Relaxation in EPFO schemeThe Government proposes to relax/amend the Employees’ Provident Fund Scheme to enable loss-making and sick PSUs to continue to run their own Provident Fund Trusts.

The proposal is being examined in consultation with Central Board of Trustees, Employees’ Provident Fund.

The said relaxation will not be applicable to the private firms and their employees.

Provident Fund Trusts of exempted establishments are custodian of the hard-earned money of the workers which needs to be protected. The private companies do not have the sovereign guarantee behind them as enjoyed by the Public Sector Undertakings of both the Central Government and the State Governments. Therefore, the proposed amendment is not intended to extend this advantage to private companies, so as to protect the interest of the workers.

This information given by Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, the Minister of State (IC) for Labour and Employment, in reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.