Guwahati: A recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has flagged major gaps in enrolment, fund deposits and claim settlements within the Assam Tea Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (ATEPFO), raising concerns over the social security of thousands of tea estate workers.
Covering the period from 2017-18 to 2021-22, the report — tabled in the Assam Assembly — notes that despite 1,197 tea gardens being registered with ATEPFO, only 624 estates have fully enrolled their workers.
While 12,37,351 workers are eligible for registration, the organisation has enlisted 11,98,231, leaving 39,120 workers outside the provident fund safety net as of March 2022.
The audit also found a significant backlog in provident fund deposits. By the end of March 2022, 334 tea estates had a cumulative shortfall of Rs. 315.45 crore in PF contributions, with delays stretching up to five years in 83 percent of the estates concerned.
This figure excludes units under the Assam Tea Corporation Ltd (ATCL).
The situation within ATCL-managed gardens is even more concerning.
Nineteen ATCL estates, employing 20,994 workers, have not deposited employee or employer PF contributions since 2005 due to severe financial distress.
As of March 2022, the total default — including statutory interest — stood at Rs. 419.07 crore, of which only Rs.32.43 crore (8%) had been cleared.
ATEPFO later informed in October 2023 that ATCL had deposited the outstanding principal amount and was in the process of remitting the interest.
In terms of service delivery, the CAG noted that the organisation had settled between 87–96 percent of PF claims and 99 percent of pension claims during the five-year period.
However, settlement of family pension applications remained poor, ranging from just 10–39 percent.
The audit further revealed that 1,994 claims worth Rs. 14.01 crore, though processed by ATEPFO, had not reached beneficiaries due to failed bank transactions as of March 2022.
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Over half of these pending cases date back to 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Investment decisions by the organisation also came under scrutiny. The ATEPFO had placed funds in select corporate bonds without adequate assessment of risk, the report said. These bonds began defaulting on interest payments from 2019-20, resulting in an interest loss of Rs. 11.42 crore.
The CAG warned that six such investments, totalling Rs. 69.61 crore, could face potential losses on maturity up to September 2027.
The findings raise fresh questions about ATEPFO’s ability to safeguard the financial security of Assam’s tea workforce, for whom the fund serves as a crucial social protection mechanism.
