Article
International Workers – Conundrum of payment of Provident Fund
By Asish Philip Abraham and Astha Sinha
The article in this issue of Corporate Amicus discusses the issues relating to the liability to pay Provident Fund (PF) on salaries paid to expats, based on recent judicial developments. The article examines the Supreme Court decision in Northern Operating Systems Pvt. Ltd. which held foreign employees working with an Indian company are not to be considered as employees of the Indian Company, and thus created uncertainty with respect to the position of law with respect to the payment of PF to International Workers. The article also considers as recent Karnataka High Court decision in Stone Hill Education Foundation, which has struck down the provisions relating to payment of PF on salaries of International Workers. The authors note that currently the Code on Social Security, 2020 too is silent on the topic of International Workers. According to them, the position may be clarified once the Employees Provident Fund scheme under the new Labour Code is published.
Notifications and Circulars
- SEBI issues Master Circular for ESG Rating Providers
- SEBI issues Circular on industry standards for verification of market rumours
- SEBI issues Circular on restrictions on sharing real-time price data with third parties
- SEBI streamlines intimation of PPM changes for AIFs
- RBI issues Fair Practices Code for lenders for charging of interest
- Foreign Exchange Management (Deposit) (Fourth Amendment) Regulations, 2024 notified
- RBI allows regularisation of partly paid units issued to foreign residents
Ratio decidendi
- Insolvency – No claims admissible after approval of resolution plan by CoC even if approval by Adjudicating Authority pending – NCLT, Mumbai
- Winding up proceedings pending before High Courts, that are not at an advanced stage, ought to be transferred to NCLT – Delhi High Court
- Insurance contracts operate under principles of ‘utmost good faith’ – Insured is under an obligation to disclose all material facts in proposal form - National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission
- Arbitration – Composition of a Tribunal cannot be a ground for non-enforcement of a Foreign Arbitral Award, when the issue was not raised before the Tribunal or the Seat Court – Delhi High Court
- Arbitration proceedings determine the seat of arbitration in case of absence of a clause specifying the seat – Delhi High Court
News Nuggets
- Foreign funds at GIFT City can take full investments from non-resident Indians
- SEBI mulls tighter rules for the listing of small businesses
- LIC granted a 3-year extension from meeting MPS requirements
- Short-weighted packages lead to penalties for a major biscuit manufacturer
- Government mulls strengthening the underwriting model to help MSMEs obtain loans from banks and NBFCs
