Lok Sabha Question No. 1858 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-13
Subject: Interest Dues in EPFO
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Gautham Sigamani Pon

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1858 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.03.2023

## INTEREST DUES  IN  EPFO

## 1858. DR. PON GAUTHAM SIGAMANI:

Will  the Minister of LABOUR  AND  EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  it  is  a  fact  that  lakhs  of  Employees  Provident  Fund members are yet to get interest dues announced in the budget for 2021-22, if  so,  the details thereof;
- (b) whether  it  is  also  true  that  the  Government  was  escaping  from paying the  said  due  interest stating that the delay in  distributing interest was due to a  software upgrade, if so, the details  thereof;
- (c) whether it is also true that the Employees Provident Fund Organization is not responding to any queries made in this regard, if so, the details thereof; and
- (d)if so, the reasons therefor and time by which the  interest  is  likely to be paid to EPF beneficiaries?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)

(a): As  per  the  provisions  of  Paragraph  60(1)  of  the  Employees' Provident  Fund  (EPF)  Scheme,  1952,  Employees'  Provident  Fund Organisation  (EPFO)  shall  credit  to  the  account  of  each  member interest at such rate as may be determined by the Central Government in consultation with the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), Employees' Provident  Fund  (EPF).  Account  updation  with  interest  credit is  a comprehensive exercise requiring scrutiny of each individual transaction  made  in  respect  of  each  and  every  individual  member's accounts, thus making  the entire process very exhaustive. Till 06.03.2023  accounts  of  members  of  98  per  cent.  of  the  contributory establishments have been  credited  with interest.  This  is an ongoing

process which is taken up in a scheduled manner without hampering the regular claim settlements.

- (b): Updating of member passbook with interest is an entry process only, the date on which the interest is entered in the passbook of the member has no actual financial bearing as the interest earned for the year.  His  monthly  running  balances  is  always  added  to  the  closing balance of that year. Hence, the member does not suffer any financial loss.

Due to the introduction of the new TDS provision from 2021-22, the accounting process had to undergo a major revision, making the exercise more tedious warranting an enhanced level of scrutiny.

It was also necessary to make revisions in the passbook of the members so that it provides entire information to them in a simpler, readable form.

The process required new development, testing, debugging and stabilization of critical elements of the software.

- (c): A  permanent  grievance  redressal  mechanism  in  the  form  of CPGRAMS and EPFiGMS is in place in EPFO. All grievances received are regularly monitored and addressed promptly and with due diligence.  EPFO has continuously communicated to its members and has ensured that no withdrawals are affected on account of the TDS implementation. EPFO has settled more than 3.6 crore claims submitted by members with up to date interest.
- (d): This  is  an  ongoing  process  which  has  been  taken  up  in  a scheduled  manner  post  development  of  software  and  by  06.03.2023, the  process  has  been  completed  in  respect  of  98  per  cent  of contributory establishments.

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