EPFO defaults soared to a record ₹25,820.88 crore in 2023-24, a 69.3% jump. Exempted establishments drove the surge, with Telangana leading in arrears. The EPFO is taking steps to recover dues, including seeking state government assistance and pu...
New Delhi: Defaults under the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) surged to an all -time high of ₹25,820.88 crore at the end of 2023-24, up 69.3% from ₹15,254.06 crore a year ago, showed official data.
The latest data showed an increase in defaults by exempted establishments.
Out of the arrears of ₹5,318.42 crore due from exempted establishments, only ₹847.77 crore was recovered, leaving a balance of ₹4,470.65 crore, as per the EPFO annual report accessed by ET.
It marked a jump of 243.7% from arrears of ₹1,300.88 crore due from exempted establishments in 2022-23.
Telangana topped the list of states in terms of arrears of exempted establishments, at ₹3,505.84 crore, followed by Delhi (₹213.52 crore), West Bengal and Sikkim ₹145.26 crore), Jharkhand (₹135.66 crore) and Rajasthan (₹115.85 crore), together representing 92.07 % of the total arrears.
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Of the total defaults of ₹16,349.7 crore from unexempted establishments, ₹9,474 crore or 57.9% fell under the not immediately realisable (NIR) category. This could be because the amount under dispute was either in courts or tribunal or the establishments were into liquidation, grant of instalments or involved establishments in respect of which a rehabilitation scheme had been sanctioned by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction.
Private sector defaults from unexempted establishments stood at ₹13,734.85 crore while public sector defaults amounted to ₹2,252.27 crore and defaults from cooperatives stood at ₹362.58 crore.
Following the surge in defaults from exempted establishments, the retirement fund body instructed its regional offices to seek the help of the state governments for recovery of arrears, to prominently display the names of the 10 biggest defaulters of the region in the office at a prominent place and on the EPFO website, to attach movable and immovable properties of the defaulting employers with the help of the state police and to have the jails notified as civil prisons by the appropriate authorities to help fast-track recovery.
