Mistry raises questions on ₹10-crore-a-year paid as commission to Ratan Tata

In a move that rekindles the turf war, Tata Sons ousted Chairman Cyrus Mistry has accused Ratan Tata of drawing a commission of nearly ₹10 crore a year.

The commission was accepted when Tata was the non-executive Chairman of Tata Sons and Chairman of the Tata Trusts.

This was drawn for less than 8 meetings a year, which is much higher than global benchmarks and significantly more than his peers on the board. Further, this was in addition to the commissions from operating companies, Mistry camp said in a statement issued late on Monday.

“It is a matter of public record that the boards of Indian Hotels and Tata Motors under the leadership of Mistry, had given up their commissions when the company was facing losses and was unable to declare a dividend,” it added.

The statement was issued in response to Ratan Tata’s recent interview to The Hindu .

A Tata Group spokesperson, however, declined to comment. But sources close to Tatas said that the claims made by the Mistry camp was specious because commissions are not given based on the number of meetings a person attends but on the contribution made to the business as determined by the board.

If Mistry had an issue with the payments, then why had he not raised objections since he was also on the board of Tata Sons, they asked.

On October 24, 2016, the Tata Sons board had sacked Cyrus Mistry as the Chairman.

On December 20, Mistry moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) asking it to protect Tata Sons from “oppression and mismanagement of minority interest”.

The suits, filed through two of his family firms — Cyrus Investments and Sterling Investment Corporation — had stated that Shapoorji Pallonji group owns 18.37 per cent stake in Tata Sons.

NCLT had rejected the pleas, following which the issue is now being heard before a higher court, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

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