Private sector employees to receive insurance claim up to Rs 7 lakhs under EDLI scheme? Fact Check

Various posts on social media claim that if a private sector employee passes away due to COVID-19, then the nominee is eligible to receive up to Rs.7 lakh under the Employees Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) scheme.

The post and similar other similar posts have been shared numerous times on social media. According to the message, the scheme provides three benefits stating:

“1. Pension (Widow/Widower + 2 dependent children)

2. PF accumulations
3. Insurance (Maximum upto 7 lakhs)”

Digiteye India also received the message for fact-checking on its WhatsApp fact check number.

Fact Check:

The Employees Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) is one of the schemes formulated under the Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act (EPF and MP Act), 1952. It is an insurance cover provided by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for private sector salaried employees. The EDLI scheme applies to all organisations registered under the EPF and MP Act, 1952. If a company is registered under these acts, its salaried employees are bound to get the benefits of the EDLI scheme.

The rules of EDLI states that “EDLI applies to all employees with a basic salary under Rs. 15,000/- per month.” The employees do not need to contribute to EDLI. Their contribution is required only for EPF which organizations take care of. The employer contributes 0.5% of the employee’s provident fund to the EDLI. However seeing the COVID-19 pandemic wreak havoc on the lives of everyone, according to the new notification, the maximum benefit an employee can get under the scheme has been increased to Rs 7 lakh from the previous Rs 6 lakh.

The new notification issued on 29th April 2021 states that the minimum payable benefit is Rs 2.50 lakh while the maximum benefit has been capped at Rs 7 lakh. The benefit is only applicable to those where the deceased employee was employed by the organization for a continuous period of 12 months before his death. The amount shall be paid to the nominee or the legal heir of the employee who died of COVID-19. The procedure will be taken care of by the organization’s welfare committee and welfare officers once the nominee files the insurance claim.

Saraswathi Kasturirangan, partner, Deloitte India, told LiveMint, “The EDLI scheme is available to all members who are contributing to the provident fund. The coverage includes establishments that have their own provident fund trust as well. The scheme, therefore, provides coverage to employees in the event of their untimely death, and the nominees shall receive the stated benefits.”

However, the EDLI only gives monetary compensation of Rs 7 lakh and not monthly pensions as claimed.

Claim:

EDLI scheme to provide pension, provident fund accumulations, and insurance claim of Rs 7 lakhs.

Rating:

The EDLI scheme only provides Rs 7 lakh insurance cover claim to the nominee/legal heir of those employees who died of COVID-19. To be eligible for pension benefits, the employee should have a minimum of 15 years contribution to the Provident Fund account and should be 58 years of age and above.

Our rating – Misinterpretation.