Employee Provident Fund (EPF) Transfer Via Unified Portal

The Employee Provident Fund(EPF) brings in a number of new measures to improvise online claim process. By inventing different methods for easy online streamline like for example ‘online transfer claim’ got replaced by United Portal of the EPFO. The online transfer PF claims were available since ages but now if a person wants to transfer any claims he or she will have to proceed via the ‘unified portal’.

Every employee is provided with a Unique Identity Number. This acts as an umbrella for a number of PF accounts. Earlier when an employee had to change his or her job he had to go through a time-consuming process of linking his old PF account to the new one but now with UAN, all an employee has to do is provide his UAN number to his or her new employer. As a person changes his or her job, the UAN acts as the umbrella of all the past PF accounts as well as the new one.

Things to Remember Before Using the Unified Portal:-

You need to keep your UAN number with you.

1. Make sure that your UAN is seeded with KYC(bank details and Aadhaar)
2. Provide the approved/verified KYC to your new employer.
3. Log in to the official unified portal
4. After logging in click e-sewa
5. Click on ‘online services’ and then click ‘transfer request’
6. Fill the transfer claim form online and then download the form in PDF format
7. Take a print out of the form and then submit it to your employer after signing it(within 10 days).
8. After receiving the form the employer approves the transfer digitally by accessing the employer interface in the Unified Portal.

Another initiative by the EPFO to ensure the convenience of the employer is that it has reduced the time of withdrawal to 5 days.

Transfer Post 1st of May:-

In order to ensure EPS benefit of the employees, the EPFO has directed to clear all in-process claims within the month.For this, the employer is required to take out a print out of the transfer claim and get it signed by the employee.Thus an employee who has initiated a transfer post 1 March is required to resubmit the claim.The date of joining and the date of leaving should be correct and there should not be any mismatch to ensure a smooth process.After attesting it from the employee the employer sends it to EPFO office to start the process.

Transfer/Withdraw:-

After leaving an organization a person might be confused with whether to withdraw or to transfer the amount to the new employer.The following things should be kept in mind while transferring:-

• A person has the option to withdraw if he or she remains unemployed for 60 days( the withdrawal is not taxable if a person has served five years continuous service).
• If a person has worked at a particular place and has shifted his job to another organization then it is more advisable to transfer the existing PF to the new employer.
• It must also be kept in mind that monthly salary to EPF is necessary as 12% of monthly salary is moved to EPF.

The EPF is not only a saving scheme but also ensures a financial base for the employees after retirement.

To know more about EPF please visit the Unified Portal.