Eligibility for EDLI After Member's Death at Home: Does a 6-Day Contribution Gap Matter?

Dear Sir,

Please advise if a member's death in the home and his contribution not being paid for six days makes him eligible for EDLI or not. His date of death is 06.12.16, and the last contribution date was 30.11.16.

Please advise on this urgent issue. Thank you.

Dear Sushil,

Please note that EDLI benefits are paid for death while in service irrespective of the cause of death. Why have you not paid contributions for 6 days? Reasons not mentioned by you?

The vital question to be answered is on the date of death, i.e., 06/12/2016, whether the employee was in the service of the company and continued to be a member of EPF/EDLI. Whether death occurred after leaving service?

Please apply your mind and revert with factual information to know eligibility.

From your reply, it can be construed that the Employee was in service at the time of death. Consequent to ESI leave, he had not earned a salary, and no PF contributions were remitted. The deceased Employee's nominee is eligible for EDLI benefits. However, you have to give a letter in writing to EPFO mentioning the non-contribution of PF together with any documents, if any.

Dear Sushil, you have strong proof that your deceased member was under the medical care of ESI, thus was in your employment. I hope you have not mentioned the date of leaving as 30.11.2016 in ECR.

Submission of Forms

Submit PF Form 20, 5 IF (DLIS), and Form 10 C (in the case of a deceased member who died after attaining 58 years of age but before the completion of 10 years of eligible service, withdrawal benefit to family/nominee/legal heir) along with the original death certificate and passport size photographs duly attested by the employer.

Communication with PF Authority

You can write to the PF Authority stating that the deceased member was on authorized sick leave, duly certified by the ESI Medical Practitioner, thus was in continued employment and eligible for insurance fund under DLIS.

Additional Documentation

Include a succession certificate in the case of an application by the legal heir after the death of the member. Also, provide a copy of a blank/cancelled cheque/passbook, and copies of the Aadhaar Card and PAN Card.

Regards, Suresh