Airfare claims might end for some at ONGC
Frequent flying looks less attractive when you have to pay out of your own pocket.
Non-executive staff working for ONGC in the western offshore are getting stressed out over rumours that management plans to scrap their airfare reimbursements. ONGC has 2671 employees working in the western offshore.
Among them are 1654 officers and 1017 non-executives. These non-executives are recruited locally from Mumbai, but about 70% have their hometowns outside Mumbai.
Some are from neighbouring states. ONGC's western offshore employees work 14 days at a stretch on platforms, rigs and other offshore facilities and can take the subsequent 14 days off.
ONGC pays the airfares of executive and non-executive offshore staff coming from outside Mumbai to work. It also pays their airfare to return to their hometowns after the 14-day work cycle.
But if ONGC scraps these airfare reimbursements for non-executive offshore employees, as rumoured, these workers will have to pay out of their own pockets. "No formal order has yet been issued, but there's every likelihood of this happening as the present chairman (AK Singh) is on a cost-cutting drive, pointing out that (hydrocarbons) production is falling," says a source.
He strongly believes ONGC will introduce this cost-cutting measure judging by what's been happening since Singh became CMD on December 7 (2022) for a three-year term. "Initially, there were rumours that all travel to and from offshore platforms/rigs will be only through vessels, in place of helicopters," he reminds us.
"Apparently, the chairman wanted to know why crew can't travel in vessels to locations; nobody believed that rumour, but it became a reality when ONGC issued an office order (on August 29, 2024)." Scrapping airfares for non-executive offshore ONGC staff will make life difficult.
"Nowadays, booking confirmed long-distance train tickets is almost impossible," we hear. "Tickets sell out within minutes of the start of online booking."
Staff must often stay longer than 14 days offshore as their replacement staff have not reported for duty. "In such situations, the previously booked return train tickets (for homeward journeys) will have to be cancelled and fresh tickets booked," we hear.
"If no seats are available, the staff will have to fend for themselves in Mumbai."