The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has issued a notice to the US-based IT services and consulting firm Exusia over a complaint by an ex-employee that the firm had not remitted his provident fund (PF) dues for the period July-October 2022.
“.....it is to inform that a grievance… received from Mr Ganesh Gorakh Darekar states that the establishment, M/s Exusia India Pvt Ltd, has not remitted PF dues for the period July 2022 to October 2022 in respect of the said member,” the notice by the Assistant Commissioner of EPFO, Pune, reads.
"[Exusia] is directed to visit the EPFO office, verify the grievance, and submit a comprehensive report to the office within two days,’’ the notice dated January 9 added.
Moneycontrol has seen a copy of the notice. As per rules, employers are required to make the EPF contribution within 15 days of the end of the month for which salary has been paid.
Exusia is yet to respond to Moneycontrol's queries about the notice. The report will be updated when their response comes in.
Pune-based labour union Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) has also complained to the EPFO, the state labour ministry, and the income tax department about Exusia not remitting PF and TDS (tax deducted at source) dues.
“On the basis of NITES’ complaints, the income tax department has forwarded the case to the Director General of Income Tax, Pune. NITES is now in the process of filing a court case against Exusia India to bring justice to more than 400 aggrieved employees,” said Harpreet Singh Saluja, President, NITES.
Several ex-employees that Moneycontrol spoke to alleged that the company had been deducting TDS and PF from employees' salaries but not submitting the same. They also alleged that the company had not concluded the full and final settlement (F&F) of various former employees.
“I had asked the management about the deliberate late payment of TDS and PF, but I was ignored. It is common practice in this company to exploit the lax enforcement of Indian labour and tax laws for profit,” said Darekar, who resigned as a senior project delivery lead after serving the company for nine years.
Founded in 2012 in New York city, Exusia has offices in London, South Africa, and Pune, along with delivery centres in Gurugram, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Chennai. The company has around 400 employees in its Pune office, Darekar said.
In November 2022, Rajneesh Kumar, a former technical manager at Exusia, noticed that the company hadn't deposited his PF and TDS since July to November 2022.
“When I raised the issue with the concerned authorities at the company, they terminated me even though I was serving my notice period. After my lawyer sent a legal notice, they deposited the PF and TDS in December,” said Kumar.
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