CoSS, 2020: What Happens to Your EPFO Compliance & Recovery Cases During the Transition

This EPFO FAQ on how Code on Social Security (CoSS) affects EPF inquiries, assessments, inspections, and recovery after the new code’s commencement date. Its main message is that most ongoing matters continue under the old EPF framework, while new proceedings under CoSS need fresh notifications and procedures.

1. Open cases stay open — but the clock is now ticking

The headline reassurance is that the switch-over does not wipe the slate clean. Any Section 7A inquiry started before 21 November 2025 continues, and so do ongoing Section 7B / 7C proceedings. This holds even where the inquiry reaches back to a period older than five years — the transition does not shorten what was already validly in progress.

What is new is the deadline. Every pending inquiry must be concluded within two years — by 20 November 2027. This flows from the third proviso to Section 125(2) of CoSS, read with the saving provisions. In practice, Section 125(2) expects the inquiry to run on a day-to-day (effectively weekly) footing, so employers should expect these long-pending files to move faster than before, not slower.

During an ongoing 7A inquiry, the assessing officer’s powers are drawn from both Section 7A of the EPF Act and Section 125 of CoSS.

2. Can EPFO still open something new?

• Fresh 7A inquiries — yes, with a limit: A new Section 7A inquiry can still be initiated until the EPF Act is formally repealed. But there is an important guardrail: no fresh inquiry into applicability or default can go back more than five years from the date it is started. A new inquiry under Section 125 of CoSS, by contrast, cannot begin until authorised officers have been notified under that section.
• Review / escaped-amount cases — no: This is one to note carefully. No new review or escaped-amount matter under 7B/7C can be initiated, simply because CoSS contains no corresponding provision. Cases already pending continue; new ones cannot be opened.

3. Interest and damages during the changeover

• Interest — Section 7Q or Section 127?: The dividing line is the period the dues relate to. For any period up to 21 November 2025, interest is charged at 12% simple interest under the EPF Act, 1952. For periods after 20 November 2025, interest moves to Section 127 of CoSS — but only once the Central Government has notified the applicable rate.
• Damages — Section 14B: Ongoing 14B inquiries into levy of damages continue. The authorised officers for this purpose (APFC, RPFC and ACC) were notified in the gazette on 29 October 2025. EPFO itself recommends that a fresh notification under Section 128 of CoSS be issued at the earliest, to place damages proceedings on firmer legal ground.

4. Recovery proceedings

Recovery action carries on without a break. All recovery steps continue until the EPF Act is repealed, and even after repeal the Recovery Officers already notified under the EPF Act, 1952 continue to act on existing recovery matters. Two housekeeping notifications are recommended to keep everything watertight: a separate notification by the Central Board under Section 131 (which corresponds to Section 8F of the old Act), and a fresh notification under Section 2(68) — both flagged by EPFO as prudent for firm legal footing.

5. Which definition of “wages” applies?

For employers, this is one of the most consequential clarifications, because the CoSS definition of wages is broader and can change the contribution base. EPFO draws a clean line:

• For periods before the repeal (i.e. in ongoing 7A inquiries), the EPF Act, 1952 definition applies — together with the schemes framed under it and the settled judicial interpretations.
• For periods after the repeal, the CoSS definition under Section 2(zzl) applies for assessment — but only once the new schemes under Sections 148–150 of CoSS have been notified.

In short: the wider CoSS wage definition does not retroactively reopen the past. It bites only on the new period, and only after the new schemes are in place.

6. Who runs the case, and under what procedure?

A recurring theme across the FAQs is continuity for old cases and a fresh mandate for new ones. The saving provisions do the heavy lifting here.

• Officers and jurisdiction: For pending 7A matters, the same officers already empowered under the EPF Act before 21 November 2025 carry on, and their territorial and functional jurisdiction stays exactly as assigned until the inquiry is completed. No fresh notification of either the officer or the jurisdiction is required. For a new inquiry under Section 125 of CoSS, however, the old 7A authorisations do not carry over — the Central Government must first notify the authorised officers before any new case can validly begin.
• Notices: Notices in an ongoing 7A inquiry continue to issue under the EPF Act, 1952 procedure. CoSS notices are not merely unnecessary here — they are not permissible for these legacy cases, which must run to conclusion under the original 7A route.

Do we need a fresh notification at all?

For ongoing 7A cases, no. Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 preserves proceedings, rights, liabilities and the powers of authorities under a repealed Act unless the new law shows a contrary intention — and Sections 164(2)(a) and 164(3) of CoSS expressly save existing inquiries and actions. The effect is that pending 7A cases run as if the EPF Act had not been repealed, right down to the same authorised officer.

Quick reference: all 16 FAQs at a glance

Summarised for scanning; refer to the underlying provisions for the exact wording.

Why old cases survive: the legal scaffolding

Almost every answer above rests on the same three pillars, worth knowing as a set:

• Section 6, General Clauses Act, 1897 — a repeal does not, by default, disturb anything already done, any right or liability already accrued, or any legal proceeding already underway; these may be continued and enforced as if the repealing Act had not been passed.
• Section 164(2)(a), CoSS — anything done or any action taken under the repealed enactments is deemed done under the corresponding provisions of CoSS, and stays in force until separately repealed.
• Section 164(3), CoSS — expressly applies Section 6 of the General Clauses Act to the repeal, locking in that continuity.

In simple terms, the document says pending EPF matters do not get reset because CoSS has come into force. Old cases continue under the old law, but any new CoSS action needs the new legal machinery in place first.

Please find attached the official notification below:

EPFO-CoSS-EPF-FAQ updated