EPFO RAISES DEATH INSURANCE COVER TO ₹7 LAKH AMID PANDEMIC

LUCKNOW: The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has enhanced the death insurance benefits for the private sector employees who are the subscribers to the Employees’ Deposit-linked Insurance (EDLI) scheme with the Union ministry of labour having issued a gazette notification in this regard amid the devastating second wave of Covid-19.

It has increased the minimum death insurance benefit to Rs 2.5 lakh and the minimum benefits to Rs 7 lakh from the previous limit of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 6 lakh respectively.

“The government has amended rules hiking the maximum benefit under the EDLI to Rs 7 lakh. The nominee of any employee working in private sector for 12 months before death is entitled to the benefit,” provident fund commissioner, Lucknow, Salabh Dubey said.

The has hiked the minimum death insurance benefit to Rs 2.5 lakh while the maximum benefits have been raised to Rs 7 lakh from the previous limits of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 6 lakh respectively.

People aware of the issue said that the EDLI scheme applied to all employees with minimum wages of Rs 15,000 per month.

The gazette notification issued by the EPFO to all its regional officers asking them to make wide publicity of the same says, “The benefit payable under the paragraph 22(3) of the EDLI Scheme shall be extended to such beneficiaries where the deceased employee was a member of the Fund or a provident fund exempted under Section 17 of the EPF and MP Act and was in employment for a continuous period of 12 months preceding the month in which he died, irrespective of change of establishment during the said period.”

As per the notification, the power to grant exemption to a class of employees from the provisions of the scheme has been delegated to the ACC (Zone). The new provisions will remain in effect for a period of three years from the date of their publication in the official gazette, says the notification.