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The Delhi High Court has extended till November 31, the deadline for seeding Aadhar number with the Universal Account Number (UAN) and its verification.

The order was passed by the Single Judge bench of Justice Pratibha M Singh while hearing a plea filed by the Association of Industries and Institutions challenging the circular dated  June 1, 2021 issued by the EPFO, by which the seeding of Aadhaar number along with the Universal Account Number, generated under the Employees Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 in respect of employees, has been made mandatory.

The Case of the Petitioner-Association is that in case of various employees, there is a mismatch between the Aadhaar database and the EPFO database. This data mismatch has resulted in the ECRs being rejected by the EPFO on the ground of “Error – Aadhaar not verified against the UAN”. In effect, therefore, the employees are unable to avail the benefits of PF, if their Aadhaar data is not verified with the UAN.

The employers are being forced to not employ those Workmen/employees, who do not have proper Aadhaar card. It has further been argued that Migrant workers who have moved from cities back to their villages or have joined back the employer after the lock down period ended, are unable to arrange for supporting documents for seeding of Aadhaar number with the UAN under the EPFO.

The Petitioner and its members are, therefore, requesting for an extension of 3-4 months before the circular dated 1st June, 2021 is implemented.

Counsel appearing for EPFO submitted  that the Central Government makes a substantial contribution to the EPF Pension scheme and the related Fund. Thus,  in order to curb any malpractice in respect of EPFO deposits and withdrawals, considering the large amount of contribution which is also made by the Central Government, the seeding of Aadhaar is required.

Hearing both the parties the Court said that it would have to examine as to whether the seeding of the UAN with Aadhaar achieves the objectives which are being stated by the EPFO i.e., to plug leakages and to ensure that the welfare schemes properly reach the concerned population.

“Thus, until and unless the issue of whether mandatory seeding is legally valid or not is determined, as per Aadhaar 5J, there cannot be any exclusion of benefits to employees under the Act, due to failure to authenticate or verify with Aadhaar”, the Court said.

The Court said that considering that the legal issues which have been raised above are yet to be examined and adjudicated by the Court, as per the judgement of the Supreme Court, exclusions cannot be permitted, especially from benefits under a social welfare legislation such as the EPF Act and benefits thereunder.

Accordingly the Court has directed that employers shall be permitted to deposit the provident funds in respect of employees for whom seeding has not taken place and no coercive measures shall be taken against them for non-seeding of Aadhaar numbers with UANs. T

The Court has also directed  the EPFO to appoint a Grievance Redressal Officer who can be contacted by the Petitioner’s members or any other employer, to ensure that the deposits are not delayed and are made in a timely manner, in terms of the provisions of the Act and the Scheme.

 

Case Title: Association of Industries and Institutes vs UOI and Anr