Report No. 137

Chapter IV

Other measures Commended for expediting payments of Provident fund accumulations to the Beneficiaries

4.1.1. Besides the creation of the institution of an ombudsman as recommended in Chapter III, certain other measures are also required to be undertaken in order to cut short, if not totally wipe out, the delays in the settlement of cases of provident fund and other pensionary benefits and to ameliorate the hardship being faced by the employees, their nominees or legal beneficiaries due to such delays.

4.1.1A. Employees should be made aware.-

The delay being caused due to non-submission, late submission or defective or incomplete submission of the claim applications is mainly due to the ignorance of the employees, their nominees or legal heirs. It is also necessary to minimise the number of cases in which either no nomination is made or the nomination made is not reviewed with the change in the circumstances. The employees generally do not know the necessity of making or reviewing the nomination.

With a view to make the working of the scheme effective it requires to be provided that all employees on becoming members of the fund shall be issued pass books in respect of the monthly contributions made by the employer and the employee. The pass-book should apprise the employees as regards:

(1) the power to revoke or alter nominations,

(2) conditions for taking loans,

(3) essential particulars required to be furnished for making claims so that applications are free from defects.

This course will to a great extent reduce and minimise the delays caused due to non-nomination or non-availability of the nominees.