Eligibility and the process to avail benefits under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY)
The Scheme has been issued on 10th April 2020 under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) for the immediate benefit to the companies with up to 100 employees where 90 percent of employees earn less than INR 15,000 per month.
Changes have been made in the Unified Portal based on the Scheme to help the eligible employers avail the benefit.
However, there is no change in the process of ECR filing or the format. The employers will only have to submit a declaration before filing the ECR.
The establishments have been identified based on the ECRs filed by them taking into consideration:
· The contributory member count from September 2019 to February 2020.
· If the total number of such UANs are up to 100 and if the wage of 90% or more employees against these UAN is less than INR.15000 per month.
The system records the list of eligible members earning less than INR.15000 against each qualifying establishment.
When any employer logs into the Unified Portal, if the establishment code is not in the list of eligible establishments, he/she will not find any change while filing his ECR.
For eligible establishments:
In case an establishment has been identified as eligible, the ECR screen asks the employer to submit a declaration. ECR filing is not permitted until the declaration is filed.
The organization does not qualify to avail the benefit if the number of employees in the organization with wages below INR.15000 is less than 90%,
Since the employer may have several branches and excluded employees, he may also disagree with the declaration. In such cases, the benefit the establishment cannot avail of the benefit.
The benefit will be given by the system only when:
· The employer declares up to 100 employees as the total number of employees.
· The employer has declared that the percentage of employees earning less than INR.15000 per month is 90 or more, and
· He agrees with the declaration.
Please note: Declaration once submitted for a month cannot be edited.
The declaration must be submitted for three months, that is March, April, and May 2020, separately.
After a declaration is submitted, there is no change in the ECR filing process. For the establishments that have agreed with the declaration, the system does the following:
Establishment wise validation
· The standard format validation will be run.
· The system will check the count of employees in the ECR file, and if the number of employees is more than 100, the establishment will not be allowed to benefit.
· The system will calculate the percentage of employees earning less than INR.15000 wages/per month in the uploaded file. If it is less than 90%, the establishment will be exempted from availing the benefit.
UAN wise validation:
· Wages are below INR.15000.
· The system calculates the maximum dues, and if there is a discrepancy in numbers, the organization disqualifies for the benefit.
· In case the UAN is not validated against Aadhar, the system will not support the organization eligible for the benefit.
Disbursement of the Benefits:
·For the Members eligible for PMRPY, the employer’s share of benefit will be received from PMRPY, and the employer share will come from PMGKY.
· Member eligible for only PMGKY, both the share of benefit will be received from PMGKY.
· If the establishment is not Member of Employees Pension Scheme, it will be given to both shares in EPF.
· For the exempted establishment, the upfront benefit will be against the EPS share.
The total amount of subsidy will be reduced in the challan, and only the reduced amount will have to be paid by the employer. He will have to pay the EDLI contribution and administrative charges and the contributions for non-eligible members.
Please note: Benefit will be given, if eligible, only against the First ECR. Once an ECR is uploaded, the second ECR will not be considered for benefit.
The employers have been asked through the Scheme to file only one ECR for the month.
To download the notification click here.
To know about Reduction of PF Admin charges from 0.65% to 0.50% click here.
