EPFO - sms to file ECR - YOUR ESTABLISHMENT xxxxx, HAS FAILED TO CORRECTLY PAY

Dear employer,

Your establishment, XXXXX, has failed to correctly pay both the employees' share and the employer's share in the ECR for 4 employees. It is requested to file the correct ECR for all employees with the remaining share of contribution immediately. - EPFO

I'm getting this SMS from EPFO. However, I have made all the payments before the 10th of every month. What is the solution for this SMS?

EPFO Standard Operating Procedure for Inspections

EPFO has a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for conducting inspections of establishments in a transparent and accountable manner, which includes three steps: Nudge & Watch (SMS/emails), E-verification, and Physical Inspection.

Cryptic SMS from EPFO

The "Cryptic SMS" received seems to be a part of their IT Nudge & Watch system, involving the identification of likely defaulters and nudging them through various means to remit the dues. Alternatively, it could be a new bug in their IT systems (messages started appearing from Feb 2024 for us).

Action Steps

1. If the Employer Portal [unifiedportal-emp [dot]epfindia [dot]gov[dot]in] shows dues u/s 7A/7Q/14/14B, pay the dues.
2. Otherwise, wait and see.
3. Submit an Employer Grievance via the "epfigms" portal, quoting the SMS, and request corrections/explanations.

Moreover, when multiple similar grievances are filed, it may trigger an internal verification and correction of the EPFO IT systems generating these SMS and emails.

One of our clients based in Gurgaon is also receiving the same vague messages from the PF Department. Seek clarification from the PF Department; they said these are auto/system-generated messages sent to all employers.

My advice is, if we are confident that the ECR generated doesn't have any anomalies, then there is nothing to worry about, and we can ignore such vague messages.