The Provident Funds Act, 1925

(1) This Act may be called the Provident FundsAct, 1925. (2) It extends to the whole of India 1[except the State of Jammu and Kashmir*] 2***. (3) It shall come into force on such date3as the Central Government may, by notification in theOfficial Gazette, appoint.

In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject orcontext,-- (a) "compulsory deposit" means a subscription to, or deposit in, a Provident Fund which,under the rules of the Fund, is not, until the happening of some specified contingency,repayable on demand otherwise than for the purpose of the payment of, premia in respect of apolicy of life insurance, 1[or the payment of subscriptions or premia in respect of a familypension fund], and includes any contribution 2*** and any interest or increment which hasaccrued under the rules of the fund on any such subscription, deposit or contribution, andalso any such subscription, deposit, contribution, interest or increment remaining to the creditof the subscriber or depositor after the happening of any such contingency; (b) "contribution" means any amount credited in a Provident Fund, by 3[any authorityadministering the Fund], by way of addition to, 4[a subscription to, or deposit or balanceat the credit of an individual account in,] the Fund; and contributory Provident Fundmeans a Provident Fund the rules of which provide for the crediting of contributions; (c) "dependant" means any of the following relatives of -a deceased subscriber to, or adepositor in, a Provident Fund, namely, a wife, husband, parent, child, minor brother,unmarried sister and a deceased son's widow and child, and, where no parent of thesubscriber or depositor is alive, a paternal grand-parent; (d) "Government Provident Fund means a Provident Fund, other than aRailway Provident Fund, constituted by the authority of 5the Secretary of State, theCentral Government, the Crown Representative or any State Government] for any class or classes of 6[persons in the service of the Government] or 7[of persons employed ineducational institutions or employed by bodies existing solely for educational purposes,]8and references in this Act to the Government shall be construed accordingly;] (e) "Provident Fund" means a fund in which subscriptions or deposits of any class orclasses of employees are received and held on their individual accounts, and includes anycontributions 9*** and any interest or increment accruing on such subscriptions, deposits orcontributions under the rules of the Fund; 10[(f) "Railway administration" means-- (i) any company administering a railway or tramway in 11any part of India] eitherunder a special Act of Parliament 12[of the United Kingdom] or an Indian law, orunder contract with the Government, or (ii) the manager of any railway or tramway administered by the Central Government] or by aState Government, and includes, in any case referred to in sub-clause (ii) the 13[Central Government] or the. StateGovernment, as the case may be;] (g) "Railway Provident Fund" means a Provident Fund constituted by the authority of a railWay administration for any class or classes of its employees.

(1) A compulsory deposit in any Government orRailway Provident Fund shall not in any way be capable of being assigned or charged and shallnot be liable to attachment under any decree or order of any Civil, Revenue or Criminal Court inrespect of any debt or liability incurred by the subscriber or depositor, and neither the OfficialAssignee nor any receiver appointed under the Provincial Insolvency Act, 1920 (5 of 1920),shall be entitled to, or have any claim on, any such compulsory deposit. (2) Any sum standing to the credit of any subscriber to, or depositor in, any such Fund atthe time of his decease and payable under the rules of the Fund to any dependant of thesubscriber or depositor, or to such person as may be authorised by law to receive payment o nhis behalf, shall, subject to any deduction authorised by this Act and, save where thedependant is the widow or child of the subscriber or depositor, subject also to the rights of anassignee under an assignment made before the commencement of this Act, vest in thedependant, and shall, subject as aforesaid, be free from any debt or other liability incurred bythe deceased or incurred by the dependant before the death of the subscriber or depositor .

(1) When under the rules of any Government orRailway Provident Fund the sum standing to the credit of any subscriber or depositor, or thebalance thereof after the making of any deduction authorised by this Act, has become payable,the officer whose duty is to make the payment shall pay the sum or balance, as the case maybe, to the subscriber or depositor, or, if he is dead, shall-- (a) if the sum or balance, or, any part thereof, vests in a dependant under theprovisions of section 3, pay the same to the dependant or to such person as may beauthorised by law to receive payment on his behalf; or (b) if the whole sum or balance, as the case may be, does not exceed five thousandrupees, pay the same, or any part thereof, which is not payable under clause ( a), to anyperson nominated to receive it under the rules of the Fund, or, if no person is so nominated,to any person appearing to him to be otherwise entitled to receive it; or (c) in the case of any sum or balance, or any part thereof, which is not payable to any personunder clause (a) or clause (b) pay the same,-- (i) to any person nominated to receive it under the rules of the Fund, on productionby such person of probate or letters of administration evidencing the grant to him ofadministration to the estate of the deceased or a certificate granted under the SuccessionCertificate Act, 1889 1(7 of 1889), or under the Bombay Regulation VIII of 1827,entitling the holder thereof to receive payment of such sum, balance or part, or (ii) where no person is so nominated, to any person who produces such probate, lettersor certificate: Provided that, where the whole or any part of any sum standing to the credit of thesubscriber or depositor has been assigned to any other person before the commencement of thisAct, and notice in writing of the assignment has been received by t he officer from the assignee,the officer shall, after making any deduction authorised by this Act and any payment due underclause (a) to or on behalf of the widow or children of the subscriber or depositor-- (i) if the subscriber or depositor or, if he is dead, the person to whom in the absenceof any valid assignment the sum or balance would be payable under this sub -sectiongives his consent in writing, pay the sum or part or the balance thereof, as the case maybe, to the assignee, or (ii) if such consent is not forthcoming, withhold payment of the sum, part or balance, as thecase may be, pending a decision of a competent Civil Court as to the person entitled to receive it. (2) The making of any payment authorised by sub-section (1) shall be a full discharge to theGovernment or the railway administration, as the case may be, from all liability in respect of somuch of the sum standing to the credit of the subscriber or depositor as is equivalent to theamount so paid.

1[(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the timebeing in force or in any disposition, whether testamentary or otherwise, by a subscriber to, ordepositor in, a Government or Railway Provident Fund of the sum standing to his credit in theFund, or of any part thereof, where any nomination, duly made in accordance with the rules ofthe Fund, purports to confer upon any person the right to receive the whole or any part of suchsum on the death of the subscriber or depositor occurring before the sum has become payable orbefore the sum, having become payable, has been paid, the said person shall, on the death asaforesaid of the subscriber or depositor, become entitled, to the exclusion of all other persons, toreceive such sum or part thereof, as the case may be, unless-- (a) such nomination is at any time varied by another nomination made in like manner orexpressly cancelled by notice given in the manner and to the authority prescribed by thoserules, or (b) such nomination at any time becomes invalid by reason of the happening of somecontingency specified therein,-- and if the said person predeceases the subscriber or depositor, the nomination shall, so far as itrelates to the right conferred upon the said person, become void and of no effect: Provided that where provision has been duly made in the nomination in accordance withthe rules of the Fund, conferring upon some other person such right in the stead of the person deceased, such right shall, upon the decease as aforesaid of the said pers on, pass to such otherperson.] (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in 2[the Indian Succession Act, 1925 (39 of 1925)]or the Bombay Regulation VIII of 1827, any 3[person, who becomes entitled as aforesaid, maybe granted] a certificate-under that Act, or that Regulation, as the case may be, entitling him toreceive payment of such sum or part, and such certificate shall not be deemed to be invalidatedor superseded by any grant to any other person of probate or letters of administration to theestate of the deceased. 4[(3) The provisions of this section as amended by sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Provident Funds(Amendment) Act, 1946 (11 of 1946), shall apply also to all such nominations made before the date ofthe commencement of that Act: Provided that the provisions of this section as so amended shall not operate to affect anycase, in which before the said date any sum has been paid, or has under the rules of the Fu ndbecome payable in pursuance of any nomination duly made in accordance with those rules.]