CIC: The issue raised by the Appellant regarding the anomaly reflected in his closing PF balance coupled with rejection of his PF claim is purely a matter of grievance which cannot be resolved under the mandate of RTI Act
2 Jun, 2023Information sought:
The Appellant filed an RTI application dated 18.12.2021 seeking the following information:
“1. Closing Balance And Passbook of this A/C
UAN No 100445704831
PF No BRPAT0050200001278855
2 status of claim id BRPAT211050031005 3 Status Of Date OF Exit 4 status of submitted pint declaration form 5 contact No Mr. R. W. Syiem”
The CPIO furnished a pointwise reply to the appellant on 03.02.2022 stating as under:
“01. Closing balance as on 01.04.2021- EE Rs.8430/- and ER Rs.2448/-. A member can download his passbook through UAN and Password through Unified portal.
2. F-19- Rs.21742/- Vide cheque no. 863218 dated 11.06.2020 and Form10C - Rs.52481/- vide cheque no.874394 dated 11.06.2020.
3. Dated of exit- 31.03.2018.
4. Purpose of joint declaration not mentioned by member.
5. Phone no-0612-2227139.”
Being dissatisfied, the appellant filed a First Appeal dated 18.01.2022. FAA’s order dated 25.02.2022, held as under:
“The information already provided vide this office letter dated 03.02.2022.”
Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied, appellant approached the Commission with the instant Second Appeal.
Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing:
The following were present:-
Appellant: Present through video-conference.
Respondent: Pankaj Kumar, RPFC & CPIO present through video-conference.
The core contention raised by the Appellant in the instant Appeal was intimation of incorrect amount of his PF account as also rejection of his PF claim despite having sufficient balance in his PF Account. He went on to add that to reconcile the correct amount, he had filed multiple complaints and had to run from pillar to post but even then, the matter could not be resolved and hence lastly ,he resorted to filing of the instant RTI Application. He further contested that the information furnished by the CPIO depicting the closing balance of his PF as Rs. 8,430/- was wrong as there was an amount of Rs. 10,434/- lying in the said account.
The CPIO explained that prior to digitization, the records were maintained in their office manually without any concept of seeding Adhaar number with PF account of the member . Also, it was gathered that the Appellant has 4 to 5 PF numbers; may be due to which the correct balance in his PF account was not reflected and perhaps due to which the Appellant is not getting his complete entitled claims. The CPIO however, agreed to look into the matter and volunteered to resolve the issue.
Upon Commission’s instance, the CPIO further apprised and guided the Appellant about the process to get his entitled amount. The Appellant interjected and vehemently denied the version of CPIO.
However, upon insistence of the Appellant and at the behest of the Commission, the CPIO agreed to compile and collate the information/ records available in their office and provide a revised reply intimating the latest status of the Closing Balance of his PF No BRPAT0050200001278855 , in response to point no. 1 of the RTI application.
Decision:
The Commission upon a perusal of records and after hearing submissions of both the parties although finds no infirmity in the initial reply of the CPIO as it was found to be as per the provisions of RTI Act.
Further, the issue raised by the Appellant regarding the anomaly reflected in his closing PF balance coupled with rejection of his PF claim is purely a matter of grievance which cannot be resolved under the mandate of RTI Act.
However, in furtherance of hearing proceedings, the CPIO is directed to provide a revised reply in response to point no. 1 intimating the current Closing Balance in Passbook of UAN No 100445704831 & PF No BRPAT0050200001278855.
The above said information should be provided by the CPIO free of cost to the Appellant within 15 days from the date of receipt of this order under due intimation to the Commission.
The appeal is disposed of accordingly.
Saroj Punhani
Information Commissioner
Citation: Raju v. Employees' Provident Fund Organisation, CIC/EPFOG/A/2022/612857, 03.05.2023