Firm asked to pay Rs 124 crore PF dues

HYDERABAD: In what could be the first of its kind order issued by Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), the organisation has ordered MW High Tech Projects India Ltd to pay Rs 124 crore worth provident fund (PF) money to its employees, pending over a span of four years. The order was issued by B Chandrashekhar, Regional PF Commissioner-I of the EPFO’s Hyderabad Regional Office at the beginning of this month, with a warning that if it is not complied with, action could be taken against the company under the Employees Provisions Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. 

MW High Tech Projects India Ltd is an Indian subsidiary of the Germany based engineering and construction conglomerate M+W Group, whose core activities now operate under the name ‘Exyte’. The Indian arm of this company, located at Nanakramguda, has undertaken major constructions projects in the country of global brands such as Mondalez, Infosys and Michelin Tyre Factory. However, the company has been under the scrutiny of various government authorities since the company’s former head of the human resources department, Abhishek Mishra, blew the whistle alleging gross misappropriation. Mishra is under police protection now. 

The EPFO had established a Commission of Inquiry in 2016 to look into the allegations of misappropriation of PF money by the company. After conducting investigations for more than two years, the EPFO released a 119-page report that is available with Express. Apart from non-compliance in PF payment, EPFO in its inquiry report also mentions various other discrepancies. This includes the way the company submitted documents in more than 200 cartons to EPFO for analysis, noting that the documents were submitted without indexing in an unorganised manner. The report also accuses the company of furnishing “...doctored and edited portion of documents which can not be treated as valid documents.”
Mishra points out these are not the only violations. Speaking to Express he said, “EPFO has identified and pointed out a huge irregularity, of negative entries of Rs 3,340 crore. 

It has further pointed out anomalies in TDS details of Rs 430 crores vis-a-vis expenses of Rs 2,244 crore. There are further critical concerns as per the EPFO report, which need a detailed probe by an agency with expertise and jurisdiction such as the CBI or CAG.” He said that apart from EPFO, the company is being investigated by various departments including Income tax, Sales tax, Commercial tax, Mines and minerals, ESIC and Labour.