Justice Pratibha M Singh said that till then, employers will be allowed to deposit provident fund in respect of employees for whom seeding has not taken place and no coercive measures will be taken against them.
The judge said, “Failure to certify or verify Aadhaar shall, unless it is determined as to whether the mandatory seeding is legally valid as per the judgment of Aadhaar, benefits employees under the Act.” There can be no boycott.” In its order dated 17 September.
“In so far as the individuals for whom seeding of Aadhaar numbers are yet to take place, the date for completion of seeding and verification will be extended up to November 30, 2021.
“Meanwhile, employers shall be permitted to deposit provident fund in respect of employees for whom seeding has not taken place and no coercive measures shall be taken against them for non-seeding Aadhaar number with UAN,” the order said. has gone.
The court, which was considering a petition by a consortium of industry and institutions, clarified that the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO)EPFO) shall appoint a Grievance Redressal Officer, who may be approached by the members of the petitioner or any other employer, to ensure that the deposits are not delayed and made in time.
The court said that for employees whose Aadhaar numbers have already been provided to the EPFO, the provident fund will be allowed to be deposited without waiting for verification by the employer. Unique Identification Authority of India While the verification process is in progress.
It also ordered that no punitive measures be taken against employers for delayed payments due to technical difficulties from June 1 to 15.
The petitioner is a consortium of various entities and individuals, who are said to be the owners and running of industrial/commercial establishments, factories, institutions etc.
It moved the court against the EPFO ​​circular issued on June 1, which made Aadhaar number mandatory along with UAN generated under the Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.
According to the central government’s circular issued on June 15, the deadline for compliance was set as September 1.
The petitioner argued that the EFPO order was causing huge prejudice to the employers.
It said that in some instances, there was a mismatch between the Aadhaar database and the EPFO ​​database, and employers were being forced not to employ workers/employees who do not have proper Aadhaar cards.
The association also said that migrant workers who went back to their villages from cities or have returned to the employer after the lockdown period is over, were unable to arrange supporting documents for linking Aadhaar number with UAN.
The EPFO ​​submitted that the linking deadline has been extended till December 31 for a certain class of establishments and establishments in the North East, but normally no further extension can be given for employees whose Aadhaar has been linked to UAN. Has not been added because enough time has passed. This has already been passed since the first notification came out in October 2017, when employers were asked to initiate the process of linking employee’s accounts with Aadhaar numbers.
The court was told that the total number of employees who are yet to be verified is only 29,26,479.