Please guide me in solving this matter. Your help in any way is appreciated.

Learned professionals, I require your help regarding this issue so I request your help regarding the same. Please any doubts if you have any. I will clarify it immediately. I hope you can help me in this urgent issue.

In 2017, Firm mistakenly deposited PF to exited employee account (exit in 2012) instead of correct employee account.

Now the exit employee came to firm and said PF dept. is not releasing his PF money because there was money deposited at a later point but date of exit is on an earlier date. The Firm hence submitted letter to PF dept. stating to REFUND the wrongly submitted amount to which PF dept. responded that refund is not possible and is asking a written explanation about which employees PF was wrongly given to the exited employee.

The correct employee left the firm in 2020 and did FNF settlement with the firm in front of the ACL and agreed not to trouble the firm regarding any other dues later (wherein gratuity, PF dues, salary dues, etc were all discussed). He signed FNF document.

Now what should the firm do?

Please guide me in any way you can. Thank You

Hi,

So from the details you have provided, its understood that organisation has asked for refund of wrongly remitted amount. PF has asked to provide a explanation letter as to why it has be paid to wrong account. It is very well the right of PF to do so.

It is better to put up your grievance to PF online, they have a robust grievance cell to address issues of members and employers.

Visit the below mentioned link:
http://www.epfigms.gov.in/

You can register the complaint, track the status of it and also you can send reminders it is not resolved within 30 days.

Hope it helps.

Thank you madam for your response.

Now what should the firm do since PF dept. has verbally said the firm to pay PF in the correct employee account which the firm already paid during his FNF settlement.
The firm also has to pay late fees and arrears to the correct employee account.
It is neither solving the exit employee problem and is also becoming a money burden to the firm because it was due to a clerical mistake that the amount was deposited into the wrong account.

Also, I personally have a doubt regarding why does the PF office not pay the exit employee his actual share of PF and solve the matter? I hope I was able to convey my doubts to you madam.

Dear CiteHR member Mr Vignesh,

Although Ms Sudha has proposed to raise a grievance for early settlement of the issue posted by you, but I would suggest that the firm must not raise the grievance at this stage because it may be taken in an offensive spirit by the concerned officer of PF Dept.

A bare perusal of the text posted by you indicates two things:

(1) Firm wrongly deposited PF amount in 2017 in respect of an employee who had already exited in 2012, and
(2) The correct employee left the firm in 2020 and signed FNF settlement document before the ACL .

I shall like the following points to be clarified:

1. Whether the employee who left in 2012, and employee who left in 2020 are one and the same employee or both are different employee.
2. Which of the two employees has come up with a grievance?
3. When your PF records were last inspected and checked by PF Inspector? Whether any deficiency notice was issued by PF Dept.?
4. Upto which year the firm's accounts have been audited?
5. What is the status of reconciliation of subscribers' account and amount remitted PF Dept. ? Is there any audit observation on it?
6. PF Dept. cannot disallow to refund/adjust the amount remitted by mistake, but the firm has to give reasonable explanation alongwith audit report, if asked for by PF Dept., as well as the recociliation statement of paid challans with subscribers' account.
7. Grievance on PG portal should be raised only the employee, not by the firm.

Further opinion/advice will be given on receipt of all the above clarifications. You may, if you like, send your clarifications individually to me if you wish to maintain firm's secrecy.

With regards,

Chandra Mani Lal Srivastava
Master Consultant 9315516083
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Dear Sir,

Both the members are 2 separate employees. The 2012 exit employee went to PF dept. where his amount was denied because there was contribution by the firm in his account after his exit. The firm had already given PF dept. a letter to transfer the PF amount from wrong account to correct account in 2018 when they found their mistake but PF dept. did not respond to it. Later in 2020, the other employee left the firm and did FNF settlement. As per my knowledge, the 2020 exit member has withdrawn his entire PF amount. I guess since the firm is a small firm, there was no inspection by the dept. on it. There was an e-inspection issued to the firm for the covid period for loss of work for which I as the mediator was unable to file the return due to technical issues. The e-inspection has hence been closed without filing the return which is another burden for the firm for which i am trying to find a solution for.

Dear CiteHR member Mr Vignesh,

From your response it is observed that factual position is not correctly available with you. So I feel handicapped to offer appropriate comments.

2. I shall suggest that the firm obtains a representation from the aggrieved employee, and writes a letter to the concerned RPFC attaching relevant documentary evidence to support the inadvertent remittance of PF in respect of the exited employee who happens to be the aggrieved employee. A copy of this letter be endorsed to the aggrieved employee to further follow up the matter with RPFC.

3. In case the aggrieved employee does not receive a suitable response within 15 days he may be advised to lodge a grievance on the Grievance Portal of EPFO.

4. In case the EPFO does not resolve the problem, the aggrieved employee may be advised to escalate his grievance to Central Govt. grievance portal.

I hope if above steps are followed the local PF office shall resolve the matter. If it is not resolved, then you can obtain advice for further course of action from me.

Regards,
Chandra Mani Lal Srivastava
Master Consultant 9315516083
Contract Management, Tender, Works & Service Laws Expert
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New Delhi/09.02.2022/10:26 pm