Swankier
offices of the half a century old Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO)
along with a sharp improvement in its services may be a reality. The country’s
largest retirement fund manager is on a drive to implement ISO 9001 standards
at all its branches.
Field
offices have been asked to settle all claims within 10 days and claims arising
out of death of members within three days. Further, pensions given under the
related Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) must be disbursed by the last working
day of a month and credited into the member’s account by 3rd of every month.
These are
a part of the performance parameters that the EPFO has outlined for all field
offices to implement by end of the fiscal.
The EPFO
has also directed field offices to update atleast 75 per cent of its total
members’ PF account details and fully computerise (using CORE banking
solutions) all pensioners’ bank accounts by March 2013.
“Implementation
of ISO 9001 in all EPF field offices is a mandatory success indicator under the
Reforms Framework Document (2012-13) under the mandatory objective
‘Administrative Reforms’,” the EPFO has written in a missive to all branches,
adding that a pilot project in Jabalpur was successful and is certified as ISO
9001-compliant.
ISO 9001
is a globally recognised standard for quality management of businesses and has
become mandatory for government departments. Some like Airports Authority of
India have got ISO certifications even earlier.
In
addition, the EPFO has also listed physical facilities that each of the field
offices must have. These include air conditioned offices, building use
certificates, ‘clean and hygienic washrooms’ for employees as well as visitors
and also a functional canteen.
It has already
made provisions upto Rs 10 lakh for its branch offices to upgrade.
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