Section 7 EPF Act 1952 - Modification of Scheme
Section 7 of the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 empowers the Central Government to modify the statutory provident fund, pension and insurance schemes by notification in the Official Gazette. It also subjects such notifications to Parliamentary scrutiny.
Meaning and scope of Section 7
The expression "Modification of Scheme" refers to the statutory power given to the Central Government to alter the schemes framed under the EPF and MP Act. The power extends to the Scheme, the Pension Scheme and the Insurance Scheme, as applicable. A change is made through a notification published in the Official Gazette.
Section 7 is therefore an enabling provision for keeping the schemes aligned with statutory, administrative and social-security requirements without requiring an amendment of the parent Act for every scheme-level change. The power is not confined to future changes: the section expressly permits prospective as well as retrospective modification.
Section 7 - Modification of Scheme
Sub-section (1): The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, add to, amend or vary, either prospectively or retrospectively, the Scheme, the Pension Scheme or the Insurance Scheme, as the case may be.
Sub-section (2): A notification issued under sub-section (1) must be laid before each House of Parliament for a total period of thirty days while Parliament is in session. The period may fall within one session or two or more successive sessions. If both Houses agree to modify the notification or agree that it should not have been issued, it thereafter operates only in the modified form or ceases to have effect, as applicable. Such modification or annulment does not invalidate anything already done under the notification.
Key legal features
1. Power rests with the Central Government
The statutory authority to modify the schemes under Section 7 is vested in the Central Government. The change is effected through an Official Gazette notification.
2. Prospective and retrospective amendments
Section 7 expressly permits a scheme modification to operate prospectively or retrospectively. Whether a particular notification has retrospective operation depends on the language and effective-date provisions of that notification.
3. Parliamentary oversight
Every notification under Section 7(1) is subject to the laying procedure in Section 7(2). Both Houses of Parliament may agree to modify the notification or that it should not continue. The statute protects actions already validly taken under the notification before such modification or annulment.
4. Schemes covered
The provision covers the statutory schemes contemplated by the Act: the Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, the Employees' Pension Scheme and the Employees' Deposit-linked Insurance Scheme.
Related provisions
Section 7 should be read with the provisions under which the respective schemes are framed, including Section 5 - Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, Section 6A - Employees' Pension Scheme and Section 6C - Employees' Deposit-linked Insurance Scheme. The Parliamentary laying requirement for schemes under the Act is also addressed in Section 6D.
This page is a general legal-information summary. For the operative position in a particular matter, the text of the Act, the relevant scheme and the applicable Gazette notification should be checked together.