EMPLOYEES’ PROVIDENT FUND

(1) Where an employee first becomes liable under section 10 to pay contributions to the Fund, he shall then become a member of the Fund and continue to be a member of the Fund so long as there is any sum to the credit of his individual account in the Fund.

(2) Neither a member of the Fund nor any person claiming under him shall have any interest in, or claim to, the moneys of the Fund otherwise than by virtue of any provision of this Act or of any regulation.

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the Commissioner of Labour shall be in charge of the general administration of this Act.

(2) Subject to any general or special directions of the Commissioner of Labour, any Deputy Commissioner of Labour or any Assistant Commissioner of Labour may exercise, perform or discharge any power, duty or function of the Commissioner under this Act or under any regulation.

(3) There may be appointed such number of officers as may be required for the purpose of carrying out or giving effect to the provisions of this Act,

(4) The Commissioner of Labour may either generally or specially authorize any officer appointed under subsection (3) of this section, to exercise, perform or discharge any power, duty or function of the Commissioner under this Act or under any regulation.

(1) The Monetary Board

(2) Every officer or servant appointed under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) shall be deemed to be employed for the performance of duties under the Monetary Law Act, for the purpose of the application of the provisions of the said Act relating to officers and servants.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (k) of subsection (I), ” expenses ” shall include

(1) The accounts of the Fund in respect of each year shall be audited by the Auditor-General and the cost of the audit shall be paid to him out of the Fund. All payments made to him under this subsection shall be credited to the Consolidated Fund.

(2) The Auditor-General or any officer of his department authorized by him to audit the accounts of the Fund shall have access to all such books and documents as the Auditor-General or such officer may consider necessary for the purposes of the audit of such accounts, and shall be furnished by the Monetary Board and the Commissioner with such information within their knowledge or ascertainable by them as may be required for such purposes.

(3) The Auditor-General shall examine the accounts of the Fund and submit to the Minister annually a report

(4) The Minister shall lay before Parliament a copy of the Auditor-General’s report submitted to the Minister under subsection (3) of this section and copies of the statements transmitted to the Minister by the Monetary Board under paragraph (i) of subsection (1) of section 5.

(1) to the Commissioner prior to the date of enactment of this Act, for defraying the expenditure incurred in making preliminary arrangements for the establishment of the Fund.

(2) to the Monetary Board, for defraying all expenditure, including capital expenditure incurred by such Board and the Commissioner in carrying out the provisions of this Act during the period commencing on the date of enactment of this Act and ending on the thirtieth day of September, 1966, shall constitute a loan from the Government to the Monetary Board and shall be repaid in accordance with such terms and conditions as may be determined by the Minister with the concurrence of the Minister in charge of the subject of Finance.

(1) Any employment, including any employment in the service- of a corporation whose capital or a part of whose capital is provided by the Government, may by regulation be declared to be a covered employment.

(2) Regulations may be made

(3) Subject to the other provisions of this Act, every person over a prescribed age who is employed by any other person in any covered employment shall be an employee to whom this Act applies. For the purposes of this subsection different ages may be prescribed for different covered employments-

(4) Any regulation declaring any employment to be a covered employment may provide that such persons only as earn less than a prescribed amount in that employment or as are of a prescribed class or description, and not other persons in that employment, shall be employees to whom this Act applies.

(1) Subject to the provisions of subsection (3) of this section and of section 27, an employee to whom this Act applies shall, in respect of each month during which he works in a covered employment, be liable to pay to the Fund a contribution of an amount equal to eight per centum of his total earnings from that employment during that month.

(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection (3) of this section and of section 27, the employer of every employee to whom this Act applies and who is liable to pay contributions to the Fund shall, in respect of each month during which such employee is in a covered employment under such employer, be liable to pay to the Fund on or before the last day of the succeeding month, a contribution of an amount equal to twelve per centum of such employee’s total earnings from that employment during that month.

(3) The liability of an employee in a covered employment and his employer to pay contributions under this section shall commence on the day immediately after the date fixed in relation to such employment by the Minister by Order published in the Gazette. Different dates may be fixed under this subsection for different classes of employees in the same covered employment.

(1) An employee to whom this Act applies and his employer may elect, by notice sent to the Commissioner in the prescribed form and manner, to pay, after the date specified in the notice as the date on which the election shall take effect, contributions calculated at such percentages higher than those specified in section 10 as are specified in the notice.

(2) Where an employee and his employer make an election by notice under subsection (1) of this section, such election shall be irrevocable after the date on which the election takes effect, and they shall, after that date, be liable to pay as their contributions under this Act amounts calculated at the percentages specified in that notice.

(1) Where the Commissioner is satisfied that the employer of any employee has, during the period of one year immediately before the appointed date or at any time on or after that date, reduced the earnings of such employee for the purpose of reducing the amount of such contributions, the Commissioner shall, by written notice, direct such employer to pay to the Fund in such instalments and before such dates as may be specified in that notice, in respect of the entire period during which such employee receives such reduced earnings, the difference between the sum he should have paid during that period as contributions had such contributions been calculated on the basis of the earnings of such employee before the reduction and the sum actually paid by him as contributions during that period.

(2) Where the Commissioner gives any employer a direction under subsection (1) of this section, such employer shall comply with that direction.

(a) if such fraction is less than one-half of a cent, such fraction shall not be taken into account; and

(b) if such fraction amounts to or exceeds one-half of a cent, such fraction shall be reckoned as one cent.

(1) Interest at such rate, not less than two and the half per centum per annum, as may, from time to time, be fixed by the Monetary Board with the concurrence of the Minister and the Minister in charge of the subject of Finance shall be paid for each year, out of the income from the investment of the moneys of the Fund, on the amount standing to the credit of the individual account of each member of the Fund as at the thirty-first day of December in that year:

Provided that

(2) Where the income from the investment of the moneys of the Fund is inadequate to pay any part of the interest payable on contributions paid to the Fund under this Act, the amount of the deficit shall be met out of moneys provided by Parliament for the purpose.

(3) Any sum provided by Parliament under subsection (2) of this section shall constitute a loan from the Government to the Monetary Board and shall be repaid in accordance with such terms and conditions as may be determined by the Minister with the concurrence of the Minister in charge of the subject of Finance.

(a) where the contributions are in arrear for a period not exceeding ten days, a surcharge of five per centum of the amount of the contributions due;

(b) where the contributions are in arrear for a period exceeding ten days but not exceeding one month, a surcharge of fifteen per centum of the amount of the contributions due;

(c) where the contributions are in. arrear for a period exceeding one month but not exceeding three months, a surcharge of twenty per centum of the amount of the contributions due ;

(d) where the contributions are in arrear for a period exceeding three months but not exceeding six months, a surcharge of thirty per centum of the amount of the contributions due;

(e) where the contributions are in arrear for a period exceeding six months but not exceeding twelve months, a surcharge of forty per centum of the amount of the contributions due;

(f) where the contributions are in arrear for a period exceeding twelve months, a surcharge of fifty per centum of the amount of the contributions due.”.

(1) Any moneys due to the Fund shall be recoverable, as a debt due to the State, by an action in which proceedings may be taken by way of summary procedure. The provisions of the Civil Procedure Code relating to actions of which the procedure is summary shall apply to an action under this section, and, for the purposes only of the application of such provisions to such action, section 8 of that Code shall have effect as if, for the words ” by this Ordinance” occurring in that section, there were substituted the words ” by this Ordinance or by any other written law”.

(2) Proceedings for the recovery of any moneys due to the Fund may be instituted by the Commissioner or any officer authorized in that behalf by him, and the Commissioner or such officer may, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other written law, conduct such proceedings.

(3) The provisions of the Prescription Ordinance shall not apply to the recovery of any sums payable as contributions or surcharges under this Act.

(2) The Commissioner of Labour may, where he has reason to doubt the genuiness of a Medical Certificate submitted by a member under paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this section, refer the member concerned for re-examination by a duly constituted Medical Board or a Government Medical Officer and where on such re-examination the original Medical Certificate is found to be false in any material particular, the Commissioner shall reject such certificate, and he shall be entitled to refuse to accept future medical certificates issued by such registered medical practitioner.

(1) Where a member of the Fund before becoming entitled to the amount standing to his credit in his individual account or where he dies after becoming entitled thereto but before receiving such amount and where no nominee has been appointed under regulations made under this Act to whom such amount should be paid in the event of the death of such member or where the nominee or nominees appointed under regulations made under this Act is or are dead, then subject to the deductions made in section 22, such amount shall

(2) Where a member of the Fund has appointed under regulations made under this Act two or more nominees to whom the amount lying to the credit of such member’s individual account shall be paid in the event of his death and where one or more than one nominee dies before such member, then, upon the death of such member without such member having made a fresh appointment under the aforesaid regulations, subject to the deductions made in section 22, such amount shall

(1) Where a provident fund or a contributory pension scheme has been established before the appointed date for the benefit of any employees in a covered employment, the administrators of such fund or scheme shall, within three months after the declaration of that employment as a covered employment by regulation made under this Act, furnish the Commissioner with the prescribed particulars relating to such fund or scheme, and, if the Commissioner, after examining such particulars and making such investigations as he may deem necessary, is of the opinion that such fund or scheme satisfies the prescribed requirements and that it is expedient that such fund or scheme should be declared to be an approved provident fund or an approved contributory pension scheme, he shall declare such fund or scheme to be an approved provident fund or an approved contributory pension scheme; and, if he so declares, no contributions shall, with effect from the date fixed in relation to such fund or scheme, be payable to the Fund by such employees and the employer of such employees.

(2) The employer in a covered employment who proposes to establish, after the appointed date, a provident fund for the employees in such employment shall furnish the Commissioner with the prescribed particulars relating to the proposed provident fund, and, if after examining such particulars and making such investigations as he may deem necessary, the Commissioner is of opinion that the proposed provident fund satisfies the prescribed requirements and that it is expedient that such fund should be declared to be an approved provident fund, the Commissioner shall declare the proposed provident fund to be an approved provident fund ; and, if he so declares and the provident fund is established, contributions to the Employees’ Provident Fund shall, with effect from the date fixed in relation to such approved provident fund by the Commissioner, cease to be payable by such employees and such employer.

(2A) Where contributions payable under this Act by the employers or administrators of any approved provident fund or approved contributory pension scheme in respect of any month have not been paid to such fund or scheme on or before the last day of the succeeding month and the employer or administrator is unable to explain to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that the failure to pay such contribution was due to circumstances beyond his control, he shall be liable to pay to such fund or scheme in addition to the amount of the contributions due, a surcharge on such amount calculated in the following manner:-

(2B) The moneys received by way of surcharges and paid into the fund of any approved provident fund or approved contributory pension scheme shall be deemed to form part of the income of such fund or scheme as the case may be and shall accordingly be distributed among the members of the respective fund or scheme.

(3) No rules or regulations governing an approved provident fund or an approved contributory pension scheme shall be altered except with the written sanction of the Commissioner, and, where there is a contravention of the provisions of this subsection, the administrators of such fund or scheme shall be deemed to have committed such contravention.

(4) Every employer and employee who are liable to contribute to an approved provident fund or an approved contributory pension scheme under the rules or regulations in force for that fund or scheme shall comply with such of those rules or regulations as are applicable to them.

(5) Where, either by reason of the fact that an employee liable to pay contributions under this Act to the Employees’ Provident Fund takes up an employment in respect of which an approved provident fund or an approved contributory pension scheme exists or in the circumstances specified in subsection (2) of this section, contributions in respect of an employee cease to be payable to the Employees’ Provident Fund, the amount standing to the credit of his individual account in the Employees’ Provident Fund shall be retained in that account to be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of Part III of this Act.

(6) Where an approved provident fund is wound up, the administrators or liquidators of that approved provident fund shall transfer to the Employees’ Provident Fund all such contributions and interest thereon as have been paid to that approved provident fund.

(7) Where an employee who is a contributor to an approved provident fund leaves the employment by virtue of which he has been such contributor, takes up a covered employment thereafter in respect of which he is not liable to contribute to any other approved provident fund and notifies to the Commissioner in writing the assumption of duties in such covered employment, the Commissioner shall in writing direct the administrators of the first-mentioned approved provident fund to transfer to the Employees’ Provident Fund all such contributions and interest thereon as have been paid in respect of that employee to the first-mentioned approved provident fund.

(8) Where the administrators of a provident fund or contributory pension scheme referred to in subsection (1) of this section fail to comply with the provisions of that subsection or where such fund or scheme is not declared by the Commissioner to be an approved provident fund or an approved contributory pension scheme, such administrators shall transfer to the Fund all such contributions and interest thereon as have been paid in respect of employees to the first-mentioned provident fund or pension scheme.

(9) The Monetary Board- (a) shall, where a sum from an approved provident fund is transferred under subsection (6) of this section to the Employees* Provident Fund, open an individual account in the Employees* Provident Fund for each of the employees who were contributors to that approved provident fund at the time of such transfer, and shall credit to the individual account of each such employee in the Employees’ Provident Fund such part of the sum transferred to the Employees’ Provident Fund as was to the credit of his account in that approved provident fund, and (b) shall open an individual account in the Employees’ Provident Fund for every employee in respect of whom any sum is transferred under subsection (7) or subsection (8) of this section to the Employees’ Provident Fund and shall credit that sum to that individual account.

(10) Where the Commissioner is dissatisfied with the management of any approved provident fund or approved contributory pension scheme, he may revoke the declaration made under subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section in respect of that fund or scheme, and, if such declaration is revoked, he shall in writing

(11) The Monetary Board shall, where the administrators of an approved provident fund or approved contributory pension scheme have complied with a direction issued by the Commissioner under subsection (10) of this section, open an individual account in the Employees’ Provident Fund for each employee who was a contributor to that approved provident fund or approved contributory pension scheme when such administrators complied with such direction, and shall credit to that individual account such part of the sum transferred from that approved provident fund or approved contributory pension scheme to the Employees’ Provident Fund in compliance with the Commissioner’s direction as was to the credit of that employee’s account in that approved provident fund or approved contributory pension scheme.

(12) Where the Commissioner has been notified of the existence of a dispute, between an employer or administrator as the case may be, and any member of an approved provident fund or approved contributory pension scheme he shall issue such directions as he may deem appropriate in the circumstances for the settlement of such dispute. Any directions issued by the Commissioner under this subsection shall be binding on the parties to the dispute.

(1) Any person aggrieved by any determination made under section 28 may appeal from such determination to a Tribunal of Appeal (hereafter in this Act referred to as the Tribunal) constituted in the prescribed manner, and the decision of the Tribunal on such appeal shall, subject to any Order which the Court of Appeal may make on appeal made from such decision in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, be final.

(2) Where the Commissioner or any party to an appeal made to the Tribunal is dissatisfied with the decision of the Tribunal on such appeal, the Commissioner or that party may, by written petition in which every other party to the appeal is mentioned as a respondent, appeal to the Court of Appeal from that decision on a question of law. The petition of appeal shall state the question of law to be argued, shall bear a certificate by an attorney-at-law that such question is fit for adjudication by the Court of Appeal, shall be presented to the Tribunal by the appellant within twenty-one days after the date of the Tribunal’s decision from which the appeal is preferred, and shall be accompanied by a sufficient number of copies for service on each of the persons mentioned as respondents. Every such petition of appeal shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee.

(3) Where a petition of appeal is presented to the Tribunal in the manner and within the time specified in subsection (2) of this section, it shall be the duty of the Tribunal

(4) Every appeal to the Court of Appeal under this section may be heard and determined by any two Judges of that Court.

(5) Upon a decision being given by the Court of Appeal in any appeal under this section, the Registrar of that Court shall remit the case to the Tribunal together with the decision of that Court, and it shall be the duty of the Tribunal, if the decision of that Court so requires, to rescind or vary, in such manner as is required by the decision of that Court, the decision of the Tribunal from which the appeal was preferred and, where necessary for the purpose of giving effect to the decision of that Court, to make a fresh decision.

(6) In any appeal made to the Court of Appeal under this section that Court may make such order in regard to costs as to that Court may seem fit,

(7) Any costs ordered by the Court of Appeal under subsection (6) of this section to be paid by any person may, notwithstanding anything contained in any other written law, be recovered, on application made in that behalf to the Magistrate’s Court having jurisdiction in the place where that person is resident, in like manner as a fine imposed by that Magistrate’s Court, notwithstanding that such costs may exceed the amount of the maximum fine which that Magistrate’s Court may in the exercise of its ordinary jurisdiction impose.

(8) Subject to any regulations made under this Act, the Tribunal may regulate its own procedure.

(1) The Commissioner may, for the purposes of this Act, direct in writing any person to furnish to him before a date specified in the direction

(2) Any person furnishing any document under subsection (1) of this section may transmit with such document a request in writing that the contents of such document should be treated as confidential and, where such request is made, the contents of such document shall not be disclosed without the consent previously obtained of such person.

(3) Nothing in the preceding provisions of this section shall be deemed to require or permit any person to disclose any explanation or to produce any document in any case where such disclosure or production by that person is prohibited by or under the provisions of any written law other than this Act.

(a) enter and inspect at all reasonable hours by day or night any premises or place for examining any register or record relating to the earnings of any employee,

(b) take copies of any such register or record or part thereof,

(c) examine any person whom he has reasonable cause to believe is an employer or an employee, and

(d) examine any records or other documents relating to any provident fund or pension scheme.

(a) contravenes any provision of this Act or of any regulation made thereunder;

(b) furnishes, for the purposes of this Act, any information which is, or any document the contents of which are, or any part of the contents of which is, to his knowledge unique or incorrect;

(c) wilfully delays or obstructs the Commissioner or any other officer in the exercise of his powers under section 32, shall be guilty of an offence under this Act; or

(d) contravenes any direction made by the Commissioner in the exercise of his powers under section 27.

(1) Where any employer is charged with an offence under this Act, he shall, upon complaint duly made by him in accordance with the provisions of section 136 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, and on giving to the prosecution not less than three days’ notice of his intention, be entitled, subject to the provisions of Chapter XIV of that Act, to have any other person whom he charges as the actual offender brought before the court, and if, after commission of the offence by such other person has been proved, the employer proves to the satisfaction of the court that he has used due diligence to enforce the provisions of this Act and such other person has committed the offence without his knowledge, consent or connivance, then such other person shall be convicted of the offence and the employer shall be exempt from any punishment in respect of the offence.

(2) Where in any case referred to in subsection (1) of this section a complaint is made by an employer against any other person,

(1) Where an employer makes default in the payment of any sum which he is liable to pay under this Act and the Commissioner is of opinion that recovery under section 17 of the Act is impracticable or inexpedient, he may issue a certificate to the District Court having jurisdiction in any district in which the member or members of the fund in respect of whom default is made, is or was employed by such defaulting employer, containing particulars of the sum due and the name and place of residence of such employer, and the court shall thereupon direct a writ of execution to issue to the Fiscal authorizing and requiring him to seize and sell all the property, movable and immovable, of the defaulting employer, or such part thereof as he may deem necessary for the recovery of the amount so due, and the provisions of sections 226 to 297 of the Civil Procedure Code shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to such seizure and sale.

(2) Where an employer makes default in the payment of any sum which he is liable to pay under this Act and the Commissioner is of opinion that it is impracticable or inexpedient to recover that sum under section 17 or under subsection (1) of this section or where the full amount due has not been recovered by seizure and sale, then, he may issue a certificate containing particulars of the sum so due and the name and place of residence of the defaulting employer, to the Magistrate having jurisdiction in the division in which the place of work of the member or members of the fund in respect of whom default is made, is situate. The Magistrate shall, thereupon, summon such employer before him to show cause why further proceedings for the recovery of the sum due under this Act should not be taken against him and in default of sufficient cause being shown, such sum shall be deemed to be a fine imposed by a sentence of the Magistrate on such employer for an offence punishable with imprisonment and the provisions of section 291 (except paragraphs (a), (d) and (i) of subsection (1) thereof) of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, relating to the default of payment of a fine imposed for such an offence shall thereupon apply and the Magistrate may make any direction which, by the provisions of that subsection, he could have made at the time of imposing such sentence.

(3) The correctness of any statement in a certificate issued by the Commissioner for the purposes of this section shall not be called in question or examined by the court in any proceedings under this section, and accordingly nothing in this section shall authorize the court to consider or decide the correctness of any statement in such certificate, and the Commissioner’s certificate shall be sufficient evidence that the amount due under this Act from the defaulting employer has been duly calculated and that such amount is in default.

(4) The provisions of this section shall have effect notwithstanding anything in section 17 of this Act.(*With retrospective effect to 1st June, 1958. See section 2 of Act No. 24 of 1971.)

(a) if that body of persons is a body corporate, every director and officer of that body corporate,

(b) if that body of persons is a firm, every partner of that firm, and

(c) if that body of persons is a trade union, every officer of that trade union, shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence :

Provided that a director or an officer of such body corporate, or a partner of such firm or an officer of such trade union, shall not be deemed to be guilty of such offence if he proves that such offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.

(1) An extract from the Gazette containing any regulation or order made under this Act, or a copy of such regulation or order purporting to have been certified by the Commissioner to be a true copy, may be produced in court in proof of such regulation or order.

(2) In any legal proceedings

(1) The income from the investment of any moneys of the Fund shall be exempt from income tax chargeable under any written law relating to the imposition of income tax.

(2) The sum paid as a benefit in respect of a member of the Fund under this Act shall be exempt from income tax chargeable under any written law relating to the imposition of income tax, if such member during the five years immediately preceding his retirement, departure from Sri Lanka or death, as the case may be, was not liable to pay income tax.

(3) The Fund shall be deemed to be a provident fund approved by the Commissioner or the Commissioner- General, as the case may be, for the purposes of the Income Tax Ordinance or the Inland Revenue Act, No. 4 of 1963, or the Inland Revenue Act (No. 28 of 1979).

In this subsection “Commissioner” and ” Commissioner-General” shall have the same meaning as in the Income Tax Ordinance or the Inland Revenue Act, No. 4 of 1963, or the Inland Revenue Act. (No. 28 of 1979) respectively.

(1) The Minister may make regulations

(2) No regulation made by the Minister shall have effect until it is approved by Parliament and notification of such approval is published in the Gazette. Every regulation so approved shall be as valid and effectual as though it were herein enacted.

(a) wages, salary or fees;

(b) cost of living allowance, special living allowance and other similar allowances ;

(c) payment in respect of holidays ;

(d) the cash value of any cooked or uncooked food provided by the employer to employees in prescribed employments and any such commodity used in the preparation or composition of any food as is so provided, such value being assessed by the employer subject to an appeal to the Commissioner whose decision on such appeal shall be final;

(e) meal allowance ; and

(f) such other forms of remuneration as may be prescribed ;’;