Big news is waiting for government . employees. Are you also working for government? Then this article is for you. Today we are talking about GPF. There is news of relief for such government employees who come under the purview of the ‘General Provident Fund’ or GPF. If the arrears of the General Provident Fund are not paid on retirement, interest will be paid on the outstanding amount of the ‘General Provident Fund’ for the period after retirement. For this, the responsibility of officers has also been fixed by the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions. An office memorandum was issued by the department two weeks ago in this regard.
Whether interest is payable on GPF after retirement
Recently, the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare has received several references asking for payment of interest on delayed payments of GPF to retired government employees. Whether interest is payable on GPF after retirement of personnel or not. The Department has referred to OM No. 3/3/2016-P&PW(F) dated January 16, 2017 (copy enclosed) in this regard.
Detailed clarifications regarding the timely payment of the final payment of GPF to retiring government servants were sent to all ministries and departments. If the amount deposited in the Provident Fund account of the subscriber becomes due, it will be the responsibility of the Accounts Officer to pay it. It is also noteworthy that the amount deposited in the General Provident Fund account is entirely the personal property of the government servant. Any disciplinary cases pending against them or fines imposed have no bearing on the disbursement of the General Provident Fund amount.
As per Rule 11(4) of the General Provident Fund Rules, if the arrears of GPF are not paid on retirement, interest is required to be paid on the outstanding amount of GPF for the period after retirement.
Payment of interest for a delayed period
The Office Memorandum was issued by the Department of Pensions and Pensioners’ Welfare, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions in January 2017. In it, clarification was issued in the case related to the final payment of GPF to the government employee within the stipulated time on retirement. “In the review meetings held with various Ministries/Departments of the Central Government to assess the status of future implementation, it has been observed that in many cases the final payment of the General Provident Fund (GPF) on superannuation is not being made immediately to the retiring employee/officer,” it said. Due to which interest has to be paid for the delayed period.
The accounts officer has the obligation to pay
Rule 34 of the General Provident Fund (Central Services) Rules clearly provides that when the amount credited to the Provident Fund account of the subscriber becomes due, the liability of the Accounts Officer shall be to make the payment. The authorization to pay shall be issued at least one month before the date of superannuation on completion of the age of superannuation, but shall be payable on the date of superannuation. It is stated that the requirement of furnishing an application for final payment of the General Provident Fund by a retiring employee has been dispensed with via this Department’s Notification No. It has been notified via S.O. No. 3228 dated November 23, 1996.
Payment of interest is mandatory
In order to ensure timely payment of GPF and to avoid unnecessary burden of interest after retirement, it has now been decided that in all cases where payment of interest on GPF becomes mandatory as per Rule 11(4) of the General Provident Fund Rules, 1960, Those cases will be placed before the Secretary of the Administrative Ministry/Department. In all such cases, the Secretary of the Administrative Ministry/Department will fix responsibility for taking appropriate action against the government servant found responsible at all levels for delay in payment of GPF.
