Refund to pension holders through easy method

Refund to pension holders through easy method

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
RAJYA SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-1193
ANSWERED ON-03.12.2014

Refund to pension holders through easy method

1193 . Shri Basawaraj Patil

1193. SHRI BASAWARAJ PATIL:

Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state the steps taken by Government to return Rs. 27000 crores deposited with it, to pension holders through easy method?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
(SHRI BANDARU DATTATREYA)

As per the Annual Accounts of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation for the year 2013-14, an amount of Rs. 27,448.54 crore is lying in Inoperative Accounts as on 31st March 2014. As per Para 72(6) of the Employees’ Provident Funds Scheme 1952, certain accounts are classified as ‘Inoperative Accounts’ in which contribution have not been received for 36 months continuously.

The members have withdrawn an amount of Rs. 4316.70 crores from the Inoperative Accounts during the financial year 2013-14.

The following steps have been taken to facilitate payments of amount lying in Inoperative Accounts to the rightful claimants:

(i) EPFO has launched allotment of permanent numbers to its members called Universal Account Number (UAN). It will facilitate identifying the members without intermediation of the employers. The amount may be claimed by current member in an easy manner in that case.

(ii) Awareness campaigns have been undertaken through the electronic as well as print media from time to time to educate the members.
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(iii) The employers’ and employees’ unions have also been requested to advise the members to file such claims for settlement.

(iv) Online Transfer Claim Portal (OTCP) has been introduced to facilitate online submission of transfer claim in order to make the transfer process transparent & simple. The adoption of Universal Account Number (UAN) would do away the need for transfer of claims as it will link the previous account of the members.

(v) The settlement of claims have been simplified and following steps are taken to ensure payments to the rightful claimants:

•  Attestation of claim forms by the authorized signatory has been made mandatory where the establishment is in operation.
•  To identify the members in those cases where employer is not available, the attestation by the bank authorities is insisted upon along with at least one of the documents as required under KYC (Know Your Customer) of the bank.