The government is contemplating amending the existing law to avoid litigation in recovery of EPF dues from defaulting public and private sector undertakings, Labour Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation can comfortably offer 8.5 per cent interest rate to its 4.41 crore (44.1 million) depositors during 2009-10 and still record a surplus contrary to Rs 139-crore (Rs 1.39 billion) losses suffered by it for giving the same benefit during the current fiscal.
A senior EPFO official said, "(Subhiksha) was given 15 days, starting February 20, to pay the PF dues. Since these were not paid, we will go ahead with the action and set a target to collect the dues before March 31, 2009, when the fiscal year comes to an end." The PF dues to be paid for the June-September period of 2008 were around Rs 1.46 crore. The status of Subhiksha's PF payments in other parts of the country will also be checked.
The Employees Provident Fund Board may examine the option of investing five per cent EPF corpus money in stock markets, Union Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes said on Tuesday. Ahead of the meeting of EPF Central Board of Trustees to finalise the interest rate for 2007-08, Fernandes said that the option to make investment in the capital market was "still open".
The Tamil Nadu government is set to unveil a housing initiative for 18,720 women employed by Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn, a key supplier to iPhone-maker Apple, this Saturday. The project, located at Vallam Vadagal near Chennai, marks the first time an Indian state government has constructed a hostel of this scale for a private firm - a model that's been successful in China and Vietnam.
In a statement, Jayalalithaa said it was unfortunate that the EPF board decided to retain the interest rate at 8.5 per cent, amidst opposition from the huge work force of the country.
Employees joining companies after August and availing of the government benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY) will also have to link their PF accounts with Aadhaar numbers.
Schemes like the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana strain fiscal resources amid rising unemployment and prices of food items.
According to sources, the proposal is listed in the agenda of the meeting of the Union Cabinet scheduled for Friday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday demanded that the interest rates on Employees' Provident fund contributions be raised to 9.5 per cent to make them commensurate with the rise in bank interest rates.
Six establishments -- including Tata Motors -- have been selected as the best employers by the Central Board of Trustees of Employees Provident Fund Organisation.
The Employees Provident Fund board is likely to meet in the second week of April to discuss measures to fund the Rs 927 crore (Rs 9.27 billion) estimated shortfall due to 1.0 per cent hike in interest to 9.5 per cent for 2004-05.
Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar said, the purpose of labour reforms is to provide a transparent system to suit the changed business environment.
Saddled with huge arrears from the PSUs and the private sector, the Employees Provident Fund Organisation on Tuesday launched an action plan, including the attachment of property and freezing of bank accounts.
After a three-hour meeting of the Central Board of Trustees of the EPF, CITU general secretary Tapan Sen said that the meeting decided to continue with 8.5 per cent for 2007-08, ignoring the demands by trade unions to hike the interest rate to 9.5 per cent.
The bill to amend payment of gratuity Act in order to double the ceiling of tax-free gratuity to Rs 20 lakh, would soon be placed before the Union Cabinet for approval.
The government is likely to take a 'favourable' decision on enhancing the interest rate on Employees Provident Fund and the ministries of labour and finance are holding discussions on how to mobilise resources for it, Lok Sabha was informed on Monday
The Left parties on Wednesday asked the government to reduce prices of LPG and diesel and restore 9.5 per cent interest rate on Employees Provident Fund.
The Income-Tax (I-T) Department nowadays provides pre-filled forms to make the filing of income-tax return (ITR) easier. Nonetheless, you must have a number of documents handy at the time of filing return so that you can cross-check the data in the pre-filled form. "Filing ITR doesn't require you to upload any document. But in case an assessing officer makes an inquiry, you will need to present documents and certificates as proof," says Deepak Jain, chief executive, TaxManager.in.
The ministry of labour & employment has now been mandated to seek the 12-digit unique identification number Aadhaar from people like employees and unorganised sector workers seeking registration, benefits, availing services or receiving any payment under various schemes under the Social Security Code 2020. Aadhaar would not be made mandatory for delivery of services under various social security schemes under the purview of the ministry because Social Security Code 2020 has not been fully implemented so far. The rules under the Code are finalised by the ministry but those rules are yet to be notified.
While praising the internship scheme announced in the Budget, India Inc wants clarity on how it will be implemented. The scheme is expected to help companies address the skill gap in employment. Dheeraj Hinduja, chairman, auto major Ashok Leyland, said: "We had started an internship programme at our plant in Pantnagar, which we established in 2010 with colleges there.
Some members raised questions like that even government establishments were employing only contract labour.
Expressing displeasure over government's reluctance to restore the EPF interest rate to 9.5 per cent, the Left parties and Samajwadi Party, both UPA supporters, on Thursday staged a walkout in Lok Sabha with a warning that it should "see the writing
'A subscriber will know exactly how much of his money is in debt and how much in equity.'
The EPF board will meet on Wednesday to take a firm view on the interest rate for its 4 crore (40 million) subscribers during 2005-06, even as trade unions are demanding Prime Minister's intervention to retain 9.5 per cent.
Detecting frauds worth about Rs 1 crore in claims settlement across the country, Employees Provident Fund Organisation on Wednesday decided to set up a fact finding team to investigate into the matter as part of efforts to prevent such misdemeanours.
In India, younger workers willing to work at lower salaries are easily available, so you could find yourself out of a job before 60. Therefore, save for retirement with urgency, advises Sanjay Kumar Singh.
The Central Board of Trustees of Employees Provident Fund Organisation on Tuesday approved a scheme allowing subscribers to withdraw up to 90 per cent of the accruals to invest in Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana.
Bain Capital-backed Tyger Capital is planning to list its shares on the Indian stock exchanges by the next financial year and is targeting to grow its assets under management by four times to Rs 20,000 crore in five years from Rs 5,000 crore now, Gaurav Gupta, MD and CEO of the firm said. In an exclusive interview, Gupta said that keeping with the growing business, the finance company expects to on-board 600 people in the current financial year as it is opening 60-65 new branches for broad-basing its network in the country.
The government will notify categories of employees who will be excluded from the controversial tax proposal on provident fund withdrawals.
'Three manufacturing sectors can create jobs by the million: Apparel, food, and electronic assembly.' 'Let's talk to them and ask them what it would take to scale by a factor of ten,' suggests Naushad Forbes.
The Central Board of Trustees of the EPFO will meet on Friday to decide on the setting up of separate agencies for recovery of arrears and audit, and the rollover of interest of the IFCI.
Union Labour Minister Sahib Singh Verma said on Tuesday that the Central Board of Trustees would be meeting on May 31 at New Delhi for reviewing the interest rate of employees provident fund.