PANAJI
The central government is providing this benefit to employers from January 1, 2017 till March 31, 2017. This shows that there is still time for employers to take advantage of this benefit, which is available under Employees’ Enrollment Campaign, 2017.
This information was shared in a seminar called by EPFO’s office in Goa. Krishna Chowdhury, regional provident fund commissioner-Goa, said, “As of now, 105 establishments in Goa have got 970 employees enrolled with EPFO using incentives provided under Employees’ Enrollment Campaign.”
The other major benefit under this scheme is that the employers will have to contribute only their share without having to remit employees share to their PF account. However, the scheme is available only till March 31, this year.
If employers don’t get employees registered under EPFO till March 31, then they can be prosecuted and 100% of amount payable on account of PF can be the penalty.
Establishments having 20 or more employees have to get themselves registered with EPFO by law. Besides, these establishments have to mandatorily get those employees registered with EPFO, who have less than Rs 15,000 monthly wage. However, in print media organisations, establishments have to compulsorily get all employees registered with EPFO, whether their monthly salary is less than Rs 15,000 or not.
V Vijaykumar, additional central provident fund commissioner, said, “Around 4,600 establishments are covered by EPFO in Goa and 2.8 to 3 lakhs employees are registered in the state with us. But, there is scope for enrolling more and more employees in Goa so that they can also get social security benefit.”
Vijaykumar also highlighted benefits for employers and employees under Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY). He continued, “Under this scheme, the central government will be paying 8.33% of wages as EPS (employee pension scheme) contribution of the employer. For textile and apparel industries, the government will contribute 12% EPS contribution.”
In a way, this scheme gives incentive to employers to employ more people, while bringing those people within the net of pension, which will help them in their old age. The central government is giving benefit under PMRPY scheme for three years between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2019.
Schemes like these are aimed at providing social security benefit to people in India.
Vijaykumar said, “There are 8 crore people in India, who are members of EPFO. But, only 4 crore of these are contributing to PF. That’s why the government thought of coming out with these schemes so that more people are covered by PF and pension schemes.”
