The 192nd meeting of the Central Board of Trustees, Employees Provident Fund was held under the Chairmanship of Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Minister for Labour and Employment and Chairman, Central Board of Trustees (Employees’ Provident Fund), in New Delhi today. The meeting of the Central Board of Trustees, EPF, which was the ninth regular meeting of the present Board, adopted the Audited Annual Accounts the organisation for the year 2009-2010. The decision to resume investment in LIC Housing Finance LICHF, a subsidiary of the country’s largest insurance company Life Insurance Corporation was taken today at the meeting of the Central Board of Trustees, the apex decision-making body of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization. The Board reviewed its decision taken in the last meeting to not to make further investments in LIC HF Ltd. The Board decided that the investments may be continued in LIC HF Ltd. in view of the fact that LIC is a large public sector unit, and it has been confirmed by the Finance Ministry and the credit rating agencies, that its finances are sound.
The Board also discussed the letter from the Ministry of Finance regarding non-approval of 9.5% interest from 2010-11 recommended by the CBT on 15.09.2010. A letter has already been sent by the Labour Ministry to the Finance reiterating that the calculation made were correct, and that since no Government money was involved, and the Organisation has certified that there will be no over-withdrawal from the Interest Suspense Account ISA, the CBT stood by its decision of recommending 9.5% interest. The Minister of Labour & Employment Shri Mallikarjun Kharge has expressed confidence that the Finance Ministry will shortly give its concurrence to the proposal. "I hope that after we answered all clarifications, they (Finance Ministry) will approve it (9.5 per cent interest rate for 2010-11)," he said. Shri Kharge was speaking to reporters after the meeting of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). "As far as 9.5 per cent interest (2010-11) is concerned, the Finance Ministry had sought some clarifications. Those clarifications have been sent by the Labour Secretary Shri P. C. Chaturvedi to the Finance Ministry," he added.
The Board also deliberated on the investment pattern to be followed by EPFO in view of the letter from the Ministry of Finance received recently. After deliberations and detailed discussions, the CBT decided to act with proper prudence and responsibility to ensure that the capital invested by the members was safe. The members reiterated that safety of capital was more important than return on capital and therefore decided to continue with the present pattern of investment.
The Board also took note of the progress report of the ongoing Computerisation programme. These include:
(a) 116 offices have been computerized as on 15.02.2011. These offices have implemented the new application software to settle members’ claims etc. Remaining 4 offices would be completed by February 2011.
(b) 92.68% subscribers and 95.96% establishments would be served through the new application software by these offices throughout the country.
(c) For faster credit of refund to members’ bank accounts, CBS and NEFT facility has been introduced leading to improvement in services.
(d) SMS alerts have been made operational for sending status of refund. Members can now check their claim status online through our EPFO website.
(e) Process of transfer of PF account automated through NEFT dispensing the cheque mode transfer done earlier. This would speed up transfer of accounts electronically to benefit members.
The Board also approved the amendments to be made in the EPF Scheme, 1952, Employees Pension Scheme, 1995 and the EDLI Scheme, 1976 to enable filing of mandatory returns by the employers in electronic form since EPFO has provided for uploading facility in its computer system. This would improve the services and compliance functions in EPF offices. Secretary, Labour and Employment Shri P. C. Chaturvedi and Central Provident Fund Commissioner, Shri Samirendra Chatterjee were among those present in the Board Meeting.
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