Withdrawl Of Pension Fund [Thread 288822]

Dear Abbas & Kannan,
i Have another query regarding Deduction Of PF, is mandatory for an employer to deduct the PF of employee, or is there any provision under PF rule, for not deducting PF if salary is above a limit.
Because i have seen some cases in which employer donot deduct the PF of the Employee, Even in some limited companies it is happening.
IS there any legal loss to the employee for the same.
Regards,
Vishal

Dear Vishal,
Employees once enrolled in EPF has to be continnued even if their salary crossed the ceiling limit. But regarding a new entrant in service whose salary is above the ceiling limit, it is not mandatory to enroll in EPF.
Abbas.P.S

Dear Abaas,
If the salary of a employee above the ceiling limit, & his employer is not deducting his PF, then is there any effect on his graduaty fund, will he recieve graduaity or not.
Regards,
Vishal

Dear Vishal,
Gratuity is not clubbed with EPF. There is no ceiling limit on salary for Gratuity. But the maximum amount is restricted to Rs. 10,00,000. Those having a service of 5 years are eligible to get Gratuity.
Abbas.P.S

Dear Abbas & Kannan
I read your communication related to EPF withdrawal. It is really very good for those who are going thru this pahse of confusion. I am also passing thru similar situation. I resigned from one of the PSU. Initially HR created lot of confusion and delayed the case. Now they say 'You may get' but unfortunately no one is responding to my letter neither HR nor any one at EPF department. I really donot know what to do? I feel in almost all cases the attitude and determination of HR is of absolute importance as they are the driver in both sorting your case or creating confusion. Please let me know how can I get some communication to sort out my case. Its more than three years and I have served around 25 years to the company. Its really unfortunate.
Brajesh

Dear Mr.Brajesh,

Unfortunately in some instances the personnel in the HR department either leave the organisation or are preoccupied with engagements relating to present employees and cases relating to past employees take a back seat.

Generally, it will be wise for HR personnel to advise employees to submit their PF and EPS forms to the employer before they exit the organisation. This will facilitate us to advise them on the various annexures that needs to be enclosed alongwith the forms.

In your case if you know your PF number (if you don't know you can refer to the annual account slip furnished to you in Form 23 every year by the PF authorities through your employer), you can approach the respective PF office and seek explanation for the delay. Generally the Public Relations Officers in the PF office guide members in an excellent manner and they are very courteous. In the event you are not satisfied you can make a request to meet the concerned section head or even the Assistant Commissioner of EPF.

There is also one more option. You will find advetisements in local newspapers intimating PF adalats, you can immediately present your case and appear before the PF authorities on the appointed date and time. You will visibly see the manner in which the claims are expeditously processed by the concerned authorities.

You can also visit EPFO's website to know the status of your claim. For this you need to know the PF number of the establishment and your number. As said earlier both these informations will be available in the Account Slip Form 23.

Dear Abbas,

In my opinion there is no restriction on the employer to pay Gratuity. If he wishes he can pay more than that if the employee is eligible.The 10 Lakh amount is for the purpose of IT exemption.

Please correct me if my opinion is incorrect

M.V.KANNAN

Dear Mr Kannan
Thanks for your post. You are true I donot know my PF number so first of all I have to find out my PF number to talk to any one for further explanation. I donot know about account slip form 23. I have to go back and take some help from the HR personal of the company.
Thanks for your mail as atleast I have couple of things to know before meeting or contacting anyone. In my case my HR says he has send form 10D to head office and they are processing it. Lets see how quickly I get these details. I know it is not easy as my last posting was in North East.
You wrote a few lines about Gratuity which is to paid by employer. HR is not at all responding to this issue.
Thanks for the mail
Regards
Brajesh

Dear Kannan,
The ceiling limit as per the Payment of Gratuity Act is Rs. 10,00,00. This is not for Income Tax exemption, but for statutory claim (Section 4(3) of Payment of Gratuity Act). I agree with you that as per section 4(5), employee can arrive in a contract with the employer for (or emloyer can award), more than ceiling limit.
Income Tax exemption is due to amendment in IT rules, viz. section 10(10).
Abbas.P.S

Dear Brajesh,
The statement made by your HR department that they have sent Form 10D for processing is incorrect in my opinion. They are suppose to forward Form 10C instead.
Kindly visit the respective PF office and obtain your PF number and start processing. In some companies the PF and ESI account numbers are generally printed in the payslips as well. Kindly check if there is a mention about it in your payslips if you have one with you.
Regards
M.V.KANNAN

Dear Kannan
This is in continuation to my Apr 2009 mail. Recently I got a letter from the dealing depart of my previous organisation that my letter/form of EPS has been sent to Regional Commissioner Employee Provident Fund, Dehradun. The unfortunate part is that the information mentioned are incorrect like date of separtion is Oct 2007 and it has been mentioned as Oct 2006. I have served more than 25 years and mentioned period is less than 10 years. I donot know how a HR of such a big organisation can behave like this. I feel either the dealing person is incompetent or trying to harass me. The whole episode i.e since application to forwarding to RCEPF took around 4 years. Secondly they have deducted a huge amount from my Gratuity payment whih has been done after 3.5 years of separation. I am not getting any reply from the concerned department. I am really getting disappointed and donot know what to do?
Please advise me what I need to do and how to proceed?
Regards
Brajesh