The Hindu 11.11.2009

PF claim settlement in 10 working days

Staff Reporter

TIRUCHI: By the end of this fiscal, computerised operations will commence at the Regional Provident Fund offices at Chennai, Tambaram, Coimbatore and Madurai to facilitate settlement of claims within 10 working days, N.A. Nair, Additional Central Provident Fund Commissioner, Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), Tamil Nadu and Kerala, said on Tuesday. Currently claims are settled within 30 to 40 days.

The total computerisation project assigned to National Informatics Centre to curtail default and improve service delivery will be completed in the four regions under a pilot scheme. The EPFO was able to settle 80 per cent of claims within 30 days. In the first half of 2009-10, the EPFO serviced 6,75,315 claims in the State and achieved a settlement ratio of 96.6 per cent, Mr. Nair said, addressing a press conference.

Industrial growth

Tamil Nadu’s appreciable industrial growth has helped the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to achieve 5.7 per cent growth during 2008-09. Membership with EPFO has risen to 79,57,041 (77,364 establishments, including about 150 public sector undertakings as on September 30, 2009) from 73,18,750 (66,421 establishments) last year in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, The contributions towards Provident Fund and Pension Fund were Rs. 2,249 crore (Rs. 1,200 crore in Chennai region alone) and Rs. 959 crore respectively, accounting for an overall increase of 10 per cent. To a query, he said, instances of members switching over to the Employees’ Pension Scheme 1995 were on the rise.

Evasion detected

The EPFO, he said, was moving in the direction of increasing membership by identifying and enrolling the uncovered workforce to the extent of 15 per cent. Evasion of 18 per cent workforce has been detected.

The EPFO also aimed at bringing in additional establishments by 15 per cent under its fold, Mr. Nair said, adding that initiatives have also been taken to bring down default from 38 per cent (national average is 45 per cent) to 25 per cent. Of the default in payment to the tune of Rs. 235 crore in the State, the amount locked in court cases was to the extent of Rs. 200 crore. Mr. Nair hoped to recover 90 per cent recovery of arrears by the end of the financial year.

He attributed the rise in grievances to the provision for making complaints online. Of the 1,488 grievances received last year, 1473 were redressed. This year, 1,575 grievances were received between April and September. Of them, 1,545 have been redressed, said Mr. Nair. Complaints could be made in the ‘Customer Service’ link of the EPFO website: www.epfindia.com. Earlier, Mr. Nair reviewed the performance of enforcement officers in Tiruchi and Salem sub-regional offices. B.S.V. Sharma, Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, Coimbatore Region; M. Mathiazhagan, Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, Tiruchi Sub-Regional Office, and B. Andrew Prabu, Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, Salem Sub-Regional Office, were present.

The position of Additional Central Provident Fund Commissioner is a newly established office by the Central Board of Trustees in different parts of the country to facilitate effective implementation of social security schemes.