EPFOA urges CPFC to equip field offices with authority, modern tools to handle default, compliance

New Delhi: Employees' Provident Fund Officers' Association (EPFOA) has urged the Central Provident Fund Commissioner (CPFC) to equip field formations with necessary authority and effective modern tools to handle all cases of default and non-compliance.

In a letter to CPFC Ramesh Krishnamurthi on December 11, 2025, the association urged CPFC to address the systemic and systematic compliance failures recently exposed by the fire accident at the Birch by Romeo Lane Night Club in Goa on December 7, 2025, in which 25 people lost their lives.

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According to the letter, five of those killed were tourists and the remaining 20 were employees of that night club.

The establishment, registered as BEING GS HOSPITALITY GOA ARPORA LLP with EPF Code GAGOA3635074000, is reported to have been defaulting on EPF contributions, failing to pay any EPF dues to its employees, it noted.

Further, while the owners are absconding, the establishment holds another EPF Code (DLCPM2697829000) where contributions are being paid for only three persons, none of whom matches the names of the 20 deceased employees, it noted.

Securing the provident fund, pension and insurance benefits for their families now presents a challenging task for the local EPFO office due to the non-compliance by the establishment, it pointed out.

This failure to detect and enforce compliance is linked to significant operational shortcomings -- traditional monitoring tools such as issuing software-based lists of defaulters by the head office, issuing of showcause notices and physical inspections, have been severely curtailed by the EPFO.

It pointed out that to date, no modern, technology-based monitoring tools have been provided as promised in the revised inspection mechanism.

The e-inspection system, launched in year 2019, remains ineffective & nonstarter, it added.

"We must activate our compliance machinery to target defaulters to send the message that the cost of non-compliance is financially unacceptable," it added.

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