Are ESIC Deductions Worth It? Share Your Thoughts and Join the Discussion

Hello Friends & seniors,

I am 101% in agreement with Mr. R. N. Dixit that the majority of staff are paying a lot of money in ESIC deductions yearly. However, due to a lack of facilities in ESIC hospitals or the unavailability of doctors in their area, they are not able to take advantage of ESIC benefits. Consequently, they are always dissatisfied with their ESIC deductions, which are of no use to them.

Request to Oppose ESIC Law

I would like to request everyone to please oppose this law by sending your objections to the following address:

To,
Shri. S.D. Xavier,
Under Secretary,
Ministry of Labour and Employment,
Sharam Shakti Bhavan,
Rafi Marg, New Delhi-110 001,
Email: [Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Please object to this rule.

Regards,
Madhura

I think this is not for implementation for raising objection. What opinion will the government not implement after strong objections from employers? It shall be implemented whether objections are raised or not.

I totally agree that ESIC limits should not rise because employees are not taking that many benefits from ESIC due to the unavailability of hospitals, doctors, or medicine.

I agree with you that ESIC limits should not rise because employees are not getting many benefits from ESIC. Around 70% of employees in the private sector do not visit dispensaries or hospitals even once in their lifetime due to the unavailability of hospitals, doctors, or medicine.

I also agree with this amendment, but there must be a ceiling, i.e., if the employee's gross salary is more than ₹10,000 to ₹15,000, the maximum amount must be considered as ₹10,000 only. This way, the employee's salary up to ₹15,000 will be covered under ESI, and this will not be a significant burden on the employee as well as the employer.

So now, as per the proposal, the total amount for ₹15,000 will be ₹263 + ₹712 = ₹975, and annually, if you calculate it, it will be ₹3,156 + ₹8,544 = ₹11,700. This is a substantial amount, and everybody knows that only a few people benefit from ESIC. So, I think this is the point to be raised now.

Waiting for your response.

Regards,
Ramnath

What is the use of bringing more employees under ESIC coverage? This move clearly indicates that the government needs more funds to support its own people. Instead of this, the government should concentrate on improving hospital facilities.

Thank you.

Obviously, it's a different thought. I don't have any problem with ESIC because our employees have benefited a lot from it. I only don't agree with the revision or increase in the amount because it becomes a burden to the poor employees and even small establishments. So, my suggestion is to try to make employees aware of the scheme and help them get the benefits. Please be positive, and you can even conduct a random survey at the shop floor level.

Regards,
Ramnath

Definitely, thanks, Madhura, for raising this issue. We all should send an email to Mr. Xaviour so that our collective efforts will make a difference. There is no use in spending our hard-earned money on things that are extremely useless to us.

In my case, I lose nearly 500k of my salary each month as both sides of ESIC are deducted from my salary. Can anyone tell me, are employees supposed to pay both sides of the contribution for PF as well as ESIC? I am confused.

Thanks

Hi, friends,

I totally agree that ESIC limits should not rise because employees are not taking that many benefits from ESIC due to the unavailability of hospitals, doctors, or medicine. I would like to request everyone to please oppose this law by sending your objections.

To Riya,

As per the ESIC Act, the deduction should be from both sides, i.e., from the employee as well as the employer. The rate of deduction from the employee is 1.75%, and from the employer is 4.75%.

Hope this clears your confusion.

Thanks & Regards,
Nitendra Parab

Very bad news. I think our government only thinks about earning money. They should be involved in the service sector not just focused on making profits. Every person knows how to treat workers in the dispensary and how many formalities are required for treatment.

Ashok

Yes, we should fight on this. Most of the employees don't use ESIC services, so why should we pay ECI? Here, every employee whose salary is 15,000/- will have to suffer if our salary is going in vain like this. Let us fight against the government in this case.

Dear Riya,

Please refer to Chapter IV, Section 39(1) of the ESI Act 1948. It depends on your package whether it is Annual CTC or Gross Salary, which is mentioned in your appointment letter.

Regards,
Ramnath

Thank you all for your support regarding these unnecessary changes by the government. We still have time to raise awareness among all HR professionals and voice our objections by sending an email to sddotxavier@nic.in. The deadline for sending emails is March 31, 2010. Let's act quickly, friends.

I feel the Government should review the facilities provided by the ESI Corporation before implementing the revision of the limit for coverage. The arbitrary decision of the Government should not lead to looting the employees and employers by collecting the subscription. The ESI is not providing for accidents happening outside the factory as in the past for injury arising out of employment. Hence, the employers or employees will have to make additional insurance for such accidents. This is an additional burden. Why not limit the subscription to the current level even when the coverage limit is enhanced?

Regards,
P T George

I feel it is one more way for the government to extract funds from people. The utilization factor for ESIC usage is very low, added with plenty of corruption charges. The government should decentralize healthcare and ensure efficient implementation towards the population it covers.

RIYA, you need to go and kick the butt of your HR department that has implemented CTC; this mainly makes the employee pay for everything and allows the employer to only profit from their employees.

HR are humans too... I guess they just love to make others suffer.

Dear Friends,

There is a provision in the ESIC Act that states if the organization provides better healthcare and insurance for employees, the organization may qualify for an exemption from ESIC.

Regards

I do agree that the present ceiling on ESI coverage should not be raised. When it was raised earlier, many unions went to court. A workman or his family member falling ill is required to spend money to travel to an ESI dispensary. He would be quite content spending this money by consulting a medical officer living in his area. The insurance sector is opening up, and private insurance companies could be encouraged to provide better medical care through innovative schemes.

I don't think that this amendment will be beneficial for employees. I have seen that a person whose salary becomes above $10,000 after an appraisal comes to us and says that he/she is happy because there will be no deduction of ESIC anymore after the cycle. Before raising this limit, the government should improve the facilities at dispensaries or hospitals as most people are not availing the benefits of it.

Critique of Government Bureaucracy

Government bureaucrats are often perceived as lacking knowledge of grassroots-level industries and their employees. Many government employees show little inclination to work. In some cases, there are no doctors or attendants available, and if present, they may display arrogance. There is no specific time for government employees to arrive or leave, yet they strictly enforce rules on private sector employees. At every turn, they demand money. While increasing the ceiling from 10K to 15K is acceptable, ESIC should be managed by the private sector, eliminating the need for government employee involvement.

Ninety-five percent of government employees are likened to bandits, focusing only on their interests. A government stamp peon holds more power than a private sector director. It is requested that government employees change their attitude or have their power withdrawn.

Regards,
Ashwini Kumar

I think the government should first improve facilities and then make such a move. In the ESI hospital, doctors are prescribing the same medicine for every illness because they do not have enough staff and medicines.

Please let me know if you need any further assistance.

Hi friends, any proposal will have different opinions! It is a facility the government is extending to employees. Some may benefit, some may not, or some may not prefer it. It is something like public transport. If you want, you can board and pay the nominal bus/train charge or hire an AC taxi or own car and travel short distances. For long distances, most of us have to depend on train services, except the creamy layer.

See ESIC also from this point of view. Then you will be able to appreciate the government's move. For example, an employee drawing a total monthly salary of 16,000/- in the private sector with a family of a wife, two kids, and their parents as dependents, will see this as a blessing. However, an individual who earns the same 16K at the beginning of their career will definitely oppose this. This is the practical problem.

At the end of the day, I am sure a small minority of employees earning 15K will oppose this idea. Let us forget this issue for the sake of those who cannot afford private sector medical facilities and support the government in their initiative to assist the needy.

Regards,
Nair

Hi Everybody,

I am totally against increasing the ESIC ceiling because 75% of employees in the private sector do not avail any ESIC facility, and they pay contributions regularly. Therefore, I think the ESIC ceiling should not be increased.

Regards,
Pulkit

I do not agree with Mr. Ramnath and Mr. AKS, who seem to be satisfied with the benefits and services offered by ESIC.

Questions to Evaluate ESIC Services

• What is the percentage of employees actually availing benefits from ESIC out of the total employees covered under ESIC from a particular factory or organization?

• In case one has to avail health facilities from ESIC, what is the time he/she has to spend at the ESIC Office/Dispensary?

• Are doctors readily available to attend to patients visiting the ESIC Dispensary/Hospital?

• How many patients first visit the ESIC Dispensary/Hospital and then switch over to private doctors once they have experience with ESIC?

• Why do so many patients prefer costly private practitioners to the free ESIC facility?

• Why do the majority of employees covered under ESIC never go to ESIC doctors/dispensaries/hospitals?

• Are the medicines and treatments recommended by doctors actually available with ESIC?

• Will you personally make use of ESIC health facilities?

• What is the number of ESIC members, and what is the number of members availing of ESIC benefits?

• ESIC is supposed to be a public health organization having many doctors and paramedics in their service, but ESIC is filled with only clerical staff. What is the percentage of doctors and paramedic staff working with ESIC?

• How many qualified and reputed medical practitioners/doctors are working with ESIC or interested in working with ESIC?

• Most private hospitals are overflowing with patients despite hefty fees and charges. Why are ESI hospitals, where services are free, generally empty and wear a deserted look?

• ESIC is already collecting a huge amount of contributions from employees and employers. What is the percentage of the amount spent on establishment, administration, and salaries of clerical staff vis-à-vis the amount spent on health/medical services?

• What is the amount of contributions collected vis-à-vis the value of medical/health benefits delivered by ESIC?

• Assume there are 100 employees all drawing Rs. 10,000 as a salary. Their annual contribution to ESIC will be Rs. 93,600. Just imagine and tell what would be the actual cost of medical/health benefits delivered to these 100 employees in a year.

Given a choice of getting coverage under Mediclaim instead of ESIC coverage, what will be the choice of the majority of ESIC members?

Just try to reply to the above questions and decide for yourself.

Thanks & Regards

I fully agree, as we are unable to take advantage of the same. One of my colleagues is suffering from kidney failure, and medication is too expensive for her to afford. She has to visit the ESIC hospital at least two to three times a week for her medicines. Most of the time, the medicines are not available. Sometimes, ESIC staff misplace the documents submitted by her. She always has to purchase the medicines from outside, which she cannot afford, but she has no choice. She even complained to me that the staff at the ESIC hospital are very rude and uncooperative. She has to spend at least half a day whenever she visits.

I feel they should not increase the slab. Even the employer has to pay nearly three times the amount paid by individuals. ESIC should first improve their services and then think of increasing the slab.

I agree with the views expressed that the present ceiling on ESIC should not be enhanced. ESIC should improve its services. We should encourage private insurers to come up with innovative schemes to provide the benefits envisaged under ESIC. Thanks.

[QUOTE=panchapakesan;1080647]
Quote:
I agree with the views expressed that the present ceiling on ESIC should not be enhanced. ESIC should improve upon its service. We should encourage private insurers to come up with innovative schemes to provide the benefits envisaged under ESIC. The employer and the employee could then be asked to take a policy from private insurers. Thanks.

The rise in the bar from 10k to 15k is not a good idea. The Government wants to fill their pockets with OUR hard-earned money. Initially, it was 7.5k, then 10k, and now 15k. This is really bad news for the employers as an annual medi-claim policy will be much cheaper than ESIC. The Government hospitals are pathetic, and anyone and everyone is treated like dirt there. I think a collective move needs to be taken against this rather than sending individual mails or letters.

We need to revolt against this and also fight for an Exemption Right if the employee doesn't want the ESIC deduction (like in PF).

Dear Friends,

Please find attached the official notification stating that the rule is applicable from May 1, 2010.

Thanks & Regards,
Karan Pohuja

Dear Madhura, Thank you for raising this issue. I agree with Riya, but we need to improve our systems. The facilities provided in various hospitals and dispensaries should be adequate. What can be done? Even when the limit was Rs. 10,000, some of us were paying ESI contributions. What about them? Either there should be ESI with improved systems or no ESI for all employees. We should collectively send a mail to Mr. Xaviour.

Regards, Snehal

Before enhancing the limit, the government must consider whether they can provide complete service to the current individuals already covered in the scheme.

Definitely, I do agree that ESIC is not that beneficial to the employees. Altogether, there is a loss for both the employer and the employee. If all HR personnel come together and approach the ESIC authority, then we will definitely be able to find a solution to this. I request you all to please come together. Seniors, please help me, is this right?