Employees' Provident Fund Organisation of India

Employees' Provident Fund Organisation of India (EPFO)
Native name
 कर्मचारी भविष्य निधि संगठन
Founded New Delhi, Delhi, India (4 March 1952)
Headquarters 14, Bhikaiji Cama Place, Bhavishya Nidhi Bhawan
New Delhi, India
Key people
 K.K. Jalan, IAS, Central P. F. Commissioner
Services Provident Fund, Pension and Insurance schemes
Website epfindia.gov.in

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (abbreviated to EPFO), is a statutory body of the Government of India under the Ministry of Labour and Employment. It administers a compulsory contributory Provident Fund Scheme, Pension Scheme and an Insurance Scheme. It is one of the largest social security organisations in India in terms of the number of covered beneficiaries and the volume of financial transactions undertaken.[1] The EPFO's apex decision making body is the Central Board of Trustees (CBT).[2]

The total assets under management are more than INR5 lakh crore (US$91 billion) as of 1 May 2013.[3]

On October 2014 Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched universal account number for employee provident fund to enable PF number portability. [4]

Legal basis

The Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 came into effect on 4 March 1952. The organisation is administered by a Central Board of Trustees, composed of representatives of the Government of India, provincial governments, employers and employees. The board is chaired by the Union Labour Minister of India. The Chief Executive of the EPFO, the Central Provident Fund Commissioner, reports to the Union Labour Minister through the Permanent Secretary in the ministry. The headquarters of the organisation is in New Delhi.[1]

The Constitution of India under "Directive Principles of State Policy" provides that the State shall within the limits of its economic capacity make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old-age, sickness & disablement and undeserved want. The EPF & MP Act, 1952 was enacted by the Parliament of India and came into force with effect from 4 March 1952 as part of a series of legislative interventions made in this direction. Presently, the following three schemes are in operation under the Act:

  1. Employees' Provident Fund Scheme, 1952
  2. Employees' Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme, 1976
  3. Employees' Pension Scheme, 1995 (replacing the Employees' Family Pension Scheme, 1971)

Appeals

The orders of the Department can be appealed to Employees' Provident Fund Appellate Tribunal[5] at New Delhi. The Tribunal is located at Scope Tower, Laxmi Nagar, New Delhi and is presided by Presiding Officer who is a member of Judicial Service and by a Registrar who is deputed from the otther central government cadres.

Structure

The EPFO has the dual role of being the enforcement agency to oversee the implementation of the EPF& MP Act and as a service provider for the covered beneficiaries throughout the country. To this end, the Commissioners of the Organisation are vested with vast powers under the statute conferring quasi- judicial authority for search and seizure of records, assessment of financial liability on the employer, levy of damages, attachment and auction of a defaulter's property, prosecution and arrest and detention in civil prison.

Administratively, the organisation is organised into zones which are headed by an Additional Central Provident Fund Commissioner for each of the political states in the country. The states have either one or more than one Regional Offices headed by Regional P.F. Commissioners (Grade I) which are further sub- divided into Sub-Regions headed by Regional P.F. Commissioners (Grade II). To assist them are Assistant P.F. Commissioners. Most of the districts in the country have small district offices where an Enforcement Officer is stationed to inspect the local establishments and attend to grievances.

The total manpower of the EPFO is at present more than 20000 including all levels. The Commissioner cadre numbering 815 are recruited directly, competitively, through the Union Public Service Commission of India as well as through promotion from lower ranks. Subordinate Officers (Enforcement Officers/Accounts Officers) are also recruited directly in addition to promotion from the staff cadre of social security assistants.

UAN

A Universal Account Number (UAN) will be generated for each of the PF member by EPFO. The UAN will act as an umbrella for the multiple Member Ids allotted to an individual by different establishments. The idea is to link multiple Member Identification Numbers (Member Id) allotted to a single member under single Universal Account Number. This will help the member to view details of all the Member Identification Numbers (Member Id) linked to it. If a member is already allotted Universal Account Number (UAN) then he/she is required to provide the same on joining new establishment to enable the employer to in-turn mark the new allotted Member Identification Number (Member Id) to the already allotted Universal Identification Number(UAN)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "About Us". Employees' Provident Fund Organisation. Retrieved 2013-06-05.
  2. ↑ PTI (2013-05-15). "Govt ratifies 8.5% interest on PF deposits for 2012-13". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2013-06-05.
  3. ↑ Vikas Dhoot (2013-05-09). "EPFO open to investing in ETF of public sector units". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2013-06-05.
  4. ↑ http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/44833365.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
  5. ↑ "EPFAT : Introduction". Employees' Provident Fund Organisation. Retrieved 2013-06-05.
  6. ↑ http://www.reckontalk.com/know-your-universal-account-numberuan-status-of-epf-employee-provident-fund

External links