Please find the attached interpretation and impact on PF Contribution post Supreme Court’s verdict by Bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Naveen Sinha.
Essentially, it means that the PF contribution will be on the total amount including all the allowances paid to an employee and not just on the basic salary.
The Supreme Court ruled that 'special allowance' must be included in basic pay for calculation of provident fund (PF) deduction from employees and the company.
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Naveen Sinha dismissed appeals filed by many companies questioning the Provident Fund Commissioner’s decision to club basic pay with special allowances / other allowances for the purpose of deduction of PF and matching contribution by employers.
Crux and key pointers here are as under -
1. PF ceiling of 15,000/-pm is same ,it has not been revised.
2. If minimum PF contribution as per ceiling is paid i.e 1800/- PM from Both Employee And Employer then there is no need to change.
3. IF contribution is less than 1800 and if Gross is more or up to 15,000/- Rs pm , where Basic is less than 15,000 and remaining amount is bifurcated among different heads then excluding HRA And Statutory Bonus, all other heads to be considered with Basic for framing PF wages up to 15,000/- or on total of all heads if total of all heads is less than 15,000/- then on that entire total amount as arrived to considered as wage for PF to be calculated on.
4. There is no new provision but it is interpretation to the existing section/ Term. Hence date of implication is not expected it is ongoing rule.
5. PF authority may have recourse to the verdict of SC while conducting the inspections and computation of liability up to wage ceiling as defined under the law