EPFO begins survey to assess quantum of fund parked in IL&FS bonds by pvt PF trusts

Retirement fund body EPFO has started a survey to assess the amount of investments parked in crisis-hit infrastructure finance company IL&FS by 1,374 private provident fund trusts regulated by it, a source said.

After assessing the loss, the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) would provide the findings of the survey to the government.

The source also informed that the EPFO has also written to the ministries of corporate affairs and finance to protect the body in this situation as its investment is nearly Rs 574 crore in IL&FS bonds.

This is a minuscule amount in view of its overall corpus of over Rs 10 lakh crore with investible deposits of Rs 1.5 lakh crore at hand every year, the source added.

“The EPFO has begun a survey to assess the quantum of investment made by as many as 1,374 private provident fund trusts regulated by it. The findings of the survey would be provided to the government,” according to the source.

The source also disclosed that IL&FS has not defaulted so far on interest payment to the body and the EPFO will approach the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in case of any default on interest payment.

“Some of the pension funds had reportedly approached the NCLT after default on interest payment by the IL&FS but it is unlikely that it would default at time of maturity of bonds. The EPFO investment in IL&FS bonds are due to maturity between 2021 to 2024,” the source informed.

The issue of impact of defaults by Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services on the retirement funds managed by private trust also came up for discussion in the meeting of the EPFO trustees chaired by Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar last week.