Over 36,451 EPF Pensioners will stop getting pension from 2020 to 2026        

When the pension scheme under the Employees Provident Fund Pension Scheme 1995 was introduced, the impression was that it was life long, till the death of the pensioner.
It also gave the impression that after the death of the pensioner, his widow, minor children, and orphaned children were eligible for pension.
But the information obtained by a 68 year old pensioner under the RTI Act has exploded this myth.

The pensioner was told that his pension would stop from 2020. It revealed that 36,451 EPF pensioners are set to lose their pension within the next 20 years. The EPF authorities have managed this by introducing an ROC 3 scheme, without mentioning its implication in the pension papers. 
ROC just means return of the capital. It does not say pension would cease after 20 years.

(INCIDENTALLY, THIS ROC RULE WAS INTRODUCED IN 1996 BY A SPECIAL AMENDMENT ORDER TO THE ORIGINAL 1995 PENSION SCHEME.  IT WAS WITHDRAWN 12 YEARS LATER VIDE A GAZZETTEE NOTIFICATION NO.688 E DTD 26-09-2008 BY THE UNION LABOUR MINISTRY, AS THIS RULE WAS AGAINST THE SPIRIT OF ORIGINAL PENSION SCHEME, AND ANTI-LABOUR. EPFO GAVE NO MEDIA PUBLICITY FOR THIS, FEARING THAT ROC PENSIONERS WOULD DEMAND LIFE-LONG PENSION)
The pity is most of the pensioners are not even aware of it. They would know about  their pension stoppage  only when ‘the pension stop’ order would reach them in their ripe old age, when they are about to make peace with their maker.
The `no pension' order will hit elderly senior citizens like a bolt from the blue in the winter of their life. Their equally disabled spouses also would get nothing because of this hidden provision. 
I am bringing these facts to your notice, so that it would be helpful to hundreds of aging people to opt for life-long pension, cancelling ROC 3, if possible.

I request you to look in to the matter, if you think this is a real human interest matter.

If I could be of some help to you in any way, I shall be only too glad to assist. 

To view this matter in the Youtube, please click : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYppuTBRD54&t=448s

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Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, Kolkata
10.1 Shortcomings in the Computerised Employees’ Pension System resulted in incorrect payment of pensionary benefits.
• The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization, in 1995, introduced countrywide Computerised Employees’ Pension System for computation of pensionary benefits under the Employees’ Pension Scheme.
• Analysis of data revealed that due to deficiency in design, the computations made by the application were in contradiction with the Scheme provisions. This led to short payment of commuted value of pension to the extent of Rs. 34.51 lakh in 910 cases and overpayment of Rs. 51.78 lakh in 1462 cases.
• The Return of Capital (ROC) was also calculated short by Rs. 95.46 lakh in 968 cases and excess by Rs 1.41 crore in 1581 cases.
• There was short payment of pension amounting to Rs. 3.93 lakh per month in 4645 cases and overpayment of pension amounting to Rs. 5.36 lakh per month in 5893 cases (as of January 2005).
• The application accepted wrong beneficiaries for the ROC scheme in 235 cases involving an amount of Rs. 1.25 crore.
10.1.1 Introduction
The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) came into being following the enactment of the Employees’ Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. In 1995, EPFO introduced countrywide Computerised
Employees’ Pension System (CEPS), an application developed by the National Informatics Centre for computation of pensionary benefits under the Employees’ Pension Scheme1, 1995 (Scheme) and generation of Pension
Payment Orders. The operating system for the application is SCO-UNIX open server 5.0.5 and the software works on SCO-FOXBASE package.
Audit of the application was conducted using sample data pertaining to Office of the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, Salt Lake, Kolkata. Out of a total of 24,534 records 17,900 records relating to the period 3 April 2000 to 14 January 2005, was selected for audit. This data was analysed using MS Excel for assessing its reliability and consistency and compliance of the information
1 This Scheme replaced the Employees’ Family Pension Scheme, 1971 w.e.f. 16 November 1995.
CHAPTER X : MINISTRY OF LABOUR Report No. 3 of 2006 35 processing function with the rules governing the scheme. The audit findings are elaborated in succeeding paragraphs.
10.1.2 System Design Deficiency Audit observed that there were a number of deficiencies in the system design
of the application software leading to nonconformity with the provisions of the scheme. It was also found lacking in essential validation checks which help in keeping the data within the prescribed ranges. The observations are as
follows:
(a) Incorrect computation of pensionary benefits According to the Employees Pension Scheme 1995, the pension is payable to employees depending on whether they were members of the Family Pension Scheme 1971, which ceased in November 1995 or of the new Scheme.
Further, for the employees joining before 16 November 1995, pension also depended on their age i.e. (i) less than 48 years; (ii) 48 years but less than 53 years; and (iii) 53 years or more, as on 16 November 1995.

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Thomas Km <kmthomas1950@gmail.com>

To:ro.chennai1@epfindia.gov.in,ro.delhi.north@epfindia.gov.in

Cc:molegangwar@yahoo.com

Bcc:kmthomas1950@yahoo.com

11 Oct at 1:30 PM

(FOR THE KIND ATTN OF UNION LABOUR MINISTER FROM A HARASSED SENIOR CITIZEN)

Respected Sirs,

This is my FOURTH reminder to you, for the change of my address, to be dealt with by the ro concerned at CHENNAI OR DELHI. 

As promised in my letter dated Sep.28, 2018, I am marking a copy of this message to the UNION LABOUR MINISTER ALSO, for his attention.

I have been trying to get my residential address changed in the EPF portal from Chennai to Aluva since November 2017. 

First you stopped my pension for four months. Then you refused to do it, despite an RTI inquiry. 

Now, I have reasons to believe that you are deliberately not responding, to do some mischief against me, a retired senior citizen with all attendant benefits of negligence, and indifference from well-paid bureaucrats with job security and  wrongly named PUBLIC SERVANTS.

This is also to remind that If I do not get a response from you before Oct.23,2018, my next letter will be to the Prime Minister, and then to the President of this country in that order. I was told by an reliable source that you had ordered to block all my communications from my original email id. So I am sending you this email from a different email, which too belongs to me. This is to ensure that tomorrow, you can not deny that you had not seen my communications.

==========================================================

CHANGE OF MY RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS : Reply to my RTI - REMINDER - THREE (To R.O CONCERNED)

This is my third reminder to you, to be dealt with by the ro concerned. 

As promised in my letter dated Sep.16, 2018, I am marking a copy of this message to the Union  labour secretary, for his attention.

I have been trying to get my residential address changed in the EPF portal from Chennai to Aluva since November 2017. 

First you stopped my pension for four months. 

Then you refused to do it, despite an RTI inquiry. 

Now, I have reasons to believe that you are deliberately not responding, to do some mischief against me, a retired senior citizen with all attendant benefits of negligence, and indifference from well-paid bureaucrats with job security and  wrongly named PUBLIC SERVANTS.

This is also to remind that If I do not get a response from you before Oct.10,2018, my next letter will be to the Union Labour Minister, then to the Prime Minister, and then to the President of this country in that order.

With warm regards. K M Thomas

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: thomas km <kmthomas1950@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2018 at 21:16
Subject: Fw: CHANGE OF MY RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS : Reply to my RTI - REMINDER - TWO
To: Regional Office Chennai One <ro.chennai1@epfindia.gov.in>
Cc: cvo@epfindia.gov.in <cvo@epfindia.gov.in>, fa.cao@epfindia.gov.in <fa.cao@epfindia.gov.in>, ro.delhi.north@epfindia.gov.in<ro.delhi.north@epfindia.gov.in>, acc.tnkr@epfindia.in <acc.tnkr@epfindia.in>, gms@epfindia.gov.in <gms@epfindia.gov.in>, cpfc@epfindia.gov.in<cpfc@epfindia.gov.in>

Dear Sir,

It is more than two months, and yet a simple request like change of a pensioner's address had not taken place in youroffice.

In fact you have used your failure to change my address as a ploy to deny me an information that I had sought under the RTI. 

Your failures brings in more RTIs, and litigations against your department. 

This reflects very badly on your service to senior citizens in this country, and efforts of our Prime Minister to bring some sort of a discipline among the government officials, who are generally averse to work.

Please note that if I do not get a reply from you before September21 (Friday), copies of my future reminders would go to the Union Labour Secretary, Union Labour Minister, and then to the Prime Minister of this country, in that order every week.

I know you may not care for this warning as well, since your jobs are secure. But at least let me understand how the system works.

Regards. Thomas K M

----- Forwarded message -----

From: thomas km <kmthomas1950@yahoo.com>

To: Regional Office Chennai One <ro.chennai1@epfindia.gov.in>

Sent: Friday, 7 September, 2018, 10:36:06 AM IST

Subject: Fw: CHANGE OF MY RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS : Reply to my RTI - Reminder 1

Dear Sir,                                              Sept.07,2018

I am unable to access the epfo portal, possibly due to some technical snag at your end. So This letter to you.

I am yet to get any response to the letter shown below, sent to you 15 days ago. Kindly look in to the matter that I had raised herein, and let me know the position.

Regards.K M Thomas

----- Forwarded message -----

From: thomas km <kmthomas1950@yahoo.com>

To: ro.chennai1@epfindia.gov.in <ro.chennai1@epfindia.gov.in>

Sent: Friday, 24 August, 2018, 5:05:34 PM IST

Subject: Fw: CHANGE OF MY RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS : Reply to my RTI

Being re-directed to the new email id as per the acknowledgement

----- Forwarded message -----

From: thomas km <kmthomas1950@yahoo.com>

To: Regional Office ChennaiEPFO Ministry of Labour <ro.chennai@epfindia.gov.in>

Sent: Friday, 24 August, 2018, 4:57:43 PM IST

Subject: CHANGE OF MY RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS : Reply to my RTI

Dear Sir,

Your reply to my query under the RTI makes strange reading.

Para 1. My address continue to be conflicting,  because your office did not care to change it despite my several messages earlier requesting you to change it. I had submitted my new Aadhar card also to you as early as November 2017. 

Please note that you had renewed my pension payment for 2018 based on it, after withholding my pension for a few months.

Para 2. You had repeated the first logic.

Para 3. You have admitted that I have already submitted my Aadhar No. 825574012435 with the Kerala address.

So I request you to change my Chennai address to Kerala Address, as mentioned in the New Aadhar No.8255 7401 2435. I have permanently shifted my residence to Chackkalyil Peace Cottage, Keezhmadu, Aluva, Ernakulam District, Kerala - 683112.

Another copy of the same Aadhar Number is attached herewith for your records.

Kindly ack the receipt.

With warm regards.

K M Thomas 9840036084

THE REPLY FROM THE RTI AUTHORITY

===========================

The appellant has stated that details have not been provided.

It is informed by the CPIO, RO, Chennai that the applicant Shri. K.M.Thomas had filed RTI application seeking reason for not changing his residential address. In reply to the RTI application it was informed that the address mentioned in the RTI application is of Chennai and he has submitted aadhaar card with Kerala address alongwith life certificate. 

An appeal has been received from the applicant on 18/08/2018 stating that details have not been provided. In this connection it is informed that his old residential address at Chennai is existing in the PPO data base. His Aadhaar number 825574012435 is also incorporated in the record. However it was requested to submit a written representation alongwith a copy of the Aadhaar showing the current residential proof to change the address in the data base since the RTI application itself has conflicting addresses. 
In view of the above, the present appeal is disposed of. Further appeal is with the Information Commissioner, Central Information Commission, Baba Gang Nath Marg, Near Staff Quarters, Old JNU Campus, Munirka, New Delhi, Delhi 110067

`Wear Pensioners out’: Policy of the EPFO?

                                                      By KM Thomas

The new chief justice of India has expressed his concern about the large number of cases pending in various courts of the country.

May I humbly submit that the major cause of litigation is the arrogance, laziness and `we don’t care’ attitude of government officers, who are assured of their pay cheque, and job security.

Let me explain from personal experience, with some curative suggestions, and also why I am likely to file a case against the Employees PF Office soon for defective service. I am a senior citizen, nearing 70 years of age.

1. In November 2017, I submitted my digital life certificate, with my new address. The EPFO stopped my pension from January 2018. Being fairly tech-savvy, I visited the EPF Pensioners portal and learnt that my pension was stopped, because I `failed to submit my life certificate.’

Cure : By January first week, send sms to all pensioners, who failed to submit their life certificate.

2. When all attempts failed to prod the EPFO to action, I filed a petition under the RTI Act in April 2018. Soon, a lady staff called me in April 2018 from Chennai office, advised me to visit the nearest EPF pension office, and re-submit `life certificate.’ I told her it would cost me nearly half of my pension (total pension is Rs.786 p.m.), apart from the physical inability to do it. I do not know what happened later, my pension was restored and my five months pension up to May 2018 was credited to my account.

Cure : Fix an automatic acknowledgement on all PF Office computers, so that there would be a tangible record for every transactions, and the officers could not escape under the cover of `not received the document etc.’.

3. Meanwhile, I shifted my residence from Chennai to Kerala. From November 2017, I was asking the EPFO to change my residential address. Despite several reminders, and phone calls, they never cared to do it.

So I was forced to file another RTI, because of the inefficiency and negligence of the EPFO. The EPFO gave a very funny RTI reply. It said after a month’s waiting that `the address cannot be changed, because I applied from the EPF website using the old address!’ They, however, advised me to send a copy of the aadhar showing the new address, and it would be done.

Cure : Please post staff who can logically approach an issue; not those who use as their earlier failure as an excuse to shield another failure.

Anyway, trusting their advice, I sent a letter on 24-082018 duly enclosing a copy of my aadhar showing the new address. As expected, no reply.

I followed it up with reminders on Sept.07, Sept.16 and Sept 28. Not even an acknowledgement.

The address remain unchanged till October 02,2018 when I visited the Pensioner’s portal.

My reminder No.4 will be sent on Oct.11, with a copy this time to the Central Information Commissioner too.

All my communications have been marked to the following personnel, so that EPFO should not say tomorrow that I did not send it to the right person concerned.

<cvo@epfindia.gov.in>, fa.cao@epfindia.gov.in  <acc.tnkr@epfindia.in> <gms@epfindia.gov.in>, cpfc@epfindia.gov.in <ro.chennai1@epfindia.gov.in>, ro.delhi.north@epfindia.gov.in <secy-labour@nic.in>

Nobody among the possible recipients care hitherto to inform me the fate of my petitions. Probably they believe that all senior citizens, with limited physical and financial capabilities, would give up after a few attempts.

Alternately, the petitioners could be bracketed as `chronic petitioners’, or with excuses like their petition was not received, computer hiccups or there was no full stop after the letter etc.

Your ploy may work, as I am getting older. But as long as I can, rest assured that you will keep getting reminders.

Reminder number five is scheduled for Oct.11,2018, with a copy to the Chief Information Commissioner. Then copies will go to the Labour Minister, Prime Minister and then to the President as a last resort.

Then, as the honourable new chief justice of India will have reason to worry about one more litigation, this time because of the inefficient EPFO officials.

Regars. K M Thomas 

To,

The RO, EPFO, Chennai

Dear Sir,                                                                                                             July 24,2019

Ref : PPO – TNMAS 39017 : Praman id : 4452997099

I understand from the emails received from several CPIOs all over the country that you had not changed my current address in all your records.

I had shifted my residence to Kerala in 2016, and this should have been obvious to you from my pension renewal certificates submitted to you since 2017. After several requests to you, a complaint to the Ministry of Labour, and two RTI inquiries, I was assured that my Kerala Address had been updated in your records. I found my new address in the Pensioner’s Portal and was satisfied.

Hardly half of them responded till now. Some of them said they were sending me the email, since the hard copy sent to my Chennai address had been returned.

Kindly clarify how they got my Chennai address, when my old address had been already changed last year, based on the documents including my Aadhar  8255 7401 2435 submitted to you. (Though the RTI application showed the old address, I could not change it in the form. When I did change it, it refused to entertain it.)

More importantly, it is possible that I had missed several other postal communications from your office to me in the old Chennai address since January 2017.  I request you to inform me if any such returned communication is available in your office, and if so to forward it to me immediately in the address shown on the EPFO Pensioners Portal.

With warm regards. K M Thomas