Shareholders at Tata Consultancy Services' annual general body meeting questioned CEO N Chandrasekaran's pay-out for FY16, saying they haven't been similarly compensated through dividends and bonus shares.

Three shareholders raised questions over management compensation, pointing towards Chandrasekaran’s nearly Rs 36-crore package, which is close to 460 times the median salary.

“We should impose restrictions on income. This is not the Tata tradition. This is uneven distribution of income. You only see this in two IT companies in India — one in Bengaluru, one in Mumbai," one shareholder said. 

“The board is totally cognisant of the benchmark salary structure within the industry and has applied those. We think we have applied them appropriately,” Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry said.

About seven other shareholders asked Mistry why the company has not given any bonus shares for six years while reminding him about the approaching golden jubilee of the firm. Mistry brushed aside the demands for bonus shares by saying that the management will consider it.

One of the shareholders brought in reference to Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka, pointing towards how Sikka has not only earned good for himself but also given out bonus shares to shareholders. Sikka's income in the last financial year stood at Rs 49 crore, which was nearly 935 times the median remuneration of employees, much higher than that of TCS' Chandrasekaran. 

Shareholders also asked the management about the impact of Tamil Nadu's decision to allow unions in the IT industry. Mistry said the new legislation in Tamil Nadu does not have any impact on the company’s operations.

He also remained positive over the $940-million claim by US-based Epic Systems alleging theft of trade secrets, saying that TCS believes it has not misused any intellectual property of the American firm and is currently awaiting a judgement.

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