Headquarters
Employees State Insurance Corporation
Panchdeep Bhawan, CIG Marg, New Delhi-02.
No P-11/14/11/ABVKY/2019-Bft II
Dated 16.09.2020
To,
All Regional Directors
Sub-Regional Office In-charges.
Subject: – Extension of the scheme Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana and relaxation in its eligibility conditions.
Sir,
It is informed that the ESI Corporation in its 182nd meeting held on 20.08.2020 has decided to extend the scheme Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana for another one-year period i.e. from 01.07.2020 to 30.06.2021. The Corporation has also decided to relax the eligibility condition of the scheme for the period 24.03.2020 to 31.12.2020 in order to provide benefit to the IPs who became unemployed due to COVID-19 induced lockdown. The relaxation in the eligibility conditions is as under: –
| Existing eligibility Conditions | Relaxed eligibility conditions (During 24.03.2020 to 31.12.2020) |
| The Insured Person should have been in insurable employment for a minimum period of two years immediately before his/ her unemployment and should have contributed for at least 78 days during each of preceding four contribution periods. | The Insured Person should have been in insurable employment for a minimum period of two years immediately before his/ her unemployment and should have contributed for not less than 78 days in the contribution period immediately preceding to unemployment and minimum 78 days in one of the remaining three contribution periods in two years prior to unemployment. |
| Relief becomes payable 90 days after unemployment | Relief shall become due for payment 30 days from the date of unemployment. |
| The claim of the IP for relief under the scheme is to be forwarded by last employer of the Insured person | The claim of the IP need not be forwarded by his employer. The claim may be submitted directly in the Branch office and the verification of the claim with the employer will be done at the Branch Office Level. The payment shall be made in the bank account of the IP within 15 days from the receipt of the claim. Aadhaar shall be used for identification of the Insured Person. |
| Relief to the extent of 25 % of the average per day earning during the previous four contribution periods to be paid up to maximum 90 days of unemployment. | Relief to the extent of 50 % of the average per day earning during the previous four contribution periods to be paid up to maximum 90 days of unemployment. |
2. Other conditions of the original scheme shall remain same. The Scheme Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana will be available with original eligibility conditions for the IPs who became unemployed on or before 23.03.2020 and on or after 01.01.2021.
3. All Regional directors/ SRO In-charges are advised that a help desk may be set up at every branch office/ DCBO having a computer with internet/ intranet and a printer. The help desk should be manned by an official conversant with the scheme. He/she may be directed to behave in courteous manner with the IP visiting for help. Arrangement of drinking water and glass may be made at the help desk. If required, assistance in creating claim for relief may be provided at the help desk irrespective of the fact that the IP does not belong to that branch office. Health protocols of protection against spread of COVID-19 must followed at the help desk.
4. As the condition of submission of claim for relief under the scheme through the employer has been relaxed for the period 24.03.2020 to 31.12.2020, the claim for relief in hard copy along with the photocopy of Aadhar and bank passbook/ copy of cancelled cheque will be submitted by the IP directly in the Branch office and verification of the claim of the IP shall be done at the Branch Office level. For this either the Branch Office Manager or any other official of the Branch Office not below the rank of the Head Clerk duly authorized by the Branch Office Manager will visit the employers’ office with prior intimation and verify the attendance and wage register to confirm that the IP has indeed been rendered unemployed. The verifying officer will collect the attested photocopies of the documents on basis of which he has verified the unemployment status of the IP. A certificate on the claim itself will be recorded by the Branch Manager/ Head Clerk that he has verified the unemployment of the IP from the records of the employer. The certificate will be countersigned by the employer with seal. WHILE GOING FOR VERIFICATION ALL HEALTH PROTOCOLS OF COVID-19 RELATED PROTECTION MUST BE ADHERED.
5. Required changes in the Benefit module for incorporating the change in eligibility conditions of Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana are being made in the system by ICT Division and the same will be available soon. An intent notification has been published in the gazette. The claims of the IPs may be accepted and all ground work for payment may be completed. The payment of verified claims may be made as soon as the final notification is published.
6. As an initial rush of claims under the relaxed conditions is anticipated, services of area SSO may be utilized for the purpose of verification of the claim of the IP. Once claim of the IP has been verified, the amount of relief as calculated by the system based upon the information provided by the IP and the data available in the system shall be paid in the bank account of the IP.
7. If the details of the bank account of the IP are not available in the ESIC database, the same shall be updated by the Branch Office taking the details from the IP before making the payment. For this purpose, either the cancelled cheque or copy of the bank passbook shall be collected from the IP and shall be kept in the records for future references.
8. The entire process of verification of the claim and payment in the bank account of the IP is to be completed in 15 days’ time.
9. All payments made under the Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana shall be mandatorily audited by the internal audit team on quarterly basis. Each claim received in hard copy will be diarized in the Branch Office and the Branch Office managers may be directed to settle the claims for relief received form the IPs on “First in First Out” basis without fail.
10. As provided in the original ABVKY scheme, the IPs who have crossed the age of superannuation are not entitled for relief under ABVKY.
11. It is requested to give adequate publicity to the above relaxation in the eligibility conditions of the scheme amongst the employers and employees. The employers may also be advised to cooperate with the Branch Office Manager or any official visiting the employer for verifying the claim of the IP for relief under the scheme.
12. It is expected that there will be initial rush of claims under the scheme. It is therefore requested to maintain sufficient funds at the disposal of the Branch Office Manager so as to enable him to make payment of the claims under the scheme. The other conditions and instruction given vide Circular no P-11/14/11/ABVKY/2019 dated 14.12.2018 will remain the same.
It is requested to properly guide all Branch Office Managers under your jurisdiction so that the payment of the relief under Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana may be made to the IPs within time. A report of payments made under the scheme may be provided on weekly basis in the prescribed proforma enclosed in Annexure-I, to be submitted online every Monday.
This issues with approval of Director General.
Encl:- Standard Operating Procedure.
Yours faithfullly
(M K Sharma)
Insurance Commissioner
Copy to: –
1. PPS to the Director General/ Financial Commissioner/ Chief Vigilance Officer for information.
2. PPS/PS to all Divisional Heads, ESIC Hqrs. / NTA, New Delhi.
3. All Additional Commissioners, ESIC Hqrs, New Delhi.
4. Director (M) Delhi/ Noida/ K. K. Nagar
5. All Medical Superintendents, ESIC/ Model Hospitals.
6. All Deans, ESIC Medical Educational Institutions.
7. All DD(F) Regional Offices/ Sub-Regional Offices/ Model Hospital/ Director (Med.) Noida/ KK Nagar/ ESIC Educational Institutions.
8. Website content Manager for uploading on ESIC website.
9. Guard File.
Annexure-I
Details of Payment made under Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana for week
………………. to……………….
| Name of RO/SRO |
No. of claims pending before the start of the |
New claims received during the week |
Total
(3+4) |
week
Total no of Claims settled during the week |
Balance at the end of week
(5-4) |
Total Amount paid |
Remarks if any |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE FOR DELIVARY OF RELIEF UNDER
ATAL BEEMIT VYAKTI KALYAN YOJANA (ABVKY) (with Relaxed Eligibility criteria)
Claim by Insured Person
1. An Insured Person (IP) who lost his job on or after 24.03.2020 and fulfills the required eligibility condition i e minimum two years insurable employment and minimum 78 days contribution in the contribution period immediately preceding to his/her unemployment and minimum 78 days contribution in one of the remaining three contribution periods in the two years insurable employment prior to his/her unemployment shall login the IP portal on esic.in by entering his insurance number and captcha at the designated place.
2. On logging in the IP portal, the IP shall click the link provided for creation of claim for the Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana. The system will check IP’ s eligibility and if IP is eligible for the relief under the scheme it will take him to next page where the IP will fill up the period for which he/ she seeks relief under the ABVKY and submit it to create claim. Otherwise, if the system finds that the IP is not eligible for the relief under the scheme, a message giving the reason for his non-eligibility will be displayed.
3. The system will then prompt the eligible IP to print a copy of the claim thus created (form AB-1). The claim thus generated will have the information which are available in the system, auto-filled in it. The claim duly signed in the form of an affidavit on non-judicial stamp paper of minimum Rs 20/- value will be submitted by the IP to his designated branch office either in person or by speed post along with a self-attested photocopy of Aadhar card and that of the bank passbook or a cancelled cheque.
4. In case the IP faces any difficulty in filling the claim for relief under the scheme, he may visit the nearest ESIC Branch Office where a help desk has been created for the purpose. The IP may also call the toll-free helpline number 1800-11-2526 for clarification or assistance.
Action at the Branch Office
1. A help desk shall be set up at every branch office/ DCBO having a computer with Internet/ intranet and a printer. The official manning this help desk will have sufficient knowledge about the scheme. He/she may be directed to behave in courteous manner with the IP visiting for help. Arrangement of drinking water and glass may be made at the help desk. Assistance in creating claim for relief will be provided at the help desk irrespective of the fact that the IP does not belong to that branch office. Health protocols of protection against spread of COVID-19 shall be adhered to at the help desk.
2. As soon as the claim for relief under the scheme is received, either in person or by post, the same will be diarized in a chronological manner on the systemand an acknowledgement shall be issued.
3. The claim ID of the claim submitted by the IP will be displayed in the Branch Manager’s task list. Earlier in the original scheme the task of verification from the employer was left on the IP, now it has to be done by the Branch Office Manager/ SSO or at least by a Head Clerk of Branch Office. A proper authority letter is to be issued to the Head Clerk, if he has been assigned the task of verification of the claim from the employer.
4. The officer going for verification of the claim of the IP from the Employer shall inform the employer in advance of his visit and its purpose via telephone and fix the date and time of his visit so that the employer may arrange for the records. The verification officer shall clearly inform the employer the purpose of his visit and take the employer in confidence before proceeding for verification of the unemployment of the IP.from the Employer’s records. The process of verification must be without any incident.
5. WHILE GOING FOR VERIFICATION ALL HEALTH PROTOCOLS OF COVID-19 RELATED PROTECTION MUST BE ADHERED.
6. The verifying officer will verify the unemployment of the IP from the wage register and attendance register of the Employer. Copy of the documents may be obtained and enclosed with the claim of the IP in records. If any formal communication has been issued by the employer for termination of service of the IP copy of the same may also be obtained. A certificate on the side of the claim of the IP may be recorded regarding verification of unemployment or otherwise and signed by the verification officer.
7. Once the unemployment of the IP is verified the payment of the amount calculated by the system shall be made in the bank account of the IP without any further delay.
8. Record of the payment shall be maintained in the forms prescribed in the original scheme. Reporting to the R011 SRO shall be done in the prescribed proforma for the same.
Action by the Regional Office / Sub-Regional Office.
1. Publicity of the Scheme and relaxation in eligibility conditions to provide relief to the workers who lost their jobs due to COVID-19 induced lockdown shall be done within their respective jurisdiction.
2. Employers under their respective jurisdiction shall be informed through their associations about the relaxation in eligibility conditions of the scheme and the requirement of verification of unemployment of the IP by the Branch office staff. They may be requested to offer their support to the visiting Branch Office staff.
3. Regular Monitoring of payments of Relief under Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana shall be done by the RO/SRO.
4. Regular assessment of requirement of fund by the Branch Office shall be done by the RO/SRO and additional fund if necessary be transferred on request of the Branch Manager as per the standard procedure.
5. Requirement of additional staff at the Branch Office shall be assessed by respective RO/SRO and if needed additional staff shall be provided.
6. Weekly report of the payments made shall be submitted in the proforma in Annexure-I
FOR CLAIMS OF THE IPs WHO BECAME/ BECOME UNEMPLOYED ON OR BEFORE 23.03.2020 AND ON OR AFTER 01.01.2021 THE INSTRUCTIONS ISSUED IN P-11/14/11/ABVKY/2018 DATED 14.12.2018 SHALL APPLY.
