BSNL Clarification regarding Employees Pension Scheme

BSNL Clarification regarding Employees Pension Scheme

BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LIMITED

(A Govt. of India Enterprise)

NO.500-85/CA-II/BSNL/EPF/2011/Vol.VI

Dated 19.01.2016

To,

The IFAs,

All Circles

BSNL

Sub.: Various Gazette Notifications issued by EPFO from Time to Time

This office has been receiving queries regarding Employees Pension Scheme.

In this regard, it is informed that EPFO vide its letter no. Actuarial / 18(2)2008/ Vol.III/7738 dated 29.08.2014 (copy enclosed) has already clarified that henceforth, EPS will apply only to EPF members whose pay at the time of becoming PF member is not more than Rs.15000/- per month on or after 01.09.2014. The entire employer and employee contribution shall remain in the Provident Fund and no diversion to EPS shall be made for all new PF members on or after 01.09.2014 having salary more than Rs. 15000/- at the time of joining.

In this connection, it is mentioned that this office has already issued instructions to act in accordance with the Gazette Notifications issued by EPFO, from time to time, without waiting for endorsement from the Corporate Office as the non compliance of the EPF guidelines attract penal provisions.

It is further mentioned that suitable action may be taken by the circles for rectification of any erroneous deduction made and deposited with EPFO under the EPS head for the employees covered under the above mentioned letter of EPFO dated 29.08.2014.

All BSNL units are hereby requested to kindly take necessary action in accordance with the instructions issued by EPFO.

Encl: As above

(V.M.Gupta)

Dy. General Manager (CA-III)

EMPLOYEES PROVIDENT FUND ORGANISATION

(Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt. of India)

Head Office

Bhavishya Nidhi Bhawan, 14, Bhikaiji Came Place, New Delhi – 110 066.

No. Actuarial/18(2)2008/Vol.III/7738

Dated: 29.08.2014

To

All Addl. Central P.F. Commissioners (Zones)

All Regional P.F.Commissioners (In-Charge of Region)

Sub: Gazette Notification providing for increase in wage ceiling under EPS 1995 from Rs. 6500 to Rs.10000/- which shall come into force on and from the 1st day of Sept 2014.

Sir.

This is in continuation of this office circular No Actuary/l 8(2)2008/ Vol.111/5905 dated 23.07.2014 wherein it was informed that the Employees’ Pension Scheme 1995 is being amended to increase the wage ceiling from Rs.6500/- per month to Rs. 15,000/- per month in the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995.

2. The proposed amendments have since been noti red vide Gazette Notification No. GSR 609 (E) which shall come into force on and from the 1st day of September, 2014 (Copy of notification enclosed).

3. Accordingly, with effect from the 1st day of September, 2014, the pensionable salary for all cases of exit/death on or after 01.09.2014, for calculating pension shall be the average monthly pay drawn during the contributory period of service in the span of 60 months preceding the date of death/exit from the membership of the Employees” Pension Fund. The pensionable salary shall be calculated on pro-rata basis separately for the period up to 31.08.2014 up to wage ceiling of R.6,500/- per month and for the subsequent period upto the wage ceiling of Rs.15,000 per month. Similarly. the Withdrawal Benefit shall be based on the weighted wages at different wage ceilings. As already informed necessary amendments in the applicable on software are being carried out and the necessary software shall be released by I.S. Division at the earliest.

4. Accordingly, requisite steps may be taken so hat full details of wages for 60 months are available to settle the pension claims in accordance with the proposed modification. In this regard, Form 10-C & Form 10 D are also being redesigned to incorporate the above changes and shall be circulated soon. However in the meantime wage details be obtained by attaching additional sheet or giving details of 60 months of wages along with Form 10-D in respect of all members having date of exit from EPS 1995.

5. The members having date of exit from EPS, 1995 on account of superannuation/option date for commencement of early pension etc. prior to 01.09.2014 shall get Pensionary benefits on the basis of the existing pensionable salary calculations ie by taking 12 months average.

6. Further, with effect from 01.09.2014, wherever employer & employees have opted to contribute on salary exceeding Rs.6,500/- per month such employer & employees will have to exercise a fresh option to contribute on salary exceeding Rs.15,000/- per month subject to the condition that such member would have to contribute the Government’s share of contribution @ 1.16% on the salary exceeding Rs.15,000/- per month from his/her share of contribution. The fresh Option is to be exercised within a period of 6 months. It is essential to know with certainty the employee who are currently permitted to contribute to EPS on higher wages, so that fresh options can be called for. Accordingly, you may immediately flag all such cases of contribution on salary exceeding Rs.6,500/- per month and obtain fresh options in a time bound manner. It may be made known to the existing optees that if the fresh option is not exercised it shall be deemed that the employee has not Opted in allowing contribution over age ceiling and the contributions to Employees Pension Fund made above the wage ceiling in respect of the member shall be diverted to the Provident Fund account of the memer along with interest as declared under the Employees’ Provident Fund Scheme from time to time.

7. Furthermore, with effect from 01.09.2014 the provisions for contribution on higher salary has been deleted and as such no new options can be allowed to any member of EPS, 1995 on and after 01.09.2014.

8. As EPS will henceforth apply only to EPF members whose pay at the time of becoming PF member is not more than Rs. l5,000/- per month on or after 01.09.2014 the entire employer and employee contribution shall remain in the Provident Fund and no diversion to EPS shall be made for all new PF members on or after 01.09.2014 having salary more than 15,000/- at the time of joining. This must be ensured as any negligence on this issue may lead to unwarranted litigations.

9. The above actions may be taken without any deviation and officer in charge shall be responsible for compliance of above directions under his jurisdiction.

(This issues with the approval of CPFC)

Yours faithfully,

sd/-

(CHANDRAMAULI CHAKRABORTY)

REGIONAL E.F.COMMISSIONER-I (Pensions)

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BSNL to allow landline users avail free call benefit on Mobile

BSNL to allow landline users avail free call benefit on Mobile

BSNL mobile subscribers will soon be able to avail free calling benefits offered on their landline phone as the state-run firm is going to roll out a convergence platform that will sync subscribers’ mobile and fixed line connections.

“We are in the process of rolling out fix mobile convergence platform by Diwali. This will enable consumers avail value added service in mobile phones, make free night calls from mobile phones if they have subscribed to landline and host of other modern facilities,” BSNL Chairman and MD Anupam Shrivastava told PTI.

He said that with this roll out, consumers will be able to link their mobile and landline accounts.

“The sync between the two accounts will be such that it will enable our subscribers receive their landline calls on mobile phones,” Shrivastava said.

BSNL has invested over Rs 400 crore to modernise its landlines.

The company slipped to sixth position in terms of overall subscriber base in April. At the end of August, BSNL’s total subscriber base was around 7.8 crore. After a long period, BSNL in July and August 2015 ranked among top five mobile players in terms of net addition of monthly subscribers.

BSNL, however, has been losing customers in landline space despite offering free night calls from landline to any phone in India.

“We have been able to arrest decline rate in landline connections. In a few months and with launch of fix mobile convergence, our landline should turn positive. We have already turned gainer for mobile subscribers under mobile number portability scheme,” Shrivastava said.

The company has launched free roaming scheme which enables its subscribers to attend free incoming calls while travelling anywhere in the country at no extra cost.

“Free roaming scheme has become one of the major growth drivers for uptake in mobile subscriber number,” Shrivastava added.

The company is also in the process to tie up with Hitachi’s ATM business unit which will allow its landline customers, who pay bill offline, to make payment anytime during the day.

Read more at : The Hindu

Speed of all Landline Broadband customers from 512 kbps to minimum 2 Mbps @ NO EXTRA COST – BSNL

Speed of all Landline Broadband customers from 512 kbps to minimum 2 Mbps @ NO EXTRA COST – BSNL

BSNL Upgrades the speed of all Landline Broadband customers from 512 kbps to minimum 2 Mbps

Committed to the Government’s Digital initiatives announced by Hon.ble PM, BSNL has decided to upgrade Broadband speed to minimum 2 Mbps at no additional cost for all the Broadband customers on PAN-India Basis from 1st October 2015. This is another major service offering from BSNL for the benefits of customers in continuation to offering free night calling from BSNL landline to all operator network from 9:00 PM to 7:00 AM and free incoming roaming services for its mobile customers. BSNL is also offering 1Gb free E-Mail box to their customers from 50 Mb mail box.

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad Hon’ble MOC &IT, GOI announced this today here at Gurgaon in a function organized by BSNL. The function was graced by Shri Rao Inderjeet Singh Hon’ble MOS for Planning & MOS for Defence (Independent charge) GOI. Shri Anupam Srivastav CMD BSNL, Shri N K Gupta Director (CFA), Smt Sujata Ray Director (HR) BSNL Board and Shri R C Arya CGM Haryana circle were also present on the occasion.

The speed up-gradation will benefit all the existing and new Broadband customers of BSNL. Under this scheme, BSNL is upgrading the speed of existing Broadband plans of 512 Kbps & 1 Mbps to 2 Mbps speed. With this upgradation, BSNL customers can access / surf the internet including social network websites like Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc. at high speed.

Read more information : knowyourpc.in

BSNL Order - Indication of Aadhaar Number in the Salary Package Software/Service Book Pension Papers of Government Employees as per PMO direction

Indication of Aadhaar Number in the Salary Package Software/Service Book Pension Papers of Government Employees as per PMO direction: BSNL Order

G.I., BSNL, Pension Section, O.M.No. 48-5/2015-Pen.(B), dated 19.08.2015

Sub: Indication of Aadhaar Number in the Salary Package Software/Service Book Pension Papers of Government Employees as per PMO direction -reg.

Sir,

I am directed to refer to this office circular No.1 & 2 dated 2oth April, 2015 subsequent letter dated 12th August, 2015 (uploaded on intranet) forwarding DOP&PW’s OM No.1/19/2014-P&PW(E) dated 14.01.2015, endorsed by Department of Telecom. vide OM No.40-20/2011-Pen(T) dated 24th March, 2014 on the subject mentioned above by way of which, all Circles were requested to ensure seeding of Aadhaar Card no. in the service books/salary package software and pension papers of BSNL employees invariably and without exception as directed earlier. It is to be noted that the aforesaid exercise being part of Minimum Government – Maximum Governance is being monitored by PMO.

2. In this connection, it is intimated that, for ensuring inclusion of Aadhaar Card No. in this employees records as stated above, ERP Cell, ALTTC Ghaziabad has configured the same by creating necessary field in Employees master data-ERPUSAP, which can be uploaded in ITO 185 table of SAP with Sub type-0015 for each employees of BSNL. For updation, there are two possibilities:

(i) For bulk updation, Circles can fill data in attached template and raise one PIS issue on ERPHELP DESK in HCM-HR Module. The same will get uploaded by coreteam.

(ii) SSA wise HR administrators are there, who are authorized to maintain such records in SAP. The lnfotype is ITO185 and subtype-0015. HR administrators can maintain it one by one for all employees as and when they get Aadhaar No.

3. You are, therefore, requested to kindly instruct all the concerned authorities in. Circle as well as SSAs to upload the Aadpaar No. on ERP-SAP as per guidelines/instructions given by ERP Cell, Ghaziabad. This may be treated as most urgent. Further, compliance report may please be arranged to be sent by 31.8.2015 so that action report status can be provided to DOT.

Authority: www.bsnleuchq.com

BSNL has launched free talk-time between 9 PM and 7 AM for its landline connections. The offer came into effect on May 1.

Free Phone Calls between 9PM and 7AM – BSNL Launches Mega-Offer

BSNL has launched free talk-time between 9 PM and 7 AM for its landline connections. The offer came into effect on May 1.

Landline connections under select plans, and landlines with broadband facilities in the cities and rural areas across the nation are being brought under the Night Unlimited
Calling plans.

Telecommunication technology currently includes facilities like the internet, cellphone, e-mail, SMS, and MMS services. In addition to these, Whatsapp too is gaining popularity around the world.

With the advent of cellphones, landlines have been fast losing popularity. Different ISD and STD tariffs also contributed to the fall in popularity. Meanwhile, competition for BSNL in the telecommunication field increased with the entry of private players. Massive discounts and facilities offered by the private companies led to a huge fall in the demand for landlines. Lakhs of connections were surrendered all over the country in the past ten years. Currently, India has 2,30,00,000 landline connections. Tamil Nadu has 13,60,000 active BSNL connections.

BSNL revenue has been steadily falling over the years. But, currently most of the BSNL users are those who heavily utilize the internet connections. Traders and commercial establishments also utilize the BSNL facilities.

Click to read continue www.knowyourpc.in

BSNL Employees’ Two Days Strike on 21-22 April 2015 – Demanding Revival of BSNL

BSNL Employees’ Two Days Strike on 21-22 April 2015 – Demanding Revival of BSNL

FORUM OF BSNL UNIONS / ASSOCIATIONS
D-7, Telegraph Place, Gole Market, New Delhi – 110 001.

Press Release

20th April, 2015

BSNL Employees’ Two Days Strike on 21-22 April 2015

Demanding Revival of BSNL

As per the call of the Forum of BSNL Unions/Associations, the BSNL Employees, both executives and nonexecutives numbering around 2.25 lakhs, will resort to Two Days Strike on 21-22 April 2015 demanding immediate action from the Government and BSNL Management for the Revival of BSNL.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited was the No.1 telecom company in India and was having an annual revenue of about Rs.40,000 crore and profit of about Rs 8,000 – 10,000 crore till 2006. The non-implementation of the government assurances on financial viability, continued cancellation of the BSNL tenders of mobile equipment, confiscation of the cash balance of the company by the government on one pretext or other, discriminating BSNL in favour of private companies -all these deliberate decisions have pushed BSNL in to loss for the last five years.

The government has withdrawn from its assurance to pay ADC, refund of licence fee and liberal subsidy from the USO fund, for compensating BSNL for the loss of about Rs.10,000 crore per year for providing services to the villages and rural areas in the country which is as per the universal connectivity policy of the government. The present loss of the company around Rs. 7,000- 8,000 crore per year will be covered and there will be profit for BSNL if these assurances are honoured and implemented.

Immediate purchase of various equipments for providing mobile, broadband etc. services are most important. Sufficient funds are required for the same, which BSNL is not having at present. An amount of Rs. 6,700 crore is due to be paid to BSNL by Government towards the cost of spectrum, which the BSNL has surrendered. An amount of Rs. 1,250 crore, allotted to BSNL in lieu of ADC for providing loss making connections for 2012-13, is still pending payment. The employees are demanding that these two amounts be paid immediately so that BSNL can purchase required equipment.

The Forum of BSNL Unions/Associations has suggested various proposals for providing better service to the customers on which also no action is taken.

The Forum also demands that BSNL should start 4G services without any delay. It also has demanded that it should be made mandatory for the Central/State Governments and PSUs to take BSNL service as was done in the case of Air India.

The strike Demands submitted by the Forum are mainly intended to improve the services and to better the financial viability of the company. However, neither the Secretary, Department of Telecom nor the Communications Minister have so far called the Unions/associations for any discussion or settlement of the issues. The entire responsibility for the strike and its adverse affect on the services and difficulties to the public lies upon the Government and the Management.

The Two Days Strike on 21-22 April will start from the mid-night of 20-21 April 2015. We solicit the support of all in our effort to improve the BSNL services and revive it.

sd/-

V.A.N.Namboodiri

Convener

Mob: 09868231431

Source: www.bsnleuchq.com