• Alleges move afoot to remove collection from Labour Dept
• Says Govt should address shortcomings instead of weakening existing system
• 22,450 companies defaulted on EPF payments totalling Rs 34.9 b since 2015

National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) member and trade unionist Anton Marcus has claimed that there is a plan to remove responsibility for collecting Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and Employees’ Trust Fund (ETF) contributions from the Labour Department and transfer it to another institution, warning that such a move could weaken the system for protecting workers’ contributions.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, Marcus alleged the Government should strengthen the process of collecting EPF and ETF contributions from companies, but that sufficient action had not been taken.

“There is no interest on the part of the Government in taking action against companies that don’t pay EPF and ETF. How many companies are there in Sri Lanka, and how many of them are actually making these payments? We don’t see that the Government is looking into this adequately,” he said.

Marcus claimed that the Government was now seeking to remove responsibility for collecting EPF and ETF contributions from the Department, and questioned which institution would be given those poweRs

“There may be shortcomings in the Department when it comes to collecting these funds. Those shortcomings should be corrected. That is why this Government came into power. It is not to remove the Department from this process,” he said.

Marcus further said that Department officers had been trained to deal with EPF- and ETF-related matters and were familiar with the procedures to be followed when problems arise.

“They know how to handle it. What is the Government going to do after removing the Department from this process? Are they going to give this to the private sector? Can the responsibility of checking whether private sector companies are paying the money that they are supposed to pay their employees be handed over to the private sector?” he questioned.

Labour Ministry Secretary S M Piyatissa was not available for comment.

Meanwhile, the Finance, Planning, and Economic Development Ministry has informed Parliament that 22,450 companies had defaulted on EPF payments amounting to Rs 34.9 billion from 2015 to the present day.

Deputy Labour Minister Mahinda Jayasinghe told The Daily Morning earlier that the Ministry had gathered information on the companies and would first notify them to settle their outstanding payments, with legal action to follow if they failed to comply.