Section 15 EPF Act 1952 - Special Provisions Relating to Existing Provident Funds
Section 15 of the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 dealt with employees who were already members of an establishment's provident fund when the statutory Employees' Provident Fund Scheme became applicable. It protected accrued benefits during the transition and provided for transfer of provident fund accumulations to the statutory Fund.
Meaning and purpose of Section 15
The provision addressed the transition from an existing provident fund maintained by an establishment to the statutory provident fund framework. In simple terms, an employee's existing provident fund benefits were not intended to disappear merely because the 1952 Act became applicable. The provision first preserved those benefits pending application of the statutory Scheme and then dealt with transfer of the employee's accumulated balance when the Scheme applied.
Section 15 - Special provisions relating to existing provident funds
(1) Subject to the provisions of section 17, every employee who is a subscriber to any provident fund of an establishment to which this Act applies shall, pending the application of a Scheme to the establishment in which he is employed, continue to be entitled to the benefits accruing to him under the provident fund, and the provident fund shall continue to be maintained in the same manner and subject to the same conditions as it would have been if this Act had not been passed.
(2) On the application of any Scheme to an establishment, the accumulations in any provident fund of the establishment, standing to the credit of the employees who become members of the Fund established under the Scheme shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any law for the time being in force or in any deed or other instrument establishing the provident fund but subject to the provisions, if any, contained in the Scheme, be transferred to the Fund established under the Scheme, and shall be credited to the accounts of the employees entitled thereto in the Fund.
Section 15(1) explained - continuation of existing benefits
Sub-section (1) operated during the period after the Act became applicable to an establishment but before the relevant statutory Scheme was applied. An employee who was already a subscriber to the establishment's provident fund continued to receive the benefits accruing under that fund. The existing fund was to continue to be maintained in the same manner and on the same conditions during that interim period.
The opening words, "subject to the provisions of section 17", connected this transitional protection with the Act's exemption provisions. Section 17 dealt with exemptions for establishments, classes of establishments and, in specified circumstances, individual employees where the statutory conditions were met.
Section 15(2) explained - transfer of accumulated provident fund balance
Once the statutory Scheme became applicable, the accumulated amount standing to the credit of employees who became members of the statutory Fund was required to be transferred to that Fund and credited to the respective employees' accounts. The sub-section contained an overriding clause applying notwithstanding anything contrary in another law, deed or instrument establishing the earlier provident fund, while remaining subject to provisions contained in the Scheme.
The Employees' Provident Funds Scheme historically contained machinery dealing with transfer of accumulations from existing provident funds. For a current matter, the applicable saving or transitional provision and the scheme presently in force should also be checked.
Relationship with Section 17
Section 15(1) expressly operated subject to Section 17. Under the 1952 Act, Section 17 was the principal exemption provision. Accordingly, the treatment of an existing provident fund could depend on whether an establishment or employee was covered by a valid exemption and on the terms governing that exemption.
Present legal position after the Code on Social Security, 2020
The Code on Social Security, 2020 consolidates social security legislation and, upon its commencement on 21 November 2025, repealed the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. Section 164 of the Code contains detailed savings. Among other things, actions taken and benefits provided under repealed enactments may continue under the corresponding provisions to the extent permitted by the savings clause, and the Code separately addresses continuation of specified EPF, pension and insurance schemes during the transition.
Official legal resources
- India Code - Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952
- Ministry of Labour and Employment - Code on Social Security, 2020
- Employees' Provident Fund Organisation
This page is intended as a legal information resource. For a pending dispute or transaction, verify the provision, commencement notification, saving clause and scheme applicable to the relevant date.