NEW DELHI: The Economic Offence Wing of the Delhi Police has registered a case of cheating and criminal conspiracy against Spice Jet’s managing director Ajay Singh and some other top officers of the aviation company for failing to remit its share of Provident Fund of more than Rs 65 crore.
Apart from MD Ajay Singh, the FIR which was lodged on the complaint of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) mentions five people as accused. They include Shiwani Singh (director), Anurag Bhargava (independent director), Ajay Chhotelal Aggarwal and Manoj Kumar.
As per the FIR, all the six people, who have been referred to as employer by the complainant, had deducted 12% of employees’ share in lieu of provident fund dues from their salaries between June, 2022 and August 2024.
The 12% employees’ share of PF dues is payable to EPFO under section 6 of the EPF and MP Act to be remitted in the respective PF accounts of employees fund maintained by EPFO, which is a statutory authority.
The SpiceJet, which employs around 10,000 people, deducted Rs 65,70, 62,540 from their account as provident fund in the past two years.
However, as per the complainant, the amount deducted was not remitted for crediting in the accounts of the employees as PF contribution within the mandatory 15 days of close of every month between June, 2022 and August 2024.
It was in violation of the EPF scheme.
“The establishment’s representative admitted to have made the said deduction in respect of the employees during quasi-judicial proceedings before a competent assessing officer,” the complainant stated following which a case was registered.
Meanwhile, a senior Spicejet official told this newspaper that the company has cleared all pending salary and GST dues as well as deposited ten months’ dues of provident fund. “Within the first week of raising fresh funds of about Rs 3,000 crore through the Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP), the airline has cleared all pending salary and GST dues and has made significant progress by depositing ten months of PF dues, and the process of clearing other outstanding dues is ongoing,” the airline official said.
Among other efforts, the airline has reached settlement with various aircraft lessors. “We remain on track with the financial and operational plan outlined in our QIP strategy,” said the airline spokesperson. SpiceJet has been facing multiple headwinds, including financial problems and legal woes. It is also operating with a reduced fleet.
What complainant said
“The establishment’s representative admitted to have made the said deduction in respect of the employees during quasi-judicial proceedings before a competent assessing officer,” the complainant stated. Meanwhile, a senior SpiceJet official said the company has cleared all pending salary and GST dues as well as deposited 10 months’ dues of PF.