Provident fund acts and schemes

 Employees’ Provident Funds Scheme. – (1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, frame a scheme to be called the Employees‟ Provident Fund Scheme for the establishment of provident funds under this Act for employees or for any class of employees and specify the establishments or class of establishments to which the said Scheme shall apply and there shall be established, as soon as may be after the framing of the Scheme, a Fund in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the Scheme.
(1A) The Fund shall vest in, and be administered by, the Central Board constituted under section 5A.
(1B) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a Scheme framed under sub-section 1 may provide for all or any of the matters specified in Schedule II.
(2) A Scheme framed under sub-section 1 may provide that any of its provisions shall take effect either prospectively or retrospectively on such date as may be specified in this behalf in the Scheme. 

An Act to provide for the institution of provident funds, pension fund and deposit-linked insurance fund for employees in factories and other establishments.

 This Act may be called the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act,1952. It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Subject to the provisions contained in section 16, it applies -

(a) to every establishment which is a factory engaged in any industry specified in Schedule I and in which twenty or more persons are employed and

(b) to any other establishment employing twenty or more persons or class of such establishments which the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify, in this behalf:

Provided that the Central Government may, after giving not less than two months notice of its intention so to do, by notification in the Official Gazette, apply the provisions of this Act to any establishment employing such number of persons less than twenty as may be specified in the notification.

 Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section 3 of this section or-sub-section 1 of section16, where it appears to the Central Provident Fund Commissioner, whether on an application made to him in this behalf or otherwise, that the employer and the majority of employees in relation to any establishment have agreed that the provisions of this Act should be made applicable to the establishment, he may, by notification in the Official Gazette, apply the provisions of this Act to that establishment on and from the date of such agreement or from any subsequent date specified in such agreement.

An establishment to which this Act applies shall continue to be governed by this Act notwithstanding that the number of persons employed therein at any time falls below twenty.

Power to apply Act to an establishment which has a common provident fund with another establishment. - Where
immediately before this Act becomes applicable to an establishment there is in existence a provident fund which is common to the employees employed in that establishment and employees in any other establishment, the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette direct that the provisions of this Act shall also apply to such other establishment.
4. Power to add to Schedule I. – (1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, add to Schedule I any other industry in respect of the employees whereof it is of opinion that a Provident Fund Scheme should be framed under this Act, and thereupon the industry so added shall be deemed to be an industry specified in Schedule I for the purpose of this Act. 

Under Provident fund schemes the contribution payable by the employeer

 The contributions payable by the employer under Provident fund Scheme shall be at the rate of [ten per cent] of the [basic wages, dearness allowance (including the cash value of any food concession) and retaining allowance (if any)] payable to each employee to whom the Scheme applies:

Provided that the above rate of contribution shall be [twelve] per cent in respect of any establishment or class of establishments which the Central Government may specify in the Official Gazette from time to time under the first proviso to sub-section (1) of section 6 of the Act.

(2) The contribution payable by the employee under the Scheme, shall be equal to the contribution payable by the employer in respect of such employee:

Provided that in respect of any employee to whom the Scheme applies, the contribution payable by him may, if he so desires, be an amount exceeding [ten per cent] or [twelve per cent], as the case may be, of his basic wages, dearness allowance and retaining allowance (if any) subject to the condition that the employer shall not be under an obligation to pay any contribution over and above his contribution payable under the Act;

(3) The contributions shall be calculated on the basis of [basic wages, dearness allowance (including the cash value of any food concession) and retaining allowance (if any)] actually drawn during the whole month whether paid on daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis.

(4) Each contribution shall be calculated to [the nearest rupee, 50 paise or more to be counted as the next higher rupee and fraction of a rupee less than 50 paise to be ignored. 

Payment of contribution:

The employer shall, in the first instance, pay both the contribution payable by himself (in this Scheme referred to as the employer’s contribution) and also, on behalf of the member employed by him directly or by or through a contractor, the contribution payable by such member (in this Scheme referred to as the member’s contribution).
In respect of employees employed by or through a contractor, the contractor shall recover the contribution payable by such employee (in this Scheme referred to as the member’s contribution) and shall pay to the principal employer the amount of member’s contribution so deducted www.epfindia.gov.in 43 together with an equal amount of contribution (in this Scheme referred to as the employer’s contribution) and also administrative charges.
It shall be the responsibility of the principal employer to pay both the contribution payable by himself in respect of the employees directly employed by him and also in respect of the employees employed by or through a contractor and also administrative charges.