EPFO trouble: CAG flags lower administrative charges collection by fund

Government auditor CAG has detected under-realisation of administrative charges worth Rs 6.17 crore from establishments at eight regional offices of retirement fund body EPFO, according to a report. The under-realisation was detected after test checking of records at the eight EPFO regional offices during January 2015 to March 2017 period. "Failure of eight regional offices of Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to verify dues remitted by the establishments with reference to the revised rate of administrative charges on Employees' Deposit Link Insurance (EDLI) and Employees' Provident Fund resulted in short realisation of Rs 6.17 crore during the period from January 2015 to March 2017," stated a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report tabled in Parliament today.

According to the report, the EPFO had revised rate of administrative charges for EDLI and EPF schemes from January 1, 2015. These charges are deposited by the employers in the designated bank account of the EPFO. The CAG said that test check of records of 8 regional offices - Kolkata, Barrackpore, Durgapur, Howrah, Jalpaiguri, Jangipur, Park Street and Siliguri - revelaed that the registered establishments were not paying administrative charges at the revised rates which resulted in short realisation of administrative charges of Rs 6.17 crore during January 2015 to March 2017.

It further said that seven regional offices excluding Jangipur stated that the short recovery could not be tracked due to lack of an in-built "Default Tracking & Management Mechanism' in the application software.