All salaried employees whether in the private or public sectors are well aware that a part of their income is deducted from monthly pay towards the Employee’s Provident Fund. The Employee’s Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) is the state-owned body that oversees the contribution which is mandated for workers engaged in the organized sector.
What are the Online Services of EPFO?
The EPFO is appointed by the central government of India to oversee the contributions made to the fund which is managed by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. The EPFO also provides online services to workers where they can activate their UAN (Universal Account Number) through which they can check the account balance of their EPF.
If you want to know your account balance then you must complete the KYC process (Know Your Customer) process. It can be done through your employer.
How to activate UAN & download EPF passbook?
Generally, for activating your UAN you will need the supplication of your AADHAR number which is linked to your PAN Card. The process to activate UAN, check your account balance and download EPF passbook is very simple as provided by EPFO’s portal. You simply need to search for PFO portal, unified portal or check EPF balance online and must be able to land on the portal.
For a detailed description of how to use the portal, there are various articles available online which should help. The EPFO’s services are readily available on the UMANG app (Unified Mobile APP for New Governance). However, it must be noted that, EPFO’s services that were given through mobile services are now discontinued.
Adding to it, the EPFO allows employees to continue with the same EPF account, through all their employers in the lifetime, to merge accounts and to even create new accounts through UANs. Most of these functions can be completed offline through your employer as and when you change jobs or quit one. These changes are then reflected on your EPF account online.
What is the EPF scheme?
The EPFO’s Employee Provident Fund (EPF) scheme aims to encourage savings among working professionals so that there is sizeable retirement income. The funds that get accumulated into the funds are then contributed to by an employee and the employer he/she is employed with. Both parties contribution is 12% which is part of the employee’s salary (basic + dearness allowance).
Here, one part is mentioned as part of the CTC (cost to the company) in the annexure and is payable by the employer, the employee’s contribution becomes a deductible portion from the monthly earnings of the employee.
Though, the employee’s contributory amount is deposited directly to the fund, 3.67% of the employer contribution is deposited into the Employees’ Pension.
