EPFO ASSESSES HIGH COURT ORDER ON EXPATS' PF CONTRIBUTION

New Delhi: Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Tuesday said it is evaluating its future course of action on the recent Karnataka High Court order, which had termed amendments to bring international workers within the ambit of the social security law as "unconstitutional and arbitrary".

In its edition on Tuesday, TOI had reported on the order passed late last month. One of the objectives of the amendment carried out 15 years ago was to ensure social security for foreign workers in Indian and Indians working overseas. The regulations allowed subscribers from countries with which India has a social security agreement to withdraw their contribution before turning 58 years or completely exempt them.

"India presently has social security agreements with 21 countries. These agreements ensure continued social security coverage for employees from these nations on a mutually reciprocal basis. When citizens from these countries take up employment in each other's territories, their social security coverage remains uninterrupted. "These agreements aim to guarantee the uninterrupted social security coverage of employees during international employment. These agreements are very important for India for promoting International mobility and leverage the demographic dividend," the agency said.