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Regional PF Commissioners fined for transferring amount to wrong account
Highlights
District Consumers’ Forum-1 in a verdict directed the Regional PF Commissioners of Mumbai, Surat and Visakhapatnam to pay a compensation of Rs 12,000 to an employee of Essar Steel Limited, K Ramabrahmam of Visalakshinagar in the city, for transferring his PF amount to a wrong account. The forum also asked the Commissioners to pay Rs 2,500 towards legal costs within one month.
Visakhapatnam: District Consumers’ Forum-1 in a verdict directed the Regional PF Commissioners of Mumbai, Surat and Visakhapatnam to pay a compensation of Rs 12,000 to an employee of Essar Steel Limited, K Ramabrahmam of Visalakshinagar in the city, for transferring his PF amount to a wrong account. The forum also asked the Commissioners to pay Rs 2,500 towards legal costs within one month.
The complainant Ramabrahmam started his career as a senior engineer in Essar Gujarat Limited having its registered office in Mumbai where he worked from 1992 to 1995. Later, Essar Gujarat Limited was reconstituted as Essar Steel Limited with a registered office in Hajira, Gujarat where he worked from 1995 to 2000. Later, he was shifted to Essar Steel in Kirandol, Chattishgarh where he worked from 2000 to 2008. As a member of Employees’ PF Scheme-1952, he was the PF member during 1992 to 2008. Except for Regional PF Commissioner (RPFC), Mumbai, the RPFCs of Gujarat and Visakhapatnam have settled the accumulated PF dues for the periods worked. The RPFC, Mumbai did not transfer the amount of Rs 58,446 despite repeated pleas. On the contrary, The RPFC, Mumbai sent the amount to a wrong account. As a result, the amount remained unpaid for years and the employee issued a legal notice.
In a reply, the RPFC, Mumbai said the PF account of the petitioner was closed in 1999-2000 and transferred the amount of Rs 58,446 to GJ 18853/11791. It further said when the employee gave a complaint that his correct PF account No is GJ 18853/1737, accordingly, transferred the amount of Rs 72,028 along with interest up to date to the RPFC, Vizag adding that it was due to submission of wrong PF number and the credit entry was already effected in the complainant’s account. Both parties filed evidence affidavits and written arguments.
After perusing the entire case record, Forum-1 President H Ananda Rao and Member K V R Maheswari observed that the entire burden of clearing the PF account lies with the opposite parties as they have failed to produce any evidence establishing that the petitioner has furnished wrong PF number.
It also felt that for years, the opposite parties did not evince interest to settle the account until a registered notice was issued and at last settled the account after knowing their mistake. All these acts comes under deficiency in service, the forum added.
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