Employees Provident Fund or commonly known as EPF is a long term retirement savings scheme which is an initiative taken by the government in order to inculcate savings discipline in people, which can be utilised at the time of any major life events such as weddings, home renovation / alteration, medical treatments etc. And organizations which have more than 20 employees should compulsorily register with EPFO.
Employees Provident Fund Organization or EPFO which is a statutory body under the labour ministry of finance is responsible for managing EPF account.
In today’s time, many industries are being set up rapidly; hence there are more openings in private sector compared to government jobs which offers minimum vacancies. And as most of the jobs are being created in private sector, switching jobs have become more common. And with job changes, change of workplace from one city to another is also fairly common.
The EPF have introduced a number of new measures to modify online claim process.
As per the new rules, EPF subscribers are no longer require to file a separate EPF transfer claims. Using Form – 13 after changing jobs as the claim will now be transferred automatically. As per the present rule, the employers can give their previous EPF account in new composite F – 11 to give a declaration about their details, at the time of their joining.
Also to develop different methods for easy online streamline like for example ‘online transfer claim’ got replaced by United Portal of the EPFO. Now every employer have been provided with a Unique Account Number (UAN), which acts like an umbrella for a number of PF accounts.
Before the new rules, the employees had to go through a long drawn out process of linking old PF account to the new one but now with the introduction of UAN the process has become extremely easy and simple, all they are required to do is to provide his UAN number to his or her new employer.
Also, note that before using the unified portal make sure that your UAN is linked with KYC (Know Your Customer).
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Why transfer PF and not withdraw it?
When you decide to switch your current job and join a new employer, you get an option to open a new PF account and close the previous one. However, it is advisable to transfer the old PF account funds to the new one. Earlier the transfer involved some paperwork, like submitting the transfer form from an old employer to the new one. But with the launch of an online self – service portal by EPFO this has become easier and hassle-free.
Advantages of EPF Transfer
There are multiple advantages of EPF transfer, which are as follows:
If you choose to close your old account before 5 years, the amount becomes taxable. But if you decide to transfer the funds, you get to enjoy your hard earned money in full. You can also avail partial withdrawal on your PF funds for reasons like purchasing / constructing a house, medical treatment, marriage of own daughter etc. You earn the prevailing rate of interest from EPFO; in the long run and this becomes a substantial sum due to the power of compounding.
Step by step Guide for Online Transfer of PF Funds
Follow the below-mentioned steps in order to transfer PF Funds:
- Log in to the EPFO Portal at http://members.epfoservices.in/and create your UAN based login ID.
- This will direct you to a page where you have to enter your UAN, mobile number and details of current employer like state, establishment number and account number
- Then you need to check if the account is eligible for a transfer on the EPFO site. You need to fill in the state where the employer was located and search by name or establishment number from the dropdown menu
- Once you have filled in the details, click on Check Eligibility
- The site will then let you know if your account is eligible, or not. If it is, then you can register on the EPFO website
- You will also have to submit a valid photo ID (photo identification card) such PAN card, Aadhaar or driving license. The website will also send a PIN to your mobile which you have to verify
- Submitting the PIN successfully will give you a confirmation message. Continue further.
- This will take you to the EPFO Member Claims Portal, To log in you have to provide the document ID and phone number. After signing in, you can see all options.
- Go to the top tabs and click on Request for transfer of account.
- You can now access and fill in PF transfer form. It has three broad parts:
- First, you have to enter personal information in the first part. Other than your name and email you have to enter IFSC Code of the bank and your salary account number.
- In second part, fill in details of your old PF account
- In part three, fill in details of current PF account.
- The claim can be attested by your previous or current employer. It takes some time for their end to do it.
- After the form is correctly filled in, you can click preview to see if the information is correct. Or else modify.
- After ensuring all the information is correct, enter the captcha and get PIN. Also click “I Agree”. After entering the PIN, the claim transfer has started off.
Benefits of linking Aadhaar number with PAN
The Government has tightly woven Aadhaar with the economy by first linking it with subsidies and then gradually making it mandatory for performing almost everything from bank transactions to filing your taxes. The reach of Aadhaar has gone far beyond its initial purpose of establishing the identity of its holder.
Read below to know some of the benefits of linking Aadhaar number with PAN card:
- The UAN links all the PAN accounts and can be handled as one account. And seeding the two documents will also prevent it from the duplicity of the account
- The Aadhaar card details linked in the member portal will be sufficient if in any case the EPFO requires your identity or address proof
- The employer does not require digital signature to transfer funds between PF accounts
- One can also make PF withdrawals without the attestation of their employer by just linking the Aadhaar card to the UAN
- Linking the Aadhaar card with the UAN brings about transparency in the system.