Is It Fair to Request Contractors' Login Details for PF & ESI Checks? Let's Discuss!

My company is asking me to check the PF & ESI return online for all my contractors. Is it justified to ask for the ID and password from the contractors?

Dear AbhiK, definitely not. It's not justified to share any username and password with any unauthorized person. I believe it is not legally accepted under cyber laws. However, you may ask the contractor to submit those details to you in the form of a hard copy or soft copy, as per your convenience. For safety purposes, you may also require a declaration or compliance certificate from the contractors.

Regards, Tushar Swar

Responsibility of Principal Employer for PF & ESIC Deposits

If a contractor is not depositing the PF & ESIC contributions of contractor employees, then it is the principal employer's responsibility to deposit the PF & ESIC. That is why it is the responsibility of the principal employer to check whether the contractor is depositing the PF & ESIC of the contract employee or not.

For this purpose, you can ask your contractor to share the PF & ESIC deposited challan copy along with contribution details.

Regards,
Bhupendra Agrahari

As suggested by other members, you can either seek a hard copy or soft copy of the PF remittances made by the contractor in respect of the employees employed by the contractor in your establishment. However, the only change I would recommend is that you reimburse the contribution made by the contractor for PF and ESI by way of a separate check. Also, obtain a signature in a declaration from the contractor stating that he has received the contribution towards PF and ESI from you.

Please note that the contractor does not pay any contribution from his profit and only includes the contributions payable by the employer in his profit and submits a quote. Therefore, advise the contractor to exclude the employer's contribution towards PF and ESI from his quote.

Regards

Dear sirs,

I have a clarification regarding PF slips. A contractual agency claims that they are unable to produce PF slips for their laborers for the financial year 2015-2016, as they have withdrawn their balances after the end of the contract. Consequently, the PF slips have not been generated. The workers were engaged with the agency from July 13, 2014, to July 12, 2015, and then moved to another contractual agency from July 13, 2015. Is the agency right in this matter?

There is no need to ask for the login ID and password from your contractor. It's quite easy to check the PF remittance made by your contractors, but it's a little time-consuming.

Get the salary payment sheet (which the contractor would be submitting to you/your company for the payment of wages for the contractual labor he would have deputed in your establishment for a specific month). This would have all details like the basic wages, allowances (if any), and the PF emolument for each labor.

Ask the contractor to give you the signed ECR of the specific months, the respective challans, and the payment acknowledgment which he can get from his online account. Cross-tally the PF data in the bill/invoice with the ECR of the respective month for each of the contractual labor whom he would have deputed in your company.

Once you reconcile these details, you will clearly know whether your contractors have remitted the PF dues for the contractual labor deputed in your company.

Hope this answers your queries.

Regards,
A.B.