBI, the letter dated August 6, 2024, emphasised concerns over unreasonable targets. In response to this feedback, a review of the key result areas (KRAs) was conducted, during which most KRAs were confirmed without changes by three to four levels of management. Only a few departments experienced minor adjustments to their KRAs.

Commenting on its work culture, SEBI states its commitment to being responsive to the market ecosystem and its participants. The regulator emphasises its dedication to efficient approval processes, facilitating ease of doing business, and conducting timely investigations and enforcement actions against market wrongdoing.

“The claims of unprofessional work culture in the letter dated 6 August 2024 are misplaced and seem to stem from instances such as under-pitching of the processing capability of officers by as low as one-fourth of actual capacity, misreporting of status of achievement of KRAs, shuttling of files between departments over a long period to avoid taking decisions and ‘adjusting’ appraisal marks of poorly performing officers to ‘somehow’ make them eligible for promotion,” SEBI says.

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