To improve India’s ranking in the Doing Business Report 2021, The Ministry of Labour & Employment has completed the reform to “Integrate process of registration for GST, EPFO, ESIC and Profession Tax for Maharashtra with company incorporation” in tandem with the MCA.

Ministry of Labour & Employment has notified that the Registration for EPFO & ESIC for new Companies via MCA Portal only in which it clearly states that Registration for ESIC and EPFO for new companies as above has been stopped on Shram Suvidha Portal from 15.02.2020. Hereafter, the newly incorporated companies will get their EPFO & ESIC Registration Number via AGILE+PRO Form available on MCA Portal hence acquiring ESIC & EPFO Registration Number becomes mandatory for all the Newly Incorporated Companies after 15.02.2020.

Further the Ministry also clarified that new companies would have to comply with the provisions of EPF & MP Act, 1952, and ESI Act, 1948 when they cross the threshold limit of employment under the respective Acts.

ESIC RETURNS DUE DATE AS PER THE ACT ARE:

EPF RETURNS DUE DATE

EPF payment due date is the date by which PF from the employees’ salary should be deducted. This should be done on or before the 15th of every next month. However, the due date of PF return and the due date of PF payment are both the same, i.e. on or before the 15th of every month.

Impact of Changes

• At present, registrations under the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (‘EPF Act’) and the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 (‘ESI Act’) are mandatory for companies which employ more than twenty and ten employees, respectively.
• Also, companies which do not have the aforesaid minimum threshold(s) of employees can voluntarily opt to register under the EPF2 Act and the ESI Act.
• While the aforesaid development is brought with the prospects of making the incorporation procedure simple, fast and cost-effective, the requirement of mandatory registration(s) under the EPF Act and the ESI Act is bound to lead to confusion among the companies as well as the officials of EPFO and ESIC. Introduction of SPICe+ would also require a statutory change/amendment of the EPF Act and the ESI Act.
• Now the main question arises out after this amendment that the Companies which don’t fall under the prescribed limit of the said acts will have to file their Return or Not ?
• In this regard, the Companies may revert /intimate to the respective department that it does not fulfill the criteria for minimum no. of employees for furnishing any returns.

Contributors: Shubham Verma, Shipra Walia