The Hindu Business Line : Growth in EPF coverage, recovery in Kerala

SEVEN hundred and thirty new establishments with 96,945 members had been brought under the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Act during the last fiscal in Kerala while around 79 per cent of the realisable arrears had been recovered, according to a senior official at the EPFC Kerala region.

The performance in Kerala had been good compared with other regions and the State was better in bringing down the number of defaulting establishments, which were comparatively less , he said.

There were 79 establishments spread over the State defaulting for more than Rs 5 lakh as on March 31, 2001 and the number had come down now, he said. He said out of 2.86 lakh claims, 2.6 lakh were settled in 2004-05 while 28 claims were pending because of court cases. The remaining claims are in the process of finalising, he said.

During the year, 21,422 pensions were sanctioned and with this, the total number of pensions stood at 1.46 lakh. The total outgo towards pension was Rs 86 crore in 2004-05 and withdrawal benefits around Rs 138 crore were disbursed.

A total sum of Rs 62.42 crore was recovered including all arrears in 2004-05 while the administrative income had touched Rs 21.58 crore, he said.

However, there are some chronic defaulting establishments of which some are locked up in court cases. Meanwhile, some are under lockout or declared sick and under Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction net. In such cases, recovery is pending, he pointed out.

Because of prompt settlement, the number of grievances had come down to 630 cases, which were over 5,000 two years ago, he said.

He said that much of functions of the EPF offices in the State had been computerised and as a result settlement of claims/pensions etc, could be finalised at a faster pace.

The mailing of annual slips has been pending for want of a final decision from the Union Government on the interest rates.

Since it has been finalised for 2002-03 and 2003-04, the slips would now be processed and sent once the orders are received, he added.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page