Confused About PF Submission Dates and Account Numbers? Let's Clarify Together

Clarification on PF Submission Requirements

Our company registered for ESIC in October 2012 and for PF in July 2013 (we received the PF letter on 8th July 2013). We have submitted ESIC till date as per the rule. We started the submission of PF from August 2013 onwards. Here, I want to clarify:

• PF office sent a letter asking us to submit PF from October 2012 onwards as per our ESI registration. According to this letter, they are stating that we have to submit PF as per our ESI registration since the day we entered our firm for ESI.

• One more thing: If I submit PF as per the PF inspector's guidance, as he suggested to submit PF for only those with a basic salary below 6500, my own name is on the previous list, and 5-6 more candidates are in the same case. So, which PF account number should be followed to calculate the PF amount? For instance, my PF number is 8, and my account was opened in July 2013. Can I submit the previous amount in the same account, or do I have to open a new account?

Regards,
Mahima

If an organization has 20 or more employees on any day of the calendar year, then the organization will be covered under the Act. The EPF Department has awarded your organization coverage effective from October 2012. This means your organization might be covered from that month. If your organization doesn't have the required number of employees, then you will only need to deposit Admin Charges until the employee count reaches 20. Once this threshold is met, monthly contributions can be submitted as usual.

The PF inspector has guided you correctly. As per the current wages ceiling of Rs. 6,500, if any employee's Basic + DA exceeds Rs. 6,500, then that employee will be exempt from the EPF Act. For those employees covered under the Act, you will need to obtain Form-11 and Form-2. However, if you wish to cover these exempt employees, you can contribute up to the ceiling of Rs. 6,500, which amounts to a maximum of Rs. 780.

Regarding queries about new PF Accounts, please note that if an employee already has an EPF account number under a specific code, a new EPF account cannot be opened for that employee. All outstanding contributions can be made to the existing account.

I hope this information proves helpful.

Kind regards,
[Your Name]

Dear Sir, Thank you for your reply. One more thing I would like to ask: our company had 20 employees only in October 2012, and then we had only 4-5 employees per month until June 2013. Out of these 4-5 employees, only 3 employees had a basic salary of 6500 or less. So, what would be the contribution rate? Would it be 12%, or can we submit it at 10% from October 2012 to June 2013? I read somewhere that if our number of employees is less than 20 in any month, we can pay at 10%. Please correct me if my knowledge is incorrect. Regards, Mahima

Dear Sir,

Thank you very much. Sir, what I am doing is calculating all pending contributions from October 2012 to June 2013 at 12% because we did not have many candidates during that period. The total contribution made is up to 46k, so it won't have much impact if I put it at 10% too. I could just save 5k more.

One more thing, I am submitting this contribution tomorrow at the PF office. Do we have to pay a penalty on that as well? Because we were not aware that we had to make contributions from the date we took ESI. As I already mentioned:

1. ESIC certification was done in October 2012.
2. PF was done in July 2013.
3. The PF office sent a letter stating that we have to fill the October 2012-June 2013 PF for all those whose basic is 6500 or less.

Regards,
Mahima

I can’t understand why you are taking 10% of the previous year. If you have been told by your PF Inspector to clear previous contributions, then you should pay as per legal requirements, i.e., 12%.

I am just trying to save more and more for the company; that is the only reason for asking such questions. After discussion on CITE, I am convinced that I must pay at 12%, so it will not create a problem later. I am currently paying at 12%.

Thanks, sir.

Regards,
Mahima

Dear all,

Can anyone suggest if my company's strength is more than 20 or if all employees' basic pay is above 6500, and the company is not under any PF/ESIC act? So, can we show the PF & gratuity in CTC but not deduct it from the total gross paid to the employee? Will we face any problems in the future for doing so?

Can we show the PF & gratuity on CTC even though it is fully paid to the employee?

Please suggest!