Expat Pilots Of Jet Airways Wait To Get Their PF dues

Mumbai: Martin and Krel, former expat pilots of the already grounded Jet Airways was lucky enough to get his PF dues recently, that too after 5.5 years of wait.

However, there are a host of their colleagues who are still waiting to get their PF dues.

Jacky (name changed) is an expat pilot of Jet Airways from Jan 2014 to March 2019. On January 21, he received an email from jet Airways liquidator regarding status of stakeholder. However, his name was missing. Talking to Bizz Buzz, he said, “I noticed my name was not there in the list. Therefore. I immediately wrote to liquidator Satish Kumar.”

He was informed that he did submit the Form D July 2019 and that his name was in the creditor list. However, his name not there in stakeholder list. After waiting for a month, two other expat pilots and Jacky decided to come to Mumbai. On February 17, he started to apply for visa which was free for a period of one month. Also, he communicated with his Axis Bank’s branch at Saki Naka in Mumbai through what's App regarding his Visa and to validate Re- KYC issue. So, they planned to be in Mumbai with active bank account.

“I am not able to get my debit card and cheque book. At that moment another expat also doing the same,” he said. He was informed that he need to change to NRO which he is unable to understand. On March 18, the two other expat pilots and Jacky visited EPFO’s Kandivali-2 office. The pilots were attended by an EPFO official. The official asked him to register a complaint to ‘pgportal’. And he also informed them that their due PF money will be transferred in their bank account within a month or two weeks after their complaint to the portal. They were told by the EPFO officials to carry non-Aadhar composite forms. The official was kind enough to share his What’s App number and email address for future communication.

However, he was informed that he may not be able to claim do final settlement and SSA country issue due to his age being less than the required age of 58. “I want my money to be in my account now. Please I do not want explanation,” he said. On March 19, the expat pilots met liquidator officer at Sterling Centre. However, to their dismay, the EPFO official concerned and thJ HR manager Jet Airways were not there in the office. They were assured that the amount will be transferred automatically. He check his laptop and informed me it is in list. These expat pilots have served Jet Airways for 5 years and hence they are entitled to claim gratuity too.

Even the pilots were asked to go back home and inform his respective country’s Prime Minister to sign the social security act (SSA) with India which right now Malaysia is not an SSA country to India. Kartikey Singh, the regional commissioner in-charge in Kandivali-2 office of EPFO where Jet Airway contributed staff contribution until being grounded, informed Jacky to withdraw PF amount, one must have in Indian bank account.