Vacating an interim stay order, Justice G Radha Rani of the Telangana High Court dismissed a petition filed by the GHMC challenging the directive of the Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner in the case of default in payment of EPF dues of the outsourced employees.The judge said that the petition filed by the GHMC does not sustain and there were no valid grounds to set aside the orders passed by the Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner.
The directives related to the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act (EPF & MP Act). The GHMC challenged the EPF authority’s directives and filed a petition with the High Court.According to counsel appearing for the GHMC, the civic body used outsourced employees provided by Self Help Gro-ups (SHGs) and contractors to clean the streets in its limits.
The outsourced workers were not GHMC’s regular employees.However, as a welfare gesture, it had created provisions for outsourced workers to make EPF payments. “There was no tie between master and servant. Wages and allowances to contract labour and Self-Help Groups were paid concurrently with contributions deposited, and there was no delay in payment of EPF contributions,” counsel said.
He claimed that the GHMC was in financial difficulty; its revenue collections far insufficient to cover the costs of maintaining civic facilities. Without considering the relevant considerations, the respondent issued orders directing the GHMC to pay Rs 3,97,990 in damages for the period from May 2012 to June 2029, and then issued orders under the Act directing the civic body to pay Rs 4,81,610 as interest for the same period.
Counsel for the Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner informed the court that Section 6 of the EPF & MP Act, 1952, would arise anytime there was a payment delay. The Act and the plan established under it put a responsibility on the employer to make the specified payments within the specified time frame.
After reviewing the documents and the EPF & MP Act 1952, the court concluded that it is a statute for providing social security to employees operating in establishments employing 20 or more people on any one day. It mandates deduction of PF from employees as well as employer contributions, both of which must be put into the employee account kept at the EPF Office.The payment of EPF contributions is mandatory under the requirements of the Act enacted by Parliament, the court said.
Noble gesture
The GHMC said that outsour-ced workers were not its regular empl-oyees but it EPF payments for them as a welfare gesture