EPFO settles over 76 lakh claims during Apr-Nov

Retirement fund body EPFO has settled over 76 lakh claims till November in this fiscal, of which more than 40 per cent were settled within 3 days.
Besides, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) redressed 16,500 grievances last month, it said in a statement.
Reviewing the progress of EPFO for November, Central Provident Fund Commissioner (CPFC) K K Jalan noted that by end of November "the organisation has settled more than 76 lakh claims in the current fiscal, out of which more than 40 per cent were settled within 3 days", EPFO said.
"More than 96 per cent of the cases were settled within the stipulated time of 20 days. Grievance redressal was also taken up on priority and more than 16,500 grievances were redressed in November, leaving a balance of only around 3,000 grievances across the country," it added.

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 organisation, EPFO said.
"Accordingly, instructions have been issued to field formations to give special emphasis on ensuring that principal employer is held responsible for compliance with regard to the provisions of the Act & Schemes when engaging manpower through contractors," it added.

Delayed payments of contributions payable under the Act & Schemes by the employers attract damages and penal interest as per applicable rates, it said.
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, it added.
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 Universal Account Number (UAN) based and is available to those members who have seeded their UAN with bank account details and activated their UAN," it said.

By the end of November, more than 2.13 crore UANs were activated by EPF members.
The Central Board of Trustees (CBT), in its meeting last month, 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, Investment & Audit Committee of the Board, EPFO said.
It also permitted investment in AA+ rated private Scheduled Commercial Banks.