S.R.O. 438 (1)/77, dated 12th May, 1977: In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 44 of the Employees’
Old-Age Benefits Act, 1976 (XIV of 1976), the Federal Government is pleased to
make the following rules, namely:-
(1) These rules may be called the
Employees’ Old-Age Benefits (Board of Trustees) Rules, 1977.
(2) They shall come into force at
once.
In these rules, unless there is
anything repugnant in the subject or context:-.
(a) “Act” means the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits
Act, 1976 (XIV of 1976);
(b) “Institution” means the Employees’ Old-Age
Benefits Institution nominated under Section 5;
(c) “Chairman” means the Chairman of the Board;
(d) “meeting” means a meeting of the Board;
(e) “section” means a section of the Act; and
(f) words and expressions used but not defined
in these rules shall have the meanings assigned to
them respectively in the Act.
(1) Members
appointed under clause (b) of sub-section (1) of Section 7 shall hold office
during the pleasure of the Federal Government and the members appointed under
clause (c) of the said sub-section (1) shall hold office during the pleasure of
the Provincial Government concerned.
(2) Members
appointed under clauses (d) and (e) of sub-section (1) of Section 7 shall hold
office for a term of two years, and each such member shall continue to hold
office after the expiry of his term until his successor is appointed and shall
be eligible for re-appointment.
(3) A casual vacancy in the membership of the
Board shall be filled by nomination by the Federal Government and the member
nominated to fill such vacancy shall hold office for the un-expired term of
office of his predecessor or the period of absence, but not beyond the date of
expiry of the term.
(4) A member shall cease to be member if he
absents himself from three consecutive meetings of the Board without leave of
absence from the Chairman or, in the absence of the Chairman of the Federal
Government.
(5) A member appointed under clause (b) or
clause (c) of sub-section (1) of Section 7 may, by writing under his hand
addressed to the Government which he represents, resign his office.
(6) A member appointed under clause (d), clause
(e) or clause (f) of sub-section (1) of Section 7 may, by writing under his hand
addressed to the Chairman, resign his office.
(7) No act or proceeding of the Board shall be
invalid merely on the ground of the existence of any vacancy in, or any defect
in the constitution of the Board.
(1) The Federal Government shall, in
consultation with the Provincial Governments, publish in the office Gazette two
lists showing separately the organizations of employers and insured persons
recognized for the purpose of submitting names from which members to be
appointed under clauses (d) and (e) of sub-section (1) of Section 7 shall be
chosen.
(2) Within one month of the publication of the
lists under sub-rule (1), every organization included in the list may submit to
the Federal Government the name of a person whom it desires to be considered for
appointment, where such organization is of employers, as a representative of
employers and where such organization is of insured persons, as representative
of such person, together with a summary of the qualifications of that person.
(3) The Federal Government shall consider the
names submitted to it under sub-rule (2) and shall, from such names, select four
persons to represent the employers and four persons to represent the insured
persons and shall publish their names in the official Gazette.
(4) If any member dies, resigns or becomes
disqualified under rule 5, the Federal Government shall notify the existence of
the vacancy in the official Gazette and the procedure prescribed in sub-rules
(2) and (3) shall, with the necessary modifications and changes, be followed in
filling the vacancy.
No person shall be, or shall
continue to be, a member who—
(a) is, or at any time has been adjudicated
insolvent;
(b) is found to be a lunatic or of unsound mind;
(c) is, or at any time has been, convicted of
an offence which in the opinion of the Federal Government is an offence
involving moral turpitude;
(d) not being a Government Official, is for the
time being disqualified from holding any public office or from being a member of
an elective body under any law for the time being in force; or
(e) is a minor
The Board shall have powers –
(a) to approve the annual budget and revised
budget estimates, the audited accounts and the annual report prepared by the
Institution for submission to the Federal Government at such times and at such
meeting or meetings as may be specially convened by the Chairman for the
purpose:
Provided that the first such
meeting for the purpose of approving the budget estimates for the year ending 30th June, 1977, shall be convened within thirty days of the publication of these
rules.
(b) to approve extraordinary expenditure not
included in the approved budget for submission
to the Federal Government when it appears to the Board that such expenditure is
justified;
(c) to call for any information or direct any
research to be made for the furtherance of the object s of the Act and for the
purpose to allocate and set aside funds in the budget and revised budget
estimates;
(d) to review the half-yearly income and
expenditure of the Institution and to revise the budget, if necessary, making
any additions thereto or deletions there from;
(e) to make recommendations or comments intended
to be submitted to the Federal Government in respect of laws, rules or
regulations affecting in any manner the Institution or in respect of any policy
of the Federal Government having affect on the business, interest or the working
of the Institution or matters in which the Institution is in any way
interested;
(f) to make investments in and underwriting of
new issues of shares and debentures of companies where such investment or
underwriting is in excess of fifty lac rupees;
(g) to order investment and disinvestments in
real estate where the investment exceeds fifty lac rupees;
(h) to make financial commitment outside the
budget, whether revenue or capital, involving an amount exceeding fifty Lac
rupees and recurring outlay exceeding twenty-five Lac rupees;
(i) To consider recommendations by the Chairman
regarding formation of committees and to lay down the scope of their operation
and powers of each such committee which, inter alia, shall have the power to
examine and consider :-
(a) underwriting
of new issues of shares of companies and investments in new debentures and real estate exceeding fifty lac
rupees;
(b) such
other matters as the Chairman may bring up before a committee; and
(c) writing
off bad and doubtful debts;
(j) to recommend names of
auditors firms for the Institution for the approval of the Federal Government
(1) Every question which the
Board is required to take into consideration shall be considered either at its
meeting or, if the Chairman so directs, by sending the necessary papers to all
members present in Pakistan for their opinion.
(2) When a question is referred
for opinion, any member may request that the question be considered at a meeting
and thereupon the Chairman may, and if the request is made by three or more
members shall, direct it to be so considered.
The Board shall meet at such places
and time as may be fixed by the president.
(1) Notice of not less than
fifteen days shall be given to every member present in Pakistan of the time
and place fixed for each ordinary meeting, and each member shall be furnished
with the agenda of the meeting, Provided that when an emergent meeting is called
by the president such notice shall not be necessary.
(2) Subject to the rule 14, no
business which is not on the agenda shall be considered at a meeting without the
permission of the president.
(1) The president shall preside
at every meeting at which he is present.
(2) If the president is absent
from any meeting, the member nominated by the president for the purpose shall
preside at the meeting; and the member so nominated shall at that meeting
exercise all the powers of the president .
No business shall be transacted at
a meeting, whether ordinary or emergent, unless at least nine members are
present, of whom at least five shall be official members:
Provided that if at any meeting a
quorum is not present, the president may adjourn the meeting to a later date
informing the members present and notifying other members that the business of
the adjourned meeting will be disposed of, even irrespective of there being a
quorum, and it shall thereupon be lawful to dispose of the business at such
adjourned meeting irrespective of the number of members attending.
The decision of the Board shall be
expressed in terms of the opinion of the majority of the members present and
voting at a meeting and, in the event of equality of votes, the president or
other person presiding shall have a casting vote.
(1) The minutes of each meeting
shall be circulated to all members present in Pakistan and thereafter recorded
in a minute book which shall be kept for permanent record.
(1) The record of the minutes of each meeting
shall be signed by the president .
(1) The Board shall, besides
carrying out its statutory duties, also consider the budget and any other matter
that may be laid before it by the president .
(2) The president shall place
before the Board any matter if a request to that effect is made by not less than
four members.
The president may refer any matter
within the competence of the Board, either before or after it has been
considered by the Board, to the Federal Government for directions and the
directions of the Federal Government in that behalf shall be binding on the
Board.
A resolution in writing signed by
at least nine members, including the president , shall be as valid and effective
as if it had been passed at a meeting of the Board duly called and constituted:
Provided that resolutions so passed
shall be placed before the Board for confirmation at its next meeting.
A member appointed
under clause (d) and (e) of sub-section (1) of Section 7 shall be entitled to
the following allowances for attending a meeting of the Board or of a committee
or sub-committee appointed by it, namely:-
(i) Traveling
allowance for journey between the place of normal residence of non-official
member to the place of meeting:
(a) In respect of journey by air … Actual
economy class return air fare.
(b) In respect of journey by rail … Actual A C
C class return rail fare.
(c) In respect of journey by road:-
(i) between places not connected by rail. Rupees
one per mile
(ii) between places
connected by rail Amount equivalent to the actual ACC class rail fare between
these places.
(ii) Daily allowance
for each day of the meeting and for the days of arrival at and departure from
the place of meeting at the rate of one hundred rupees plus actual hotel
expenses up to a maximum of one hundred rupees per day.
The Board may
entertain appeals from aggrieved persons under Section 35 subject to the
following requirements, namely:-
(i) Any person
objecting to the decision of the Institution in respect of the items enumerated
in Section 33 or review thereof under Section 34 may prefer an appeal to the
Board in writing within thirty days of the decision.
(ii) The Board may
admit an appeal after the expiry of the period aforesaid if it is satisfied that
the appellant had sufficient cause for not presenting the appeal within that
period.
(iii) The Board
shall fix a day and place for hearing of the appeal and may, from time to time,
adjourn the hearing.
(iv) When hearing an
appeal, the Board shall not admit any documentary material or evidence which was
not produced before the Institution, unless the appellant can show that he was
prevented by sufficient cause from producing such material or evidence.
(v) The Board may,
instead of hearing the appeal itself , appoint a committee of the Board to hear
and decide the appeal on its behalf, and any decision of the Committee so given
and communicated to the aggrieved person shall be as fully effective and binding
as if given by the Board itself.
(1) There
shall be a common seal of the Institution.
(2) The
common seal shall not be affixed to any instrument except pursuant to a
resolution of the Board and except in the presence of at least two members
(including the Head of Institution) who shall sign the instrument in token of
their presence and in token of such signing of any person who may sign the
instruments as a witness and unless so signed, such instrument shall be of no
validity.
(3) The
common seal of the Institution shall be affixed to documents and used for such
other purposes as may be approved by the Board.
(4) The
common seal shall be maintained in the safe custody of the Head of the
Institution.
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