EPFO cracks the whip on corruption, compulsorily retires 12 officers

“Corrupt officers are being removed from service under stringent provisions of 56J. In the last two months alone 12 officers have been retired mainly on account of corruption charges. Compulsory retirement of senior officials has been done for the first time in EPFO in recent times and is likely to have a huge deterrent impact. Efforts are being made to promote ethical leadership,” the source said.

Out of these 12 officers, eight are group B officers and accounts officers/enforcement officers while four are group A officers and assistant PF commissioners.

The provisions of Fundamental Rules (FR) 56(j)/(l), Rule 48 of Central Civil Services (CCS) Pension Rules, 1972 provide for the government to retire officials prematurely on the ground of lack of integrity and ineffectiveness, in public interest.

The government’s decision to act against errant officials of the EPFO comes amid reports of several officers of the retirement fund body being probed by vigilance authorities and investigative agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Sources said that eight officials have been placed under suspension for criminal cases since July. Also, disciplinary action has been initiated against 7 officials on nonperformance/administrative grounds.

“They were facing criminal charges pertaining to corruption and alleged acceptance of illegal gratification. Further, departmental action is also under process against all of them. These officers were mainly involved in enforcement and compliance of remittances of dues under EPF Act,” another source said.

The vigilance directorate of the EPFO is learnt to be closely coordinating with other anti-graft departments like CBI, Anti-Corruption Bureau among other agencies to identify corrupt officials. Immovable property returns are being scrutinised in greater detail, sources said. The EPFO has set up four additional zonal vigilance directorates bringing the total to eight in a bid to improve oversight.

Officials maintained that the government is working towards improving the internal audit process. The EPFO is also learnt to be holding regular videoconferences to sensitise its officers. “Systemic improvements will lead to transparency,” the source said.

The high rate of rejection of EPF claims has been a concern for the retirement fund body and the Ministry has been taking measures to improve the claims settlement rate. In many such corruption cases, the EPFO officers have been arrested on charges of taking bribery from members to clear their payment dues.

EPFO has introduced auto claim settlement, that is, automatic processing of claims without any human intervention for advance claims upto Rs 1 lakh for education, marriage and housing to eliminate corruption. Officials said around 25-30 per cent of the claims are being processed without human intervention.

In February this year, The Indian Express had reported that the rejection rates of PF final settlement had surged, up from around 13 per cent in 2017-18 to nearly 34 per cent in 2022-23. The rejection rate, calculated as a percentage of rejected claims out of total applications for claims, had increased from around 13 per cent in 2017-18 to 18.2 per cent in 2018-19 to 24.1 per cent in 2019-20, 30.8 per cent in 2020-21 and 35.2 per cent in 2021-22 for final PF settlement claims.