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)

Click to view the Copy of the BSNL Clarification

IESM LETTER TO RM ON ONE RANK ONE PENSION ANOMALIES

IESM LETTER TO RM ON OROP ANOMALIES

21st January 2016

The Raksha Mantri

South Block, Ministry of Defence

New Delhi

Urgent Need to Rectify Anomalies in OROP

in Govt notification dated 7 Nov 15

Dear Shri Manohar Parrikar ji

Please refer to Govt executive letter dated 26 Feb 14, press release dated 5 Sep 15, Govt notification dated 7 Nov 15 and 14 Dec 15. Please also refer to the statement made by MOS Defense Sh Rao Inderjit Singh in Parliament on 2 Dec in reply to question asked by Sh Rajeev Chandrashekhar regarding implementation of OROP. (All attached)

One Rank One Pension was approved by UPA Govt in budget dated 17 Feb 14 and then by NDA Govt in their budget dated 10 Jun 14. UPA Government issued an executive order dated 26 Feb 14 for the implementation of OROP dues to veterans at the earliest. This was never implemented by the MOD nor a demand note was ever raised. The approved definition of OROP by two Governments is given below.

One Rank One Pension (OROP) implies that uniform pension be paid to the Armed Forces Personnel retiring in the same rankwith the same length of service irrespective of their date of retirement and any future enhancement in the rates of pension to beautomatically passed on to the past pensioners. This implies bridging the gap between the rate of pension of the current pensioners and the past pensioners, and also future enhancements in the rate of pension to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners.

OROP implies that a senior rank soldier should never draw pension less than his junior rank soldier. This cardinal principle is the soul of OROP and must never be violated.

Government issued a notification on 7 Nov 15 for implementing OROP. Government reiterated above-mentioned definition of OROP in the letter but introduced some conditions in the notification that completely destroy the definition approved by two parliaments. These conditions have created four anomalies which completely violates the definition and thereby, the soul of OROP. These anomalies are discussed in detail in succeeding paragraphs.

1) Fixation of Pension on calendar year of 2013 instead of FY of 2014: Fixation of pension as per calendar year 2013 would result in past retirees getting less pension of one increment than the soldier retiring today. This will result in past retirees drawing lesser pensions than present retirees. This will completely destroy definition of OROP approved by two Parliaments and will also result in loss of one increment across the board for past pensioners in perpetuity.

2) Fixation of pension as mean of Min and Max pension: Fixing pension as mean of Min and Max pension of 2013 would result in more anomalies wherein same ranks with same length of service will draw two or more different pensions thus violating the very principle of OROP. This issue was discussed with RM in various meetings and after due deliberations it was decided that accepting highest pension of each rank in the year would meet the requirement as base of pension.

3) Payment wef 1st Jul 14 instead of 1st Apr 14: OROP has been approved in budget of 2014-15 by two parliaments. As per norms of Government, all proposals approved in budget are applicable from 1st April of that FY. In the case of OROP, the Govt had issued specific orders to its applicability wef 1st April 14. Hence implementation date for OROP from 1st July will be against the Parliament approval. Changing the date would result in loss of 3 months emoluments for OROP across the board. However, if OROP implementation date is to be kept as 1st July, then the base pension should also be accepted as per the PPOs of July 2014.

4) Pension Equalisation every five year: Pension equalisation every five year will result in a senior rank soldier drawing lesser pension than a junior rank soldier for five years thus OROP definition will be violated for five years. This will also result in permanent violation of definition as fresh cases will come up every year.

These anomalies will result in lesser pensions to widows, soldiers, NCOs and JCOs than what will be due to them on approval of OROP. This will result in veterans not getting OROP as per approved definition and will create large discontentment across all ranks.

There is a need to have a relook at the pensions of Hon Nb Subedars, Majors and Lt Cols.

a) Some Havildars are granted rank of Hon Naib Subedar in view of their exemplary service. These soldiers are not granted pension of Naib Subedar thus making the Hon rank just ceremonial. It is requested that Hon Naib Subedars should get pension of a Naib Subedar rather than that of a Havildar. Similarly, this must be accepted as a principle and it should be applicable to all Hon ranks in case of NCOs and JCOs.

b) There are only a few Majors as veterans. Moreover no officer is retiring in Major rank now. In the past, officers were promoted to Major rank after completing 13 yrs of service whereas present officers are getting promotion of Lt Col in 13 yrs. It will be justified to grant all pensioners of the rank of Major, minimum pension of Lt Col as they cannot be compared to present retirees as officers are not retiring as Majors any more. Number of such affected officers is not more than 800 and will not cause heavy burden to Govt.

c) Similarly, all pre-2004 retiree Lt Cols should get the minimum pension of full Col. Presently all officers retire in the rank of Colonel hence all Lt Col equivalents should be granted min pension of Colonels.

In view of above you are requested to rectify these anomalies and issue addendum to notification issued on 7 Nov 15 for implementation of OROP. We strongly believe that there will be no requirement of judicial committee for attending to anomalies creeping up in implementation of OROP. Grant of increase in pension in case of honorary ranks and Majors and Lt Col must also be approved as a good will gesture.

This letter is being signed by three major organizations with the approval of more than 200 organizations. List of such organizations is attached.

sd/- Lt Gen Balbir Singh Chairman IESL Advisor UFESM

sd/- Col Inderjit Singh Chairman AIEWA Chairman IESM

sd/- Maj Gen Satbir Singh Chairman UFESM Advisor UFESM

Copy to:

Mr Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister, North Block, Finance Ministry, Government of India

Mr Jayant Sinha, MoS, Finance, North Block, Finance Ministry, Government of India

General Dalbir Singh, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC, Chief of Army Staff

Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC, Chief of the Air Staff & Chairman Chiefs of Staffs Committee (CoSC)

Admiral RK Dhowan, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC, Chief of Naval Staff

Source: http://ex-servicemenwelfare.blogspot.in/

Age relaxation to the residents of the State of J&K in Railways

Age relaxation to the residents of the State of J&K in Railways

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(RAILWAY BOARD)

RBE No.1/2016

No.E(NG)-II/95/RR-1/26

New Delhi, dt.: 6/01/2016

The General Manager (P),

All Zonal Railways/Production Units, CORE/Allahabad,

MTP/Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai,

CAO (R), DMW/Patiala, COFMOW/New Delhi,

Director General, RDSO/Lucknow, RSC/Vadodra,

Director, IRISE/Secundrabad, IRICEN/Pune, IRIEEN/Nasik & IRIM&EE/Jamalpur, Chairmen, RRBs/RRCs.

Sub: Age relaxation to the residents of the State of Jammu & Kashmir.

Kindly refer to this Ministry’s letter of even number dated 08.6.2012 (RBE No.70/2012) forwarding therewith a copy of the notification No. 15012/6/2011-Estt.(D) dated 30.12.2011 issued by Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions (Department of Personnel & Training) extending the currency of relaxation of age limit limit in favour of the residents of State of Jammu & Kashmir for appointment to Central Civil Services and posts, recruitment to which are made to UPSC/SSC or otherwise by the Central Government up to 31/12/2013.

Department of Personnel & Training have issued a further notifications No. 15012/1/2014-Estt(D) dated 30/9/2014 and 23/10/2015 and accordingly the relaxation of age limit in favour of the residents of the State of Jammu & Kashmir for appointment to Central Civil Services and posts, recruitment to which are made through UPSC or SSC or otherwise by the Central Government stands extended up to 31/12/2017.

Please acknowledge receipt.

(Neeril Kumar)

Director Estt.(N)-II

Railway Board.

Click to view order

Authority : www.indianrailways.gov.in

Revision of educational qualification for Physiotherapist in Railways

Minimum educational qualification for open market recruitment to the post of Physiotherapist in the Medical Department on the railways

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(RAILWAY BOARD)

RBE No.09/2016

No.E(NG)II/2012/RR-1/3.

New Delhi, Dated: 19/01/2016.

The General Manager (P),

All Zonal Railways/Production

Units Chairmen,

Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs).

Sub: Minimum educational qualification for open market recruitment to the post of Physiotherapist in the Medical Department on the railways.

Ref: Letter No. E(NG)II/2001/RR-1/45 dated 22/5/2015 (RBE No. 49/2015).

Attention is invited to instructions under reference prescribing interalia recruitment qualification for open market recruitment to the category of Physiotherapist, Grade-Il in Pay Band-1 of Rs.29300-34800 having Grade Pay of Rs.24200/- as under:-

Physiotherapist, Gr.II,

PB-2 Rs.9300-34800 (GP: Rs.4200)

10+2 (with Science) plus Diploma/Degree in Physiotherapy.

2. The revision of qualification for the above category of post has been under consideration of this Ministry pursuant the issue raised by National Federation of Indian Railway men (NM) in the PNM meeting with Railway Board.

3. The matter has further been deliberated upon in consultation with Health Directorate of this Ministry and it has been decided that the qualification shall be modified as under:-

Physiotherapist, Gr.II

PB-2 Rs.9300-34800 (GP: Rs.4200)

(i) Bachelors’ Degree in Physiotherapy from a recognized University; and (ii) Two years’ practical experience in Physiotherapy from the Government/Private Hospital with at least one hundred beds.

4. These instructions will be applicable from the date of issue. Wherever recruitment process for the post has been notified and date of acceptance of application is yet to be closed, suitable corrigendum be issued by the concerned recruiting agency.

5. Please acknowledge receipt.

(Neeraj Kumar)

Director Estt. (N)-II

Railway Board

Click to view the original order : www.indianrailways.gov.in

Fare Details of Varanasi-New Delhi-Varanasi Mahamana Express - Indianrailways

Fare Details of Varanasi-New Delhi-Varanasi Mahamana Express

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(RAILWAY BOARD)

Commercial Circular No:4 of 2016.

No. TClI/2910/2016/Mahamana Express

New Delhi,dt. 20.01.2016

The Chief Commercial Managers

All Indian Railways

Sub: Fare structure of Varanasi-New Delhi Mahamana Express.

It has been decided to introduce Varanasi-New Delhi Mahamana Express (Tri- weekly) w.e.f 22.0 1.2016 ex-Varanasi.

2.The basic fare of above train shall be 15% higher than the normal Mail/Express basic fares. However, other charges like reservation fee, surcharge for superfast trains, service tax etc., shall be levied additionally as admissible. Fare structure for different classes of the train is enclosed herewith (5 pages),

3.All privilege passes/complimentary passes/PTO, warrants, rail travel coupons, Concessions etc., as permissible shall also be admissible in this train.

4. Child fare shall be applicable as per the existing child fare rule and revised child fare rule w.e.f 21.04.2016.

5. This issues with the concurrence of the Finance Directorate of the Ministry of Railways.

sd/-

(Vikram Singh)

Director (Passenger Marketing),

Railway Board.

Click to view the Complete Fare List

Source : indianrailways.gov.in