“More than seven years after the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had ordered the HSL management to pay arrears, for lower rate of PF paid for broken periods in the past, employees and pensioners of the Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) are yet to get justice,” says U. Panduranga Rao, a member of the HSL Pensioners’ Association, who has been following up the issue with the EPFO and the HSL management.
Though employers had to pay 12%, they would be allowed to pay at 10%, when a company is in losses for three consecutive years.
The HSL had paid at 10% for broken periods between April 1999 and March 2001, April 2002 and March 2004 and between April 2005 and March 2008 though it had shown profits, according to sources in the PF Office.
“As many as 3,000 employees, a majority of whom have retired from service, are affected due to the lowering of the interest rate. The management had recovered and paid only 10% PF between Sept 1997 and Sept 2008.
“The management has to pay the arrears pertaining to the contributions of both the employer and the employees, as the former was the ‘defaulter’,” says Mr. Panduranga Rao.
Complaint lodged
“Some HSL employees lodged a complaint with the EPFO that the employer was contributing only 10% as against the mandatory 12%. The PF officials investigated the case and checked the balance sheet of the company for the period for which the employer had remitted lower rate of PF.
“After thorough investigation, the PF officials found that there was no case for paying a lower rate of PF as the books showed profits during the said period.”
“An assessment was made by the PF officials in 2010 and the HSL management was asked to pay ₹13.18 crore towards PF arrears for the broken period. The management approached the High Court and obtained a stay. The EPFO Panel advocate had moved a petition for vacation of the stay order and it is likely to come up for hearing during the next few days,” Mr. Rao says.
“The management had agreed to pay PF at 12% but expressed their inability to pay the arrears. I had sought implementation of the EPFO order and recovery of arrears. We also sought change of the EPFO panel lawyer for the inordinate delay in pursuing the case,” CBT member of EPFO M. Jagadiswara Rao told The Hindu on Saturday.
