Assessment, Determination and Appeal

In one line

An Authorised Officer decides whether a Chapter applies and how much the employer owes, must do so within five years and try to finish within two, and the employer may appeal on a deposit.

In exam wording: section 125 of the Code on Social Security 2020 empowers Authorised Officers, not below the rank of a Group A officer, to decide disputes about the applicability of Chapter III or Chapter IV and to determine the amount due from an employer, after inquiry and a reasonable opportunity of representation, within five years of the dispute arising or the amount falling due; section 126 provides an appeal in Chapter IV matters; and section 127 makes simple interest payable from the due date.

Why the law has these at all

Because a contribution scheme produces two questions constantly, and neither can wait for a court.

Does the Chapter apply to me at all? An employer with nineteen employees says Chapter III does not reach him. Somebody has to decide, quickly and cheaply.

How much do I owe? Once applicability is settled, the sum has to be computed from records the employer holds and may not have kept.

Section 125 gives both questions to an Authorised Officer with the powers of a civil court, subject to three protections that are the heart of the section: a five year limitation on starting, a two year target for finishing, and a reasonable opportunity of representing his case before any order.

Some words this chapter uses

Authorised Officer is an officer of the Central Board or the Corporation authorised under section 125(1). Ex parte means in the absence of one party. Judicial proceeding, where a statute deems an inquiry to be one, imports the Penal Code offences of false evidence. Simple interest is calculated on the principal alone, not on accumulated interest. Show cause notice is the notice calling on a person to explain why an order should not be made against him.

Section 125: assessment and determination

Section 125(1), who and what. The Central Government may by notification authorise officers of the Central Board or the Corporation, not below the rank of a Group A officer of that Government, to function as Authorised Officers for Chapter III or Chapter IV, who may by order:

• (a) where a dispute arises regarding the applicability of Chapter III or Chapter IV to an establishment, decide that dispute;
• (b) determine the amount due from any employer under any provision of that Chapter or the schemes, rules or regulations under it; and
• (c) for those purposes, conduct such inquiry as he deems necessary.

The proviso, the limitation. Learn this. No proceeding under sub-section (1) shall be initiated after the expiry of five years from the date on which the dispute is alleged to have arisen or, as the case may be, the amount is alleged to have been due from the employer.