PRESS RELEASE
Online PF nomination form introduced
EPFO to levy penal damages for delayed compliance
EPFO settles 76.25 lakh claims by November end this fiscal
EPFO, New Delhi,11.12.2015: While reviewing the progress of EPFO on all fronts for the month of November, 2015, Shri K.K. Jalan, CPFC noted that by November end, the organization has settled more than 76 lakh claims in the current fiscal out of which more than 40% were settled within 3 days. More than 96% of the cases were settled within the stipulated time of 20 days. Grievance redressal was also taken up o priority and more than 16,500 grievances were redressed in November leaving a balance of only around 3,000 grievances across the country.
The month of November saw EPFO taking revolutionary steps to provide hassle free services to its subscribers. For the first time, a provision has been made for EPF members to submit their claim application with their respective EPFO offices without getting the same attested by their employers. This shall prevent harassment of employees by employers and do away with the intervention of employer as regards claim settlement. This facility is UAN based and is available to those members who have seeded their UAN with bank account details and activated their UAN. By the end of November, more than 2.13 crore UANs were activated by EPF members.
The Central Board of Trustees,EPF met in November and approved the annual report for the year 2014-15.The CBT took note of the low returns on investment in equity and was of the view that the issue needs to be deliberated in detail in Finance,lnvestment & Audit Committee of the Board.lt also permitted investment in AA+ rated private Scheduled Commercial Banks.
Also, UAN based online nomination forms have also been made available for the benefit and convenience of EPF members. Using this facility, an EPF member can file his nomination form online and the same shall be authenticated by the employer using his digital signature and thereafter the nomination details shall be entered into the EPFO’s database.
As a large number of employees are engaged on contract basis across all sectors, the issue of providing EPF and allied benefits to them has engaged the attention of the organization. Accordingly, instructions have been issued to field formations to give special emphasis on ensuring that the principal employer is held responsible for compliance with regard to the provisions of the Act & Schemes when engaging manpower through contractors.
Delayed payments of contributions payable under the Act & Schemes by the employers attract damages and penal interest as per applicable rates. To make good the loss sustained to the fund because of such delayed remittances, EPFO has introduced software facilitating quicker levying of the damages. The objective is to make sure that the process for slapping penal interest and damages do not get delayed for more than 6 months from the date of such delayed remittance.
