Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO)

Syllabus subtopic: Statutory, Regulatory and various Quasi-judicial Bodies.

Prelims and Mains focus: about the move and its significance; about EPFO

News: Salaried employees are set to get 0.15% less in interest on provident fund deposits for 2019-2020, with the Central Board of Trustees of the Employees’ Provident Fund reducing the interest rate from 8.65% to 8.5%.

Other measures taken

The Board also ratified the restoration of normal pension after 15 years from the date of commutation — a move that will benefit about 6.3 lakh pensioners who had opted for commutation on or before September 25, 2008.

It also approved a proposal to empanel the Jammu and Kashmir Bank as one of the banks for the collection of EPF dues in J&K.

About EPFO

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.

EPFO is one of the World's largest Social Security Organisations in terms of clientele and the volume of financial transactions undertaken. At present it maintains 19.34 crore accounts (Annual Report 2016-17) pertaining to its members.

The Employees' Provident Fund came into existence with the promulgation of the Employees' Provident Funds Ordinance on the 15th November, 1951. It was replaced by the Employees' Provident Funds Act, 1952. The Employees' Provident Funds Bill was introduced in the Parliament as Bill Number 15 of the year 1952 as a Bill to provide for the institution of provident funds for employees in factories and other establishments. The Act is now referred as the Employees' Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 which extends to the whole of India. The Act and Schemes framed there under are administered by a tri-partite Board known as the Central Board of Trustees, Employees' Provident Fund, consisting of representatives of Government (Both Central and State), Employers, and Employees.

The Central Board of Trustees administers a contributory provident fund, pension scheme and an insurance scheme for the workforce engaged in the organized sector in India. The Board is assisted by the Employees’ PF Organization (EPFO), consisting of offices at 135 locations across the country. The Organization has a well equipped training set up where officers and employees of the Organization as well as Representatives of the Employers and Employees attend sessions for trainings and seminars. The EPFO is under the administrative control of Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.
The Board operates three schemes - EPF Scheme 1952, Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS) and Insurance Scheme 1976 (EDLI).

Source: The Hindu

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