Exchange rate boost keeps IPL match officials smiling despite pay freeze

Perhaps since the 2012 IPL season, match officials — including umpires and referees — have not received a pay hike from the board. However, due to fluctuations in exchange rates over the years, their earnings have still increased. As a result, there appears to be little concern from the officials, even as IPL players continue to earn significantly more than ever before.

With every IPL game earning match officials around $4,000, umpires and referees are paid based on the dollar-to-rupee exchange rate prevailing on the day their annual contracts are signed before the every IPL season. While the exchange rate hovered in the ₹80s against the US dollar last year, it has now crossed the ₹90 mark, effectively boosting their earnings without any revision in match fees.

Those officiating in the IPL playoffs earn $6,000 per match, while the final carries a fee of $8,000. In addition, match officials receive a daily allowance of ₹5,000, and foreign officials are compensated on par with their Indian counterparts. Sources further revealed that even fourth umpires are paid ₹75,000 per game, making officiating in the IPL a financially rewarding assignment.

The BCCI has also created opportunities for emerging match officials by gradually introducing them to the IPL. While newcomers are typically assigned around four matches in a season to gain exposure, senior officials continue to be allotted a higher number of games owing to their experience.

Outside the IPL, match officials officiating in domestic cricket earn ₹40,000 per day along with a daily allowance (DA) of ₹1,500, while junior officials receive ₹30,000 per day. Officials become eligible for their DA from the moment they leave their homes for an assignment. For Ranji Trophy matches, every official is entitled to seven days of DA, provided the scheduled duration of the match remains unchanged. Importantly, their match fee is not reduced even if the game finishes within two or three days instead of lasting the full duration.

Sources said that a mid-level match official can earn between ₹25 lakh and ₹50 lakh annually, while those officiating international matches make upwards of ₹1.5 crore a year, if not more.

Given the disparity in earnings between IPL and domestic cricket, the question remains: should the BCCI improve the pay package of domestic match officials? As of now, there has been no discussion on the subject, nor has there been any formal demand from the officials themselves. “Hopefully, the match officials will get a hike one day,” the source added.