EPFO(Employee Provident Fund Organization)-Meanings, services & payments-2022

EPFO (Employee Provident Fund Organization)

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is a non-constitutional body that promotes employees to save funds for retirement. The organisation is governed by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India and was launched in 1951. The schemes offered by the organisation cover Indian workers and international workers (from countries with whom the EPFO has signed bilateral agreements).

Universal Account Number (UAN)

The UAN is a 12-digit number allotted to each member by EPFO. The UAN of an employee remains the same even after he/she switches jobs. In the event of a job change, the member ID changes, and the new ID will be linked to the UAN. However, employees must activate their UAN in order to avail the services online.

UAN portal (https://unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/) with your member ID and find the UAN.

Schemes Offered Under the EPFO

Given below are the various schemes that are present under the EPFO:

• Employees’ Provident Funds Scheme 1952 (EPF)
• Employees’ Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS)
• Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme 1976 (EDLI)
• EPFO Services

Some of the services offered by the EPFO are mentioned below:

• Helpdesk for Inoperative Accounts 
• Online withdrawal of EPF 
• International workers can generate a Certificate of Coverage 
• Monthly returns for exempted establishments
• UMANG App
• Online transfer of EPF
• Establishments can register online 
• Online payments of PF 
• Missed call and SMS service SMS (Format: EPFOHO UAN) to 7738299899 or by giving a missed call to 011-22901406. 
• Claim status and passbook 
• Grievances 

PF Withdrawal Online

The entire PF amount can be withdrawn under several circumstances. Some of these include the attainment of retirement age, resignation due to permanent total mental/bodily incapacity, permanent relocation to other countries, death of the member, etc.

Given below are some of the reasons why EPF should not be withdrawn before 5 years of service:

• Section 80C benefits cannot be availed: In case individuals have been claiming benefits under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act and they withdraw their PF amount completely, the interest that has been earned on the employee’s contribution must be taxed.

• The amount will be taxed: In case any PF withdrawal is done within 5 years of service, the amount that is withdrawn is added to the taxable income. In case the amount that is withdrawn is more than Rs.50,000 and the withdrawal is done within 5 years, there is a 10% tax cut on the amount. However, on submitting Form 15G and 15H with the Income Tax (IT) Department, individuals are exempted from paying this amount.

• EPF withdrawal without employer signature

• On realizing that getting the approval or attestation of an employer to facilitate a PF withdrawal has caused quite a bit of trouble for many employees, the EPFO has circumvented the process and now employees can make withdrawals without the attestation of their employers. The introduction of the UAN in the EPF had brought about this change, as now, employees just have to link their Aadhaar card to their UAN to make a withdrawal. Having said that, now making a withdrawal without the signature of the employer has two ways - with or without an Aadhaar card.

With an Aadhaar card:

• Now just by linking the employee’s Aadhaar card to his/her UAN, the whole process of getting the signature of one’s employer has been skipped for good.

• To facilitate a smooth process, employees should make sure that their Aadhaar card details and bank details are embedded in the EPFO’s member portal.

• The employer should have verified both - the Aadhaar card and the bank details.

• The employee has to make sure that his/her UAN has been activated before starting the process of making a withdrawal.

• Once you have met these conditions, download Form 19- UAN (for making PF withdrawals) and Form 10C- UAN (for making withdrawals from one’s pension scheme).

• Now, enter your name, address, registered mobile number, PAN card number, and the employee’s reason for leaving and date of joining. The employee should make sure that the details match that on one’s Aadhaar card and bank details. Any discrepancies could lead to a rejection of the application or a delay.

• Next, the employee should attach a cancelled cheque to the form and submit it to the regional EPF office.

• Making a withdrawal without an Aadhaar Card:

• This process could be a little of an inconvenience, but if it is your last resort, then follow the process mentioned below.

• The employee should download the Form 19, Form 31 or Form 10C from the EPFO’s member portal, depending on where the withdrawal is going to made from.

• Once filled, the form has to be attested by an authorised signatory, such as a Gazetted officer, manager of a bank, magistrate, etc. While doing so, the authorized signatory has to sign every page of the form.

• Since you’ll have to state a reason for not getting the employer’s signature, state “Non-cooperation”.

• Next, the employer will have to attach an indemnity bond with a 100 Rupee stamp paper, attach one’s payslips, employment ID, appointment letter and Form 19.

• As a proof of address and identity, submit your regular KYC documents along with the attested form and cancelled cheque and the other papers of verification at the regional EPF office.

EPF Claim Status

Once a member has decided to withdraw his/her EPF funds, they can login to the EPFO portal and submit an online request for the same. The member can also check the status of the EPFO claim online through the EPFO portal.

Alternatively, employees can give a missed call to 011-22901406 from their registered mobile numbers to check claim status. The SMS facility or the UMANG app can also be used for checking EPFO claim status.

In order to check PF status, the following information should be provided by the member:

• Employment details
• Extension code, if required
• Employer’s EPF regional office
• Universal Account Number (UAN)

EPFO digital signature

To make the process of transfer claims easier and transparent, the EPFO has introduced the digital signature of employers. Now, employers can approve claims by using their digital signatures. When an employer shifts organisations, his transfer claim has to be attested by either his previous employer or the present one, and this is when the digital signature of the employer comes into play. Back then, employers had to fill Form 13 and get it signed by their employers and then submit it to the regional EPF office. Now, the process has been simplified and can be done on the EPFO’s member portal. To have a digital signature, employers have to apply for a digital certificate- which contains their personal details such as name, email ID, APNIC account name, public key and the country of the employer. The digital certificate is issued by the Certifying authority and contains this identification key contains their required details that will be embedded in the EPFO’s member portal.

EPFO grievance

For employees who want to register a grievance, the EPFO has a dedicated part of their member portal for employees to fill in a grievance registration form and file a complaint. Employees usually face grievances with regard to withdrawals, PF settlements, transfer of accounts, settlement of pension and so on. For those who are new to the EPFO’s member portal, follow the steps to register a EPF grievance:

Visit the EPFO grievance portal - https://epfigms.gov.in/

• Click on ‘Register grievance’ on the top bar.
• Once you have done that, the grievance registration form will be displayed.
• Now, fill in the registration form:
• Enter your status (Employer, employee, EPS pensioner)
• Enter your PF account number
• Then, enter where your regional EPF office is located
• Next, enter the name of your establishment and the address of your establishment
• After that, enter your name, address, pincode, country, phone number and email ID.
• The last part is to enter the grievance category - whether it is a transfer or withdrawal related issue, a pension settlement issue, etc. Select your grievance from the drop down bar.
• Upload your grievance letter, enter the captcha and submit your grievance registration.