PF Commissioner to pay Rs 1.42 lakh interest due to man for fund delay

The forum ordered the respondents to pay Tambe a compensation of Rs 8,000

The Central Provident Fund Commissioner and others have been asked by a consumer court here to pay Rs 1.42 lakh interest due to a man along with Rs 8,000 compensation for delay in disbursement of his PF.

Vijay Tambe, a resident of Ghantali locality in Thane city, informed the Thane District Consumer Redressal Forum that he served at a private company for nearly 27 years from July 1978 to October 2005.

On March 28, 2011, he applied for payment of the due amount in his PF account. The amount is generally paid within 30 days, but in Tambe's case the PF office made a payment of Rs 38,51,315 on October 18, 2011.

An interest of Rs 1,82,938 for the delayed period (from April to October 2011), minus the 30 days period from the date of applying for the claim which is allowed, was paid on March 11, 2014, by the PF office stating that Tambe's PF account was inoperative for the future period (after he left the company).

However, Tambe then approached the consumer forum claiming that he was not given the full due interest of Rs 3,25,831, due to delay in payment.

The PF office contested the claim and said that due to the system upgradation which was informed to the customers, the due amount could not be paid.

However, consumer forum president Sneha Mhatre and members N D Kadam and Madhuri S Vishwarupe took note of the provisions in Employee Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act-1952 which stated that the claims, complete in all respects submitted alongwith requisite documents, shall be settled and benefit amount paid to the beneficiaries within 30 days from the date of its receipt by Commissioner.

If there is any deficiency in the claim, the same shall be recorded in writing and communicated to the applicant within 30 days from the date of receipt of such application.

The forum recently observed that in keeping with the provisions, there is a delay of 175 days in payment of the interest amount, hence Central Provident Fund Commissioner, and five other respondents including the PF's regional offices in Mumbai and Thane need to pay Rs 1,42,893 (balance out of the Rs 3,25,831 claimed by Tambe) to Tambe by next month end.

Besides, the forum also ordered the respondents to pay Tambe a compensation of Rs 8,000, including Rs 5,000 towards legal expenses and Rs 3,000 towards mental and physical sufferings.