Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952

Section 5E of EPF Act, 1952 - Delegation

Section 5E authorises the Central Board and a State Board to delegate specified powers and functions, subject to any conditions and limitations they impose, where delegation is considered necessary for efficient administration of the statutory schemes.

Updated: 25 September 2026

What does Section 5E provide?

Section 5E is the delegation provision in the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. In practical terms, it enables the statutory Boards to distribute specified administrative powers and functions to designated bodies, chairpersons or officers instead of requiring every matter to be dealt with by the Board itself.

Section 5E - Delegation

The Central Board may delegate powers and functions to the Executive Committee, the Chairman of the Board or any of its officers. A State Board may delegate powers and functions to its Chairman or any of its officers. The delegation may be made subject to conditions and limitations specified by the relevant Board and must concern powers or functions considered necessary for efficient administration of the Scheme, the Pension Scheme and the Insurance Scheme.

Meaning of delegation under Section 5E

For Section 5E, "delegation" means the statutory transfer or entrustment of the exercise of specified powers and functions by the competent Board to the persons or bodies expressly identified in the section. The provision does not create an unrestricted power to transfer authority: the delegation remains subject to the conditions and limitations specified by the Board and must relate to powers and functions under the Act.

Who may delegate powers?

Central Board

The Central Board may delegate to the Executive Committee, the Chairman of the Board, or any of its officers.

State Board

A State Board may delegate to its Chairman or any of its officers.

Purpose and scope of Section 5E

The statutory purpose is efficient administration of the Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, the Employees' Pension Scheme and the Employees' Deposit-linked Insurance Scheme. A valid exercise of delegated authority therefore depends on the terms of the delegation, including any conditions or limits attached to it.

Important: Section 5E should be read with the relevant delegation order, scheme provisions and other applicable provisions of the EPF Act when determining whether a particular officer or authority is empowered to exercise a specific function.

Related provisions

For the institutional framework around delegation, see Section 5A - Central Board, Section 5AA - Executive Committee, Section 5B - State Board, Section 5D - Appointment of officers and Section 6 - Contributions and matters which may be provided for in Schemes.