Case Law Details
Association of Industries and Institutions Vs Union of India & anr. (Delhi High Court)
Conclusion: High Court while extending the date for mandatory E-Seeding of Aadhar number with UAN was extended from 30/09/2021 till 30/11/2021 subject to the following of certain interim directions issued.
Held: Assessee was an association of various entities and persons stated to be owning and running industrial/commercial establishments, factories, institutions, etc. Assessee-association had filed the present petition challenging the circular dated 1st June, 2021 issued by the EPFO, by which the seeding of Aadhaar number along with the Universal Account Number (hereinafter ‘UAN’), generated under the Employees Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (hereinafter, ‘EPF Act’), in respect of employees, had been made mandatory. Assessee contended that if the ECR was not generated, the employer would be liable to pay various penalties and suffer consequences of non-deposit of dues. The impugned circular dated 1st June, 2021 mandated that no PF deposit would be made or accepted without Aadhaar numbers being seeded with the UAN. Thus, in effect, seeding of Aadhaar numbers was made mandatory to obtain an ECR. Pursuant to the impugned notification, assessee-association made a representation to the Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt. of India, in view of the various difficulties being faced by employers due to mandatory seeding. EPFO portal rejected the ECR for two reasons: Error- Aadhaar being not verified against UAN; and Error – Aadhaar not seeded against the UAN. Assessee and its members were, therefore, requesting for an extension of 3-4 months before the circular dated 1st June, 2021 was implemented. The following interim directions were issued: a) Insofar as the employees qua whom Aadhaar numbers had already been provided to the EPFO were concerned, the provident fund should be permitted to be deposited by the employers without awaiting verification from the Unique Identification Authority of India. The process of verification should however continue; b) Insofar as those persons for whom the Aadhaar number seeding was yet to take place were concerned, the date for completing the seeding and verification should stand extended till 30th November, 2021. In the meantime, employers should be permitted to deposit the provident funds in respect of employees for whom seeding had not taken place and no coercive measures should be taken against them for non-seeding of Aadhaar numbers with UANs. During this period, the EPFO would appoint a Grievance Redressal Officer who could be contacted by assessee’s members or any other employer, to ensure that the deposits were not delayed and were made in a timely manner, in terms of the provisions of the Act and the Scheme. c) Insofar as the difficulties which were faced by the employers during the period from 1st June, 2021 to 15th June, 2021 during which period the software was amended, were concerned, no coercive measures should be taken against the employers for the time being in respect of such belated payments until final decision in the present writ petition.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER of DELHI HIGH COURT
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