Pursuant to implementation of the Employee Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 in the UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh w.e.f. 31st October, 2019, the Ministry of Labour has in a press release dated 04.03.2021 informed that the Employee Provident fund Organization ( “EPFO”) has extended its provident fund, pension and insurance benefits to all employees of existing establishments covered under the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir Provident Fund Act 1961, as well as the employees of newly covered establishments.
Key Highlights :
- Employers can now avail services of EPFO in a hassle-free manner, using online mode viz. submission of Electronic Challan-cum-Return (ECR), payments through internet banking, Online Registration of Establishments (OLRE), virtual hearing, e-inspection etc. In addition, these establishments now enjoy the benefit of reduced rate of administrative charges as compared to the erstwhile scheme. The social security coverage of establishments under EPFO in J&K and Ladakh has increased in 2021 and therefore the operation for there establishments has been replaced with online environment of EPFO, thereby enhancing ease of doing business for them.
- The Employees Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme benefit have been enhanced up to Rs. 6.00 lakh for family members of the deceased employees, which was earlier restricted to Rs. 70,000/-. Further, the subscribers of these UTs will also get the additional social security cover in the form of pension by EPFO.
- For speedy redressal of grievances, EPFO’s in-house online grievance redressal portal EPFiGMS has been extended to J&K and Ladakh. Additionally, WhatsApp App based helpline-cum-grievance redressal has also been made functional.
Source : Press Information Bureau
