Payment of Wages by cheque or crediting to bank accounts

Payment of Wages by cheque or crediting to bank accounts

The present wage limit for applicability of the provisions of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 is Rs. 18,000/- per month. The Act has been amended by Payment of Wages (Amendment) Act, 2017 (effective from 28.12.2016) to enable the employers to pay wages to their employees by (a) cash or (b) cheque or (c) crediting to their bank account. The amendment in the Act also enables the appropriate Government to specify the industrial or other establishment, by notification in the Official Gazette, which shall pay to every person employed in such industrial or other establishment, the wages only by cheque or by crediting in his bank account.

This information was given by Shri BandaruDattatreya, the Minister of State (IC) for Labour and Employment,in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

PIB

EPFO takes various steps for speedy settlement of claims

EPFO takes various steps for speedy settlement of claims

The Employees Provident FundsOrganization (EPFO) has taken various steps for speedy settlement of claims which inter alia include:

• Composite Claim Form (Aadhaar) and Composite Claim Form (Non-Aadhaar) has been introduced by replacing the erstwhile Claim Forms No. 19, 10C and 31, with a view to simplify the submission of claims by the subscribers. The Composite Claim Form has been further simplified to include self-certification by EPF subscribers. The Composite Claim Form (Aadhaar) can be submitted to the EPFO without attestation of their employers.
• EPFO has mandated to settle claims within 20 days.
• Online Transfer Claim Portal (OTCP) has been introduced to facilitate seamless transfer of claims.
• An online payment facility has been developed for employers for payment of dues. The internet banking (INB) facility enhances efficiency and payment and ensures anytime, anywhere online access while usage of existing internet bank account to make payments online.
• National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) has been introduced for payments.

The Employees Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions (EPF & MP) Act, 1952 is applicable to every establishment employing 20 or more persons which is either a factory engaged in any industry specified in Schedule-I of the Act or an establishment to which the Act has been made applicable by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette.

There was a total of 17.14 crore Employees Provident Fund (EPF) accounts as on 31.03.2016. 12.21 lakh accounts were pending for updation. As per consolidated Annual Accounts of EPFO for the year 2015-16, the closing balance in Interest Account as on 31st March, 2016 is Rs. 45,135.25 crore.

This information was given by Shri BandaruDattatreya, the Minister of State (IC) for Labour and Employment,in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

PIB

Several relaxations brought in GP Fund rules

Several relaxations brought in GP Fund rules

In a major relief for government employees, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions has announced several relaxations in General Provident Fund Rules, with liberalization and simplification, particularly relating to advances and withdrawals by the subscriber/ employee.

According to the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh, the existing GP Fund (Central Service) Rules came into force way back in 1960 and even though certain amendments have been made from time to time to address the concerns raised, it was felt to be the need of the hour to bring in some more changes for the convenience of the Government employees. The liberalization in the provisions was essentially meant to bring in ease of procedures, especially for activities like house building, education of children etc., thus making the rules more employee-friendly.
Elaborating further, Dr Jitendra Singh stated that the requirement of documentary proof for withdrawing GP Fund has been done away with. As a result, a simple declaration by the subscriber / employee would suffice henceforth, he added. Similarly, the minimum time limit for sanction and payment of GP Fund withdrawal would not be more than 15 days and in case of an emergency like illness, etc., it could only be 7 days. At the same time, the limit of withdrawal also has been increased following which, now the withdrawal for housing can be up to 90% of the balance at credit and withdrawal for purchase of vehicle / car can be up to 3/4th of the balance at credit.

Considering the importance of education, the definition of education for the purpose of withdrawal of GP Fund has now been widened to include primary, secondary and higher education covering all streams and institutions. Not only this, GP Fund advance can now also be applied for travel and tourism related activities, he said.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, the Government expects its employees to work with full dedication, sincerity and diligence, but at the same time, it is also always seriously considering various means and provisions to provide them with a work-friendly environment and socio-economic stability, so that they may put in their best without any unnecessary distraction.

PIB

REVISION OF PENSION OF AUTONOMOUS BODY PENSIONERS - FINANCE MINISTRY’S STAND

Regarding Revision of Pension of Autonomous body Pensioners , Finance Ministry has clarified as follows :

Central Government does not issue any instructions regarding implementation of recommendations of the Central Pay Commission PERTAINING TO PENSION IN RESPECT OF EMPLOYEES OF AUTONOMOUS BODIES. In view of this , NO ORDERS REGARDING IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS OF 7th CPC IN RESPECT OF EMPLOYEES OF AUTONOMOUS BODIES IN THE MATTER OF PENSION ARE TO BE ISSUED BY FINANCE MINISTRY. The appropriate decision is to be taken by the concerned Autonomous Body in consultation with the concerned Administrative Ministry in keeping with the practice on the previous occasions and also in the light of the Rules and Regulations/Bye-laws governing the service conditions of respective Autonomous Bodies.

M. KRISHNAN
Secretary General
Confederation
Mob & WhatsApp : 09447068125
Email : mkrishnan6854@gmail.com

Source: http://confederationhq.blogspot.in/

Most of the Central Government employees feel that the enhancement of DA/DR is meager

Most of the Central Government employees feel that the enhancement of DA/DR is meager

Calculation of DA/DR based on AICPIN only

"Calculation of Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief for Central Government Employees and Pensioners based on the methodology prescribed by the recommendations of Central Pay Commission"

Dearness Allowance is issued twice a year and the Seventh Pay Commission has adopted the same calculation methods that were prescribed by the Sixth Pay Commission.

The same series of the All-India Average Consumer Price Index Numbers for Industrial Workers (Base 2001=100) are used for the calculation of DA/DR to be continued. The 7th CPC recommendations are implemented from 1.1.2017 and no DA from 1.1.2017 to 1.7.2017. And from 1.7.2017, 2% DA calculated as per the same formula recommended by 6th CPC. And then now, same calculation with the Consumer Price Index, the figure of two percent was arrived.

Most of the Central Government employees feel that the enhancement of DA/DR is meager.
The Central Government had nothing to do with the Dearness Allowance issued to the Central Government employees in the past, which were as high as 10 percent. Similarly, the government is in no way connected with the current announcement of two percent DA/DR.
The same AICPIN (CPI IW BY2001=100) adopted for the calculation of Dearness Allowance to draw their pay in the pre-revised pay scale of 5th and 6th CPC. For 6th CPC, 4% Dearness Allowance was calculated on the basis of the same method. In other words, it will be expected to increase from 132 percent to 136.

The Dearness Allowance is calculated based on the changes in the prices of essential commodities in 75 cities and towns in India, over a period of six months. The monthly data, called the AICPIN, are released each month, by the Labour Bureau under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Central Government employees and Pensioners are not only getting the DA and DR, also employees working under Bank, CPSE etc,. The CPI(I-W) series are used for the calculation of DA for Bank Staff and IDA for CPSE employees. Almost the same enhancement of DA will adopt for the employees working in State Governments. Consumer Price Index will impact on the salaries and pension of more than 2 crore employees and pensioners directly.

Just watch the difference of DA amount between 6th and 7th CPC:

	As on 1.1.2016	As on 1.7.2016	DA from 1.1.2017
6th CPC Basic Pay	10,000 (2400GP)	10,300	412 (4%)
7th CPC Matrix Pay	26,300	27,100	542 (2%)

Source: www.govtenews.com

20% teachers posts vacant in higher educational institutions

20% teachers posts vacant in higher educational institutions

New Delhi: Vacancies of teachers in higher educational institutions has become a "serious problem" and around 20% posts in central universities are yet to be filled, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said today.

Javadekar said in Lok Sabha that students were not keen to take up teaching jobs, resulting in shortage of faculty members in higher education institutions.

"Vacancies in higher education institutions is a serious problem. Around 20 per cent posts in central universities are currently vacant," he said during Question Hour.

There are 41 central universities under the purview of the HRD Ministry.

"Filling up of vacancies in central universities is an ongoing and continuous process… The onus of filling up of posts lies in the central universities which are autonomous bodies created under the respective Acts of the Parliament," he said.

In order to meet the situation arising out of shortage of teachers in universities and the consequent vacant positions, the age of superannuation for teachers in central educational institutions has already been enhanced to 65 years, Javadekar said.

"Teachers can also be re-employed on contract appointment beyond the age of 65 years and upto 70 years, subject to availability of vacant positions and fitness," he said.

Cabinet clears GST supplementary legislations

Cabinet clears GST supplementary legislations

The Cabinet today cleared four supporting GST legislations, paving the way for their introduction in Parliament as early as today.

The four supporting legislations the Compensation Law, the Central-GST (C-GST), Integrated-GST (I-GST) and Union Territory-GST (UT-GST) would be introduced as Money Bill, sources said.

The GST legislations have been cleared by the Cabinet.

These would be introduced in Parliament this week, could be even today, a source said.
The GST legislations were the only agenda in today's meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sources said the four legislations would be taken up for discussion together in Parliament. Once approved by Parliament, the states would start taking their SGST bill for discussion and passage in the respective state assemblies.

The GST Council, in its previous two meetings, had given approval to the four legislations as also the State-GST (S-GST) bill. While the S-GST has to be passed by each of the state legislative assemblies, the four other laws have to be approved by Parliament.

Passage of all the legislations would pave the way for introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July 1.

The government is hoping the C-GST, I-GST, UT-GST and the GST Compensation laws will be approved in the current session of Parliament and the S-GST by each of the state legislatures soon.

While a composite GST will be levied on sale of goods or rendering of services after the new indirect tax regime is rolled out, the revenue would be split between the Centre and the states in almost equal proportion.

This is because central taxes like excise and service tax and state levies like VAT will be subsumed in the GST.

While the C-GST will give powers to the Centre to levy GST on goods and services after Union levies like excise and service tax are subsumed, the I-GST is to be levied on inter-state supplies.

The S-GST will allow states to levy the tax after VAT and other state levies are subsumed in the GST. The UT-GST will also go to Parliament for approval.

The Council has already finalised a four-tier tax structure of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent, but the model GST law has kept the peak rate at 40 per cent (20 per cent to be levied by the Centre and an equal amount by the states) to obviate the need for approaching Parliament for any change in rates in future.

Similarly, the cess to be levied on top of peak rate on selected demerit goods like luxury cars for creation of a corpus that will be used for compensating states for any loss of revenue from GST implementation in the first five years, has been capped at 15 per cent.

PTI

7th Pay Commission: Higher allowances to be proposed in this month

7th Pay Commission: Higher allowances to be proposed in this month

New Delhi: The Committee on Allowances will propose to increase allowances of central government employees, besides dearness allowance (DA) in this month.

DA is being paid to them with their pay packages.

The Committee on Allowances, under Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa, was formed in July 2016 following protests by government employees over recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission on allowances.

The 7th Pay Commission had recommended of abolishing 51 allowances and subsuming 37 others out of 196 allowances.

The committee was initially given four months time to submit the report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Later, the Finance Minister extended the deadline for report submission to February 22, 2017.

The Committee on Allowances is yet to submit its report, the Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said in Lok Sabha on March 10.

However, he said that the deliberations of the committee are in the final stages.

Besides the basic salary, a large portion of a central government employee's salary is the house rent allowance (HRA); some changes are to be made in this category of the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission on allowances,

"The Committee on Allowances has decided against reducing the house rent allowance (HRA). The 7th Pay Commission suggested bringing down the HRA to 24 per cent, 16 per cent and 8 per cent respectively depending on type of cities," the Finance Ministry's officials said.

The officials also said that the Committee on Allowances would suggest, the HRA is to be kept as it was under the Sixth Pay Commission at 30 per cent, 20 per cent, and 10 per cent respectively.

The Committee on Allowances is likely to remain constant the Transport Allowance for central government employees as 6th Pay Commission recommendations including Dearness Allowance(DA), the sources added.

So, the employees now get all allowances except dearness allowance, according to the 6th Pay Commission recommendations until issuing of higher allowances notification.

The higher allowances most probably to implement from the month of April and the cabinet may give its nod in this month, the sources confirmed.

TST

Service/Retirement Benefits: Lok Sabha Q&A

Service/Retirement Benefits: Lok Sabha Q&A

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS
(DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL & TRAINING)

LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2229
(TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.03.2017)

SERVICE/RETIREMENT BENEFITS

2229. SHRI SULTAN AHMED:
Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has reviewed or proposed to review the service and retirement benefits of Government employees;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the changes made/proposed to be made in regard to deputation and early retirement policies?

ANSWER
Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office. (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

(a) to (b): The service and retirement benefits are decided and reviewed as per the recommendations of the Central Pay Commission (CPC) and acceptance/rejection of the same by the Government thereon. The recommendations of Seventh CPC have been considered by the Government and necessary resolutions have already been published in the Gazette of India.

(c): Vide DoPT's O.M. No. 2/6/2016-Estt.Pay-II dated 17.02.2016, the Administrative Ministries/Departments and other borrowing organisations have been delegated powers to extend a deputation tenure upto seven years where absolutely necessary in public interest.This shall be subject to fulfilment of conditions prescribed in DoPT's O.M. No. 6/8/2009- Estt.(Pay-II) dated 17.06.2010.
The voluntary retirement policy of AIS officers have also been aligned with other Central Government employees vide this Ministry's Gazette Notification No.24012/04/2016.AIS-II(Pension) dated 27.02.2017.

Source: LOK SABHA
Lok Sabha Q&A, Retirement AGE