Fortis' CEO salary hiked fourfold; company says it's 'typo'

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Fortis Healthcare, currently reeling under a cash crunch, has surprised everyone after salary of its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bhavdeep Singh rose more than fourfold between July 2015 and March 2017. However, it was later found that the report showing the salary hike was factually incorrect as there was a typo, reports Mint.

Annual reports of the cash-strapped company for the years 2015-16 and 2016-17 showed the hike in Singh’s salary. According to the reports, he was hired at a salary of Rs 3.91 crore in July 2015, and in the following year, his salary jumped to Rs 16.80 crore. During the span, he was also paid a joining bonus of Rs 7.23 crore and as many as 2.5 million stock options.

The salary rise was contrary to the company’s financially weak condition. When Singh's salary grew nearly fourfold, Fortis Healthcare reported losses of Rs 73.5 crore and Rs 74.7 crore in 2015-16 and 2016-17, respectively.

However, a Fortis spokesperson clarified the hike in salary was actually a typo in the annual report. In talks with Mint, the spokesperson said there was “a typo in the FY16-17 annual report with an incorrect number”, grossly overstating Singh’s income. Originally, his income has gone up 6 to 8 percent in each of the last two years, which is “very much within the norms (if not lower) of the country today,” said the spokesperson.

The person further informed that the company was aware of the error and will publish a correction in the upcoming FY17-18 report.

However, no information was given on whether stock exchanges, registrar of companies, the company’s auditors, and other statutory bodies were informed about the typing error in the report.