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The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (“EPFO”) released the Standard Operating Procedure (“SOP”) for management and regulation of EPF exempted establishments on October 6, 2023. According to this notification, an establishment can be exempted from the regulations of the EPF Scheme by the relevant government authority, allowing it to manage its employees' Provident Fund. However, this exemption is subject to certain conditions outlined in Section 17 of the EPF Act, 1952, and its associated provisions. While the establishment can implement its own Provident Fund scheme, it must adhere to the regulations of the EPF Act and EPF Scheme, 1952. This privilege of managing its own fund is contingent upon providing employee benefits that are at least as favorable as those offered by the EPFO to its members.
The SOP lays down the compliance terms of the exempted establishments managing their own provident fund trust and further describes EPFO’s methodology to monitor and regulate the compliance of the exempted/relaxed establishments. It covers within its ambit establishments which have been granted:
· exemption under Section 17(1) (power to exempt) of the EPF Act;
· exemption under Section 17(2) (power to exempt) of the EPF Act (read with Para 27A (exemption of a class 15 of employees) and Para 27 (exemption of an employee) of the Employees’ Provident Funds Scheme, 1952).
The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) assigns various duties to different stakeholders such as Establishments, Board of Trustees, Regional Offices, Zonal Offices, etc. For instance, it requires Establishments to facilitate inspections, ensure the annual report is posted, and establish a Board of Trustees (BOT) to administer the Provident Fund. It outlines a detailed procedure that Establishments must follow when managing their own PF trust. To ensure adherence to this procedure, it establishes a monitoring system at various levels, ranging from Regional Offices to the Head Office.
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