Section 6C EPF Act 1952 - Employees Deposit-linked Insurance Scheme
Section 6C of the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 empowers the Central Government to frame the Employees' Deposit-linked Insurance Scheme (EDLI) to provide life insurance benefits for employees of establishments to which the Act applies.
Section 6C, EPF and MP Act, 1952
Employees' Deposit-linked Insurance Scheme, 1976
Life insurance benefit linked to covered employment
Insurance Fund vests in the Central Board
Meaning and purpose of Section 6C
The provision is the statutory foundation for EDLI. It authorises the Central Government, through a notification in the Official Gazette, to establish an insurance scheme for employees covered by the EPF and MP Act. The Employees' Deposit-linked Insurance Scheme, 1976 was framed under this power and came into force on 1 August 1976.
Under the Scheme, an assurance benefit becomes payable on the death of an eligible employee while a member of the Fund, subject to the conditions and computation rules contained in the EDLI Scheme as amended from time to time.
Section 6C - statutory provisions
Sub-section (1): The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, frame the Employees' Deposit-linked Insurance Scheme for providing life insurance benefits to employees of establishments or classes of establishments to which the Act applies.
Sub-section (2): After the Insurance Scheme is framed, a Deposit-linked Insurance Fund is to be established. Employers pay into that Fund, for covered employees, the contribution specified by the Central Government, subject to the statutory ceiling stated in Section 6C.
Explanation to sub-section (2): For this provision, "dearness allowance" and "retaining allowance" carry the meanings assigned to those expressions in Section 6 of the Act.
Sub-section (3): The earlier statutory text represented on this page as omitted ("***") is not reproduced as an operative requirement.
Sub-section (4): It provides for sums towards administration of the Insurance Scheme, subject to the limits and conditions laid down by the Act; the omitted clause is not treated here as an operative provision.
Sub-section (5): The Insurance Fund vests in the Central Board and is administered in the manner specified in the Insurance Scheme.
Sub-section (6): The Insurance Scheme may provide for all or any matters specified in Schedule IV to the Act.
Sub-section (7): The Scheme may provide for provisions to operate prospectively or retrospectively from a date specified in the Scheme.
Employer contribution and employee contribution
Section 6C itself authorises the statutory framework for contributions to the Insurance Fund. Under the EDLI Scheme, the employer contribution is presently prescribed at 0.5% of the relevant monthly wages, subject to the applicable wage ceiling. Employees do not make a separate contribution for EDLI insurance cover.
EDLI assurance benefit
The amount actually payable is governed by the Employees' Deposit-linked Insurance Scheme, 1976, particularly the benefit provisions and subsequent amendments, rather than by Section 6C alone. EPFO's official material records enhancement of the maximum assurance benefit to Rs. 7 lakh and provides the conditions governing the minimum benefit. Because benefit rules can be amended by notification, the current Scheme and EPFO instructions should be checked when making a claim.
Related provisions
Section 6 is relevant because Section 6C adopts its meanings of dearness allowance and retaining allowance. Section 5A concerns the Central Board, which administers the Insurance Fund. Section 17 contains exemption-related provisions that can also be relevant to EDLI coverage and exempted establishments.
Official resources
India Code - Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952