EPFOA Demands Empowerment for Compliance Enforcement

The Employees' Provident Fund Officers' Association (EPFOA) has called on the Central Provident Fund Commissioner to enhance field formations with modern tools and authority to address compliance failures. This follows a tragic nightclub fire in Goa, exposing systemic EPF non-compliance issues affecting employee benefits.

The Employees' Provident Fund Officers' Association (EPFOA) has issued a strong appeal to the Central Provident Fund Commissioner (CPFC), urging for immediate empowerment of field formations to handle cases of default and non-compliance effectively. This call for action comes in the wake of a disastrous fire at Birch by Romeo Lane Night Club in Goa, which highlighted significant shortcomings in compliance enforcement.

The incident, which resulted in the loss of 25 lives, revealed that the establishment had defaulted on EPF contributions. The lack of payment to employees underscores a broader issue of systemic compliance failure. EPFOA's letter to CPFC Ramesh Krishnamurthi stressed the urgent need to address these gaps by equipping field formations with necessary authority and modern tools.

Presently, the task of ensuring provident fund, pension, and insurance benefits for affected families is daunting due to operational limitations. The existing traditional monitoring systems are inadequate, and the promised advanced technology-based tools, like the e-inspection system, remain ineffective. EPFOA emphasized the necessity to invigorate compliance mechanisms to deter non-compliance effectively.

(With inputs from agencies.)