Highlights:

1. For EPF subscribers whose Universal Account Number (UAN) is linked to their Aadhaar and bank account number, they can approach the EPFO directly for claims, bypassing the employers

2. In case of full withdrawal from EPF accounts, subscribers are required to mention only their names, registered mobile number, UAN, Aadhaar number, date of joining and leaving the company

3. For partial withdrawals from EPF accounts, subscribers are not required to submit extra documents

With an aim to provide withdrawal ease to its EPF subscribers, retirement fund body Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation(EPFO) has started a simplified one page claim withdrawal form, The Hindustan Times reported.

Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) allows withdrawal if subscriber is unemployed for at least two months or partial withdrawals for events such as medical emergencies, children’s education or buying a house, cited report on Monday.

For EPF subscribers whose Universal Account Number (UAN) is linked to their Aadhaar and bank account number, they can approach the EPFO directly for claims, bypassing the employers, it said.

Earlier, EPF subscribers had to fill up form 19 for complete withdrawal, form 10C for pension fund scheme certificate to retain membership of Employees’ Pension Scheme or to claim withdrawals, and form 31 for partial withdrawals.

Now, with the EPFO’s introduction of the new form called the composite claim form all forms have been merged into one. It has launched two types of EPF withdrawal forms- Aadhaar and non-Aadhaar forms.

The Aadhaar-based composite form is meant for individuals who have activated their UAN and linked it with their Aadhaar and bank account number, and whose details are embedded in the UAN portal, the news report said.

According to the report, in case of full withdrawal from EPF accounts, subscribers are need to mention only their names, registered mobile number, UAN, Aadhaar number, date of joining and leaving the company.

Moreover, for partial withdrawals, there is no longer need of extra documents. Subscribers have to mark the purpose for which they need the money and how much. Sign the form, attach a cancelled cheque and then the subscribers can go ahead.

The non-Aadhaar form needs details of EPF subscribers such as date of birth, father’s name and bank account details. It has to be signed by subscribers and their employers.

The report citing the new form further stated that for partial withdrawals subscribers do not have to submit proof.

For instance, if partial withdrawal was for a wedding (of self or children), EPF subscriber had to give supporting documents such as the wedding invitation card. In the new form, subscriber’s signature is enough. But there is a disclaimer at the bottom which states that if the funds are used for any other purpose, the subscriber is liable to return the money with penal interest.

But if partial withdrawal is for a medical emergency, subscriber still need to submit proof like medical certificate and certificate by the employer that employees’ state insurance (ESIC) facility is not available to the member, it added.

EPFO plans to launch an online facility from May this year for withdrawals, but this can only be used by individuals with Aadhaar and bank account-linked UAN, cited the report.

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EPFO Emerging as Centre for Excellence in Governance – Shri Shankar Aggarwal

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is on way  of becoming a centre for excellence in governance. This was stated by Shri Shankar Aggarwal, Secretary, Labour & Employment here today while inaugurating EPFO’s new revamped website as a part of ‘Digital India Week’. Shri Aggarwal reiterated various initiatives taken by EPFO in the recent past to bring about a transformative effect on the benefit delivery mechanisms by adopting IT enabled tools and techniques. He further said that EPFO will become truly paperless and extremely subscriber/citizen friendly in the days to come.

On the occasion, a booklet detailing the various digital initiatives taken by EPFO in the recent past was also released. In the recent past, EPFO had taken giant strides in improving its benefit delivery methods and mechanisms. Leveraging Information technology, a host of measures were introduced for greater customer satisfaction:

Universal Account Number (UAN) – The launch of UAN has enabled PF members to access a bouquet of services like dynamically updated UAN card, updated PF passbook including all transfer-in details, facility to link previous members’ ID with present ID, monthly SMS regarding credit of contribution in PF account and facility for auto-triggering transfer request on change of employment.  Already, more than 4.64 crore UAN have been allotted and 58 lakh EPF members have activated their UAN. During the UAN campaign, approximately2.42 crore bank account details, 99 lakh PAN details and 58 lakh Aadhar / NPR numbers of PF members were captured by EPFO.

With the launch of Inoperative Account Helpdesk on the EPFO website, tracing out old or dormant Inoperative Account of PF members has become easy.  Already, more than 42,500 cases registered with the helpdesk have been disposed.

With the introduction of centralized software for generation of certification of coverage (CoC) for international workers, it has been possible to issue more than 63,000 certificates of coverage to members migrating for employment to countries having social security agreement with India.

Online Transfer Claim Portal(OTCP) has made transfer of PF accumulations from one account to another quick and online. Members can file their requests online and there is zero paper movement between the concerned offices of the organisation. More than 5.71 lakh claims have been handled through this facility.

Electronic return for exempted establishment has made the process of submitting the monthly return by exempted establishments easier and hassle free. 1,600 exempted establishments have made use of this facility.

Centralized Monitoring of Compliance related functions has enabled online monitoring by field offices and Head Office. It provides data on defaults by establishments covered under the Act and enables the Organisation to track the status of assessments including levy of damages and also status of recovery and legal cases.

Online Registration of Establishments (OLRE) has made registration of establishment with EPFO web based.  PF code allotment letter is also made available online and more than 53,000 employers have benefited since the introduction of this facility in June, 2014.

Mobile platform based Short Code SMS Service was also launched which could be accessed by PF members who have activated their UAN.  Using this service, member can send SMS to a specific number i.e 7738299899. The format of the SMS is EPFOHO UAN followed by first three characters of the preferred language.

SMS alerts are sent to members   for remittance, withdrawals, interest credit etc.Also, SMS is sent to employers for non deposit of dues.

Central MIS portal has introduced a system of Dashboards which ensures uniformity and consistency in data and results in greater efficiency in monitoring.

Auto-updation of members’ accounts has enabled the organization to update more than 14.5 crore accounts for the year 2014-15 in the beginning of the financial year itself.

In addition to the above, EPFO has lined up a slew of digital initiatives for the future like introduction of centralized pension system, integration with external entities such as UIDAI, steps to ensure direct extension of services to members, initiation of Big Data analytics and progressive introduction of service delivery measures through hand held devices.

Earlier Shri K K Jalan,CPFC welcomed the guests. Shri Harish Gupta, EPF Appellatet Tribunal Senior officers from the Ministry and EPFO were present.

PIB

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