"EPFO Launches One-Time Dispute Resolution and Amnesty Schemes for PF Compliance"
Exempted PF Trust
private employer-managed provident fund trust granted exemption under Section 17, EPF & MP Act, 1952
Section 14B
provision empowering EPFO to levy damages on employers defaulting on provident fund contributions
The Employees' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 is the cornerstone of India's organised-sector retirement savings architecture, mandating that establishments with 20 or more employees contribute to the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), a statutory body under the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Alongside the statutory route, Section 17 of the EPF & MP Act, 1952 empowers the appropriate government to grant 'exemption' to an establishment, allowing it to manage retirement savings through a private employer-managed trust — an Exempted PF Trust — provided benefits are equal to or better than the statutory scheme. Large employers in banking, insurance, and manufacturing have historically operated such trusts for greater investment flexibility.
A long-standing structural complexity arose from a dual regulatory framework: the Income Tax Act, 1961 separately provides 'recognition' to PF trusts, conferring tax benefits on contributions and interest. This created a regulatory gap where some trusts obtained Income Tax recognition without securing the mandatory exemption notification under Section 17 of the EPF Act, leaving them legally ambiguous — recognised for tax purposes but not formally exempted under labour law. The Code on Social Security, 2020, which consolidates 29 central labour laws into four codes and extends social security to gig and platform workers, subsumes the EPF Act and makes resolving such legacy compliance gaps structurally urgent.
Over decades, defaults in provident fund contributions accumulated alongside unresolved disputes over damages and penalties, creating a backlog of litigation that burdened both employers and adjudicatory forums. The Finance Act, 2026 has now aligned the Income Tax framework with the EPF framework, mandating that Income Tax recognition shall henceforth be available only to trusts that have obtained exemption under Section 17 of the EPF & MP Act, 1952, closing the historical gap and making retrospective regularisation of non-compliant trusts both necessary and time-sensitive.
EPFO has notified two distinct one-time schemes under G.S.R. 525(E) dated 29 June 2026, operative for six months from that date.
VISHWAS, 2026 is a dispute resolution mechanism targeting the backlog of damages and penalty cases under Section 14B of the EPF & MP Act, 1952 and Section 128 of the Code on Social Security, 2020. Section 14B empowers EPFO to levy damages on employers who default on contributions — historically at rates up to 25% per annum, which generated extensive litigation. VISHWAS offers substantially reduced recalculated rates for defaults prior to 14 June 2024: 0.25% per month for defaults up to two months, 0.50% per month for defaults between two and four months, and 1.00% per month for defaults of four months or more. The scheme covers cases at all stages — from pre-notice to post-order recovery — and requires employers to deposit statutory interest under Section 7Q of the EPF & MP Act and furnish an undertaking to withdraw all pending appeals. …
With reference to casual workers employed in India, consider the following statements:
1.All casual workers are entitled for Employees Provident Fund coverage.
2.All casual workers are entitled for regular working hours and overtime payment.
3.The government can, by a notification, specify that an establishment or industry shall pay wages only through its bank account.
Which of the above statements are correct?
With reference to the Employees' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, consider the following statements:
1.Section 17 empowers the appropriate government to grant exemption to an establishment to manage its own Provident Fund Trust.
2.Section 14B provides for levy of damages on employers who default on provident fund contributions.
3.Section 7Q governs the payment of statutory interest on delayed provident fund contributions.
Which of the above statements are correct?
VISHWAS, 2026, launched by EPFO, is primarily aimed at:
Consider the following statements regarding AMNESTY, 2026 launched by EPFO:
1.It applies to establishments that have formal exemption notifications under Section 17 of the EPF Act but lack Income Tax recognition.
2.It offers retrospective regularisation from the inception of the Provident Fund Trust.
3.Past finalised orders against eligible establishments are treated as void ab-initio upon successful regularisation.
4.Establishments must demonstrate that member accounts received interest and contributions at par with or better than statutory rates.
Which of the above statements are correct?
Which of the following correctly describes the regulatory gap that AMNESTY, 2026 seeks to address?
With reference to the Code on Social Security, 2020, which of the following statements is/are correct?
1.It consolidates 29 central labour laws into a single code.
2.It extends social security coverage to gig and platform workers.
3.Section 143 of the Code corresponds to Section 17 of the EPF & MP Act, 1952 for exempted establishment status.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
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