Confused About FM's 3-Month EPFO Relief: Which Months Are Covered and What Steps to Take?

I just want to ask if anybody has any clarification regarding the statement made by our FM. She mentioned a 3-month relief for both employers and employees, with the amount to be deposited by the government only. From her speech, she mentioned "UPCOMING THREE MONTHS," so my questions are:

1. What are those upcoming 3 months? March, April, May or April, May, June?

2. After that speech, I didn't see any circular from EPFO related to this topic regarding what employers need to do—whether they have to deposit the challan or not, or what procedure we have to adopt for the relaxation provided?

My company is fulfilling all the requirements as stated by the FM—that 90% of the employees should earn less than INR 15,000 and the total number of employees should be less than 100.

Please provide a response as I need to adjust salaries accordingly.

Suggestions are needed urgently.

Thank you.

Please wait for the circular from EPFO to come. The Finance Minister can announce anything, but the implementation side, which is more difficult, is to be taken care of by the respective Govt department, in this case, EPFO.

There are a lot of companies that contribute PF on salary without considering the ceiling of Rs. 15,000. In that case, the contribution payable by the employee and employer will be a huge amount. Will the government bear this amount? If YES, why should the government bear it?

Thank you, ma'am.

But we can't wait that much because my employees are asking for salary and I don't know if I should deduct PF from their salary or not. Do we have to make a challan or not? Nothing has been cleared yet; they say pay the salary as soon as possible.

I have received the following mail from the EPFO office:

Government Contribution Initiative

Dear Employer,

The Government of India will pay the contribution of both the employer and the employee (12% each) for the next three months if your establishment has up to 100 employees and 90% of them earn less than Rs. 15,000/- per month. This initiative will benefit you financially and also help in maintaining the continuity of employees on your payroll. Please ensure the timely payment of salaries to all employees and the filing of ECR to avail of this facility.

With Regards,
EPFO, BHUBANESWAR

If you have not received any communication from the EPFO office, you can deduct the employee's contribution and later refund the contribution to the respective employee if you choose to take advantage of this benefit.

Thank you, sir. I haven't received any mail like this yet, so I just processed the salary and deducted the PF.

I would like to know when you file the ECR, does it show "NIL" or "1% Admin Charges" when you confirm the challan?

The attached circular from EPFO is self-explanatory. Please go through it.

What are those upcoming 3 months?

March, April, May or April, May, June? It is for the period March, April & May 2020.

Clarification on EPFO circular

After that speech, I didn't see any circular from EPFO related to this topic regarding what has to be done by employers—whether they have to deposit the challan or not, or what procedure we have to adopt for the relaxation provided? Circular attached herewith. Detailed guidelines. The ECR has to be filled by you. Please go through the detailed guidelines attached herewith.

Regards

Only PF contribution of the employee and employer share is paid by the government, but what about ESIC contribution?

ESIC contribution is not covered by the government.