EPF Claim settlement period reduced from 30 days to 20 days

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Labour & Employment
19-December-2014 18:53 IST
Shri Bandaru Dattareya chairs 205th meeting of Central Board of Trustees of EPF

Claim settlement period reduced from 30 days to 20 days

Union Minister of State (IC) for Labour & Employment, Shri Bandaru Dattareya, today chaired the 205th meeting of CBT, EPF in New Delhi. The meeting was attended by representatives of employers, employees, the Central Governments and State Governments.

During the meeting, certain important issues were deliberated and decisions taken. It was decided that a separate Committee shall be constituted for looking into the question of deployment of EPFO funds for low cost housing, especially matters related to investment. It was decided that ultimate aim would be to benefit the EPF subscribers by providing avenues for housing. It was decided to allow EPFO to open accounts with other nationalized banks in addition to State Bank of India so as to facilitate collection of EPF contributions from employers. The Board recommended that necessary enabling provisions may be made in the scheme. In a major decision, the Board also recommended that the maximum permissible time for EPF claim settlement be brought down from the existing 30 days to 20 days thereby providing quicker service to the subscribers. The challenges posed in the existing investment environment was also discussed by the Board and it was decided that in order to maximize the yield on investment, an expert Committee shall be constituted for making appropriate recommendations. A mechanism for regulating the investments made by exempted funds shall also be worked out by an expert Committee.

The annual report for the year 2014 in respect of EPFO was approved by the Board. As per the report, on an average single day in EPFO, 211 establishments are newly registered and 1,16,206 members are enrolled. Rs 379 crore is received as contribution and Rs. 174 crore is disbursed to beneficiaries. Also, on an average, every single day 49,344 claims are settled and 5.43 lakh member accounts are updated. Also, the organization disposes 778 pubic grievances every single day.

The Board also approved the Revised Estimates for the year 2014-15 according to which 79,377 crore are received (expected) as contribution showing an increase of 14.77%. Out of the above, Rs. 59,346 crore is expected as EPF contribution, Rs. 19,000 crore as pension contribution and Rs. 1,031 as EDLI contribution. Likewise, income (administrative charges) is expected to be Rs. 4,905 crore which is an increase of almost 16% over the last financial year.

SOURCE-PIB