For the benefit international workers, new instructions have been issued to all field functionaries regarding COC (Certificate of Coverage). Employer is advised to submit the application form for COC one month in advance and COC are issued prior to departure of the employee from India. Also, COC period should not exceed 60 months or the specified period in the SSA with that country without derogation from the competent authority. COC should not be issued for a period which commence much later than date of posting of the Indian worker in the host country for employment. There should not be any overlapping of the period of coverage. There should not be gaps when more than one COC is issued to the same posted worker as these results in lack of Social Security coverage during the gaps.
New Software has been launched on 27.05.2017 to further streamline the monitoring and supervision of the performance of exempted Trusts under EPF & MP Act, 1952, wherein performance of all exempted establishments / trusts is proposed to be monitored on regular basis and ranks assigned for periodical publishing on EPFO website. Exempted establishments have been cautioned that non filing of returns for 3 consecutive months shall result in cancellation of exemption granted to the establishment. .
EPFO e-court Management System launched on 16th May 2017 the objective of which is a transparent and electronic case management system. All paper/evidence/documents can be filed online and the status can also be viewed online.
EPFO has decided to make Aadhar mandatory. All field offices are directed to ensure that Aadhaar Number is furnished by the employer in respect of all new members who join the EPS, 1995 with effect from 1st July, 2017 except North East States where it would be applicable w .e. f. 01-10-2017. Further, the claim settlement period has been reduced to 10 days from 20 days and grievance redressal period is reduced to 15 days from 20 days.
