Investments in PF is not only a way to earn interest income but also a way to save taxes. Many of you must have made investments to the PF. The EPFO Portal offers various services to the investors. Checking your PF Balance, claiming your PF Withdrawal, transferring EPF, and what not now everything can be done online on the portal. This article covers the basic details about Employees' Provident Fund Organisation login portal including the steps to successfully log in to avail the services offered for the investors.
Table of Contents
What is EPFO?
Background: For a long time, the Central and State Governments were bothered about the well being of an employee and his/her family, post-retirement or in case of the death of such an employee. Due to this, in the year 1925, the government launched The Provident Fund Act. This was the first of its kind act and due to limited scope, couldn't survive for long. The year 1948, proved to be stressful for the government when, in the Indian Labour Conference held that year, it was agreed that a revised provident fund scheme will be launched for industrial labor. Thus, in the year 1948, the Coal Mines Provident Fund Scheme was launched to test the scope of an act regarding the same. The success of the scheme resulted in the Employees' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 that came into effect on 4th March 1952. The act was valid to the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir and is under the purview of the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
The EPF MP Act provides a compulsory provident fund scheme and an insurance scheme for the employees of six industries namely, Cement, Cigarettes, Electrical, Iron and Steel, Paper, and Textiles. The following three schemes are currently in operation under the act:
1. Employee's Provident Fund Scheme, 1952
2. Employee's Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme, 1976
3. Employee's Pension Scheme, 1995
For the year 2022-23, the interest rate on EPF account has been decided at 8.15% p.a.
What is the structure of EPFO?
It performs a dual role of being:
1. The enforcement agency to oversee the implementation of the EPF & MP Act
2. A service provider for the employees covered under the act
Administration: The act is administered by the Central Board of Trustees, constituted under Section 5A of the act. It consists of the following:
- Chairman - Union Labour Minister of India
- Vice Chairman
- 5 Central Government representatives
- 15 State Government representatives
- 10 Employee's representatives
- 10 employer's representatives
- Central P.F Commissioner - Chief Executive (Reports directly to the Union Labour Minister)
- Member Secretary to the Board
Administration Structure of the Organisation
The administration of the organization is divided into zones that are headed by an Additional Central Provident Fund Commissioner. Currently, there are 10 zones under which the country is divided with more than 20,000 people employed at the EPFO.
With the technological advancements happening the Government has now a specifically dedicated EPFO portal that offers all the services to the members.
EPFO Login : How to login to the EPFO Portal?
In order to EPFO Login, the employees must first activate their Universal Account Number (UAN). A UAN is a 12-digit number allotted to the employee wherein all his Member ID's given by different employers can be linked under one umbrella account. This means, when an employee switches his job, his Member ID will change, but the same can be linked to his UAN number, which remains same. An employee can find out his UAN number through his employer or by checking the salary slip issued to him.
To know how to activate UAN visit https://www.caclubindia.com/articles/pf-balance-check-40828.asp . Post activating the UAN, the following steps are to be followed to login to the portal:
Step 1: Visit EPFO Portal/Website i.e. https://www.epfindia.gov.in/site_en/
Step 2: Visit the "Our services" section and select "For Employees"
Step 3: In the Services section, select Member UAN/Online Service (OCS/OTCP)
Step 4: Enter your UAN and password, along with captcha code
Step 5: Click on sign in and access your account
Well you are now logged in to the EPFO Portal
Step 1: Visit https://unifiedportal-emp.epfindia.gov.in/epfo/#
Step 2: Enter your username and password
Step 3: Click on Sign In and access your account
EPFO Portal Services
1. UAN: As discussed already, the Universal Advanced Number is one of the biggest services offered by the EPFO. It is a one of its kind unique number that lets the employee link multiple Member ID's to the same UAN, offering a complete disclosure of his account under one umbrella. Apart from that, the UAN also offers an updated UAN card, Updated PF passbook which includes all the transfer-in details together with offering an SMS facility regarding credit of contribution in PF account.
2. UAN Member E-Sewa for Employees: Under this service, the employee can avail facilities like UAN Card download, online updating the KYC details, receiving details of the EPF passbook etc.
3. Inoperative Accounts Online Helpdesk: Inoperative accounts refer to the member accounts that have not received a contribution for 36 months or more. This usually happens in the case of change in employment. This helpdesk helps the employee to either settle old accounts or transfer them to current account.
4. Online EPF Transfer: This service lets the employee transfer his provident fund amount to another EPF account.
5. Online PF Withdrawal: In case of unemployment till 60 days of resignation, the employee is allowed to withdraw his EPF amount online, through this service.
6. Online Registration of Establishments: This service lets the employee file an application to get the PF Code allotted online.
7. PF Payments Online: Under this service, the PF amount has to compulsorily be transferred online. For this purpose, EPFO has tied up with 10 banks.
8. Centralized software for generation of Certificate of Coverage for international workers: This service has enabled employees working in countries having Social Security Agreements with India, to generate Certificate of Coverage online.
9. SMS, Alerts and Missed Calls Service
10. Electronic return for the exempted establishment - Adoption of IT tool
11. Passbook and claim status
12. Grievance redressal: This service lets the employees/employers raise complaints regarding any of the above services. The redressal has been the top priority of the EPFO and most complaints are resolved within 15 days of their issue.
CAclubindia
