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Firms and establishments that have not registered their employees under the Employees Provident Scheme (EPS) 1952, on or after April 1, 2009 and are required or entitled to become members before January 1, 2017, will be given amnesty and will have to pay a token fine of only Re 1 after filing a declaration, the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has said.
Launching a three-month ‘Employees’ Enrolment Campaign 2017’ on January 1, the retirement fund body said it would hold meetings with employer and employee associations and States in this regard. Under the enrolment scheme, a three-month window will be provided from January 1 to March 31, 2017, and a nominal levy will be charged as damages from the establishment for payment of contribution for the past period, an official told PTI.
Employers who have so far not registered their employees can send the declaration, also stating that “I undertake to remit the contributions, interest and damages payable….in accordance with the Employees’ Enrolment Campaign 2017.”
It also provides that no administrative charges will be leviable for the past period in respect of the employees enrolled during the campaign. The necessary amendments will be carried out under the relevant provisions of the Employees’ Provident Fund and Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance schemes.
For a uniform and nominal rate of levy of damages of Re 1/annum, the government has inserted an enabling provision under para 32(a) of the EPF Scheme 1952 and under para (5) of Employees Pension Scheme, 1995, and para 8-A of EDLI Scheme, 1976. It was notified on December 30, 2016.
The EPFO’s campaign was announced by Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya last month as a means to strengthen the Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojanaa scheme, under which the government would pay 8.33 per cent EPS contribution for new employment for a period of three years.
“For the textile (garmenting) sector, the government will also pay the 3.67 per cent EPF contribution of employers for new employees,’ a Labour Ministry statement had said.
While there is no data on the number of firms that have not registered employees or even of any firm getting penalised, the number of registered establishments not been depositing PF contributions stood at 10,932 up to December 2015-16, as per a written reply in August 2016 by Dattatreya in the Lok Sabha.
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