EPF – Employee Provident Fund

Introduction
The purpose of this document is to provide employees with a comprehensive understanding
of the Provident Fund (PF) and its significance. This section outlines the procedures related
to PF, ensuring employees are aware of their rights, obligations, and the benefits they can
derive from the PF scheme.

Purpose
The PF section aims to create awareness and clarity regarding the PF procedures. It enables
employees to make informed decisions, manage their PF contributions effectively, and
maximize the benefits provided by the PF scheme.

Benefits of PF
 Provision of pension benefits (under the Employees' Pension Scheme) after retirement.
 Option to transfer PF account when changing employment.
 Financial security during emergencies through partial withdrawals.
 Nomination facility to ensure the smooth transfer of PF benefits to legal heirs.

Detailed Overview of the PF scheme

 HR department to be responsible for providing the PF overview to all employees within

the MAT Group, which consists of comprehensive information and explanations
regarding the PF scheme, its features, and its benefits.
 This document is for new employees and periodically for existing employees to ensure
continuous information and awareness about PF Scheme.

PF Registration
 HR to assist employees with PF registration when they join the organization.
 HR to inform employees about the necessary documentation needed for PF registration,
such as proof of identity, address, and bank account details.
 HR to provide employees with the relevant forms for PF nomination and assist in
completing them for future reference.
 After registering online, every eligible employee is allotted with a 12 digit UAN (Universal
Account Number).

UAN
 UAN is Universal Account Number. The UAN is a 12-digit number allotted to employee
who is contributing to EPF.
 The universal account number remains same through the lifetime of an employee.
 It does not change with the change in jobs.
 Now one has UAN number and PF number also called as Member Id.

PF Transfer Online – Old to New Account Transfer Process

 An employee can either completely or partially withdraw his EPF balance or he can have
his PF transfer from his old to new employer as employee changes job from company.
 This process needs filing up of the Transfer Form online on the PF portal.
 Upon submission of the transfer form, the current or previous employer has to approve
it.
 This PF transfer approval is only possible by the employer, it cannot be done by the
employee.
 For this process, it is mandatory that the employer’s Digital Signature is uploaded on the
employee PF portal and it is approved by the local PF office.
 The digital signature’s status should be Active.

Procedure for PF Withdrawal Online

1. Firstly, visit the UAN portal.
2. Login via your UAN and password, then enter the CAPTCHA given.

 Next click on MANAGE to open a drop-down and proceed to click on KYC.

 Once you click on KYC, a screen appears to employee’s bank details, PAN and Aadhaar
card details.
 It is necessary for employee to have their PAN and Aadhaar details verified for online PF
withdrawal process.
 Employee to make sure that their Name and Date of Birth given on your PAN and
Aadhaar are the same.
 Any mismatch between these will fail their EPF withdrawal.
 If there is a mistake in employee Name or Date of Birth, on either PAN or Aadhaar, they
can correct it by submitting a Joint Declaration Form.
KYC Details
 Before continuing to the next step, Employee to check that their given Bank Account and
IFSC Code are correct.
 If there is a mistake here, then resubmit your bank KYC details.
 Employee to ask their employer to verify this KYC online with their Digital Signature.
 The bank KYC appearing top-most will be considered by the EPFO.
 Also, the Online Verification Status, might appear as “N/A”. This does not mean that your
bank KYC is unverified by your employer. So you can proceed to the next step.

 On the home screen check that employee Aadhaar detail appears as “Verified
(Demographic)”.
 Else Employee will not be able to have a successful online PF withdrawal.
 Furthermore, Employee to make sure that their active mobile number is linked to their
Aadhaar and that mobile number is available with them.
 This is because Employee will receive an OTP for the EPF withdrawal process.
 In case employee don’t have the registered mobile number in use, then they need to go
to their nearest Aadhaar centre and get their active number linked.
 Once the employee details are verified click on Online Services to open another drop-
down menu and click on Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C & 10D).
 Go below and check if employee’s Date of Exit is mentioned.
 If it is not, then either employee is still in active service or employer has not updated
employee’s exit date.
 Employee exit date has to be updated, else claim will get rejected.
 To be eligible for withdrawal, employee’s exit date should be at least two months ago.

 After checking everything, employee has to put in their bank account’s last four digits
and Verify. This is another security check.
 There is also the option to fill a new Form-15G. This is valid if employee service period is
under 5 years, PF amount is above Rs. 50,000 and employee wants to save TDS
deduction. But for this, employee should fall below the taxable limit.
 Fill Form 19 to withdraw EPF and Form 10C to withdraw pension.
 Pension withdrawal is available if employee service period is a minimum of 6 months and
maximum of 9.5 years.
 Once employee details are verified click on ONLINE SERVICES to open another drop-
down menu and click on CLAIM FORM.
 Next screen appears to show all employee details. Once checked everything, click on
PROCEED FOR ONLINE CLAIM to submit form.
 In the tab, I WANT TO APPLY FOR, employee can select the claim form as per their
requirement. The following options are available only if the individual is eligible for it.
 Form 31 – For partial withdrawal of PF
Form 19 – For complete withdrawal of PF
Form 10C- For withdrawal of EPF
 If the employee has less than 6 months of work experience at their current job or is still
employed at their current job, only Form 31 will be available for them.
 An OTP is sent on the mobile number which is linked to employee Aadhaar card. Enter
the OTP number and click on SUBMIT.
 After the submission of the form successfully, employee will receive a confirmation copy
with a reference number, which they can then use to check their claim status online.

EPF FORM 20 DEATH CLAIM PROCEDURE

For employee

 Nominee of the employee can claim the EPF account money after the death of an
employee.
 The process begins partly when the employee is still alive and well.
 As a subscriber to EPF form 20, it is necessary that the employee fills an EPF Nomination
Form to make sure that his money is transferred easily to his family as well as a Pension
Scheme Certificate whenever he switches jobs so that the correct pension amount is
calculated.
 These two documents are necessary for submission during the EPF form 20 death claim
process.

For Employer
 Employer need to mark “Death” as the reason for the employee leaving his job on the
EPF Employers’ Portal after the death of the employee.
 This ensures that the employee’s family does not get into unnecessary hassles during
the EPF death claim.

Documents need to submit for EPF death claim

1. EPF Composite Form – is the main document to fill to claim the EPF amount.
 This form is to be filled by the nominee of the employee with the help of respetive HR.
 In the case of death, for the first row, employee can tick on PROVIDENT FUND, PENSION
CLAIM and INSURANCE EDLI.
 Next fill in the NAME OF THE DECEASED MEMBER, their FATHER’S NAME, SPOUSE’S
NAME, MARITAL STATUS, AADHAAR NUMBER, UAN, PF ACCOUNT NUMBER, and DATE
OF LEAVING SERVICE.
 Now tick YES or NO for ISSUE OF SCHEME CERTIFICATE.
 If YES, next mention the NUMBER OF SCHEME CERTIFICATES and SCHEME CERTIFICATE
ISSUING OFFICE.
 Then fill in the PERIOD OF NON-CONTRIBUTORY SERVICE in the format of
year/month/days.
 Tick YES or NO for WHETHER THE MEMBER DIES WHILE IN SERVICE.
 Next, give up to 5 nominee details and all the relevant bank accounts where the money
would be transferred.
 For receiving Pension nominee can fill in up to 4 nominee bank accounts.
 Fill in nominee’s name, signature and after that get the signature and company seal of
the employer.
2. Death Certificate – of the employee who passed away.
3. Birth certificate – of the children or people who are claiming for the EPF amount.
4. One Joint Photograph – of all the nominees together in the frame to avoid fraud.
5. Copy of a cancelled cheque or attested copy of the first page of bank passbook – as a
proof of all the accounts mentioned on the composite form where money will be
transferred.
6. Pension Scheme Certificate – with all details of nominees receiving the deceased
employee’s pension.
7. After competing form in detail, nominee has to take all these documents to the
employer, HR needs to check all submitted documents, then sign and seal the composite
form.
8. After sign and stamp of the employer, all original documents as well as a copy of each of
them is to be submitted in the PF Department to receive and put a seal on the document
copies to prove the submission of them.
9. After submitting all documents to the PF Department, it should take under 30 days for
the EPF money to get successfully transferred to the nominees account.

KYC
 It is very important for the employee to have their EPF KYC details correctly updated on
the EPFO online portal.
 This is helpful for checking their EPF balance, or for transferring or withdrawing PF while
changing jobs.

BENEFITS OF UPDATED KYC

 No employer attestation is required to withdraw any money.
 No employer attestation is required for transferring of funds.
 Monthly alerts are sent to employee’s registered mobile number when EPF amount is
credited by an employer.
 SMS alerts are sent whenever any withdrawal is made, to ensure account safety.
 In the case of multiple PF accounts, it is easy to merge all of them together.

Documents Needed for Online KYC

 Aadhaar card
 Bank account number
 PAN card

KYC Online Procedure

1. Log in to the Unified Portal Member Interface.
2. Enter UAN, PASSWORD, and CAPTCHA on the right-hand side.
3. Under MANAGE drop down options, click on KYC tab.

4. The following details can now be filled in – BANK, PAN, AADHAAR, PASSPORT, DRIVING
LICENSE, ELECTION CARD, RATION CARD, and NATIONAL POPULATION REGISTER. Select
all the options employee wants to update and fill them in one by one.
5. Some of these details will need to be verified by your employer, so until then these
details will appear under KYC PENDING FOR APPROVAL.
6. Once verified, they will appear under DIGITALLY APPROVED KYC.
7. If employee wants to modify or edit some of the details already updated on your KYC, go
to MANAGE drop-down list and click on MODIFY BASIC DETAILS.

8. In case some details have been incorrectly filling previously, employee can now edit that
information under this tab. Once updated, these will also need to be verified by the
employer.

EMPLOYEE PENSION SCHEME CERTIFICATE

Accumulated pension amount can be withdrawn using Form 10C after 180 days of
continuous service and before completion of 10 years of the service period.
Important points to note
 You can get the EPF balance amount only in the registered bank account.
 Your registered bank account should be active. If it is closed then change your bank
account number before you submit the withdrawal application. You can change your
bank account number through your employer.
 The mobile number which you have registered with your Aadhaar should be active since
authentication is done through that number.
 Your EPF database details should match with your Aadhaar database, otherwise, the
online EPF withdrawal would not succeed.
IN CASE OF DEATH OF THE EMPLOYEE

Eligibility
In case of the death of the PF member, his widow, children and parents will be eligible to
receive his lifelong pension amount.

Benefits for dependents

 In case of the death of the PF member, his widow, children and parents will be eligible to
receive his lifelong pension amount.
 Along with pension, the deceased member’s dependents also receive EDLI benefits. This
EDLI benefit is for lifetime if the member expires during his employment period.

Pension
 If the member expires before 58 years of age and beginning of his pension then his
widow will receive either the pension he is eligible for a minimum of Rs 1000/month.
 However, if member expires after his pension has already begun then his widow will
receive 50% of that pension for her lifetime.
 Additionally, two of the member’s kids will receive 25% of the widow pension amount
individually until they reach 25 years of age.
 If the deceased member’s wife has also passed away then two of his kids will receive
75% of his pension until they are 25 years of age.
 However, if the deceased member’s children are disable then they will receive lifetime
pension regardless of age.
 If the deceased member has no wife or kids, then his nominee will receive his lifelong
pension.
 This nominee can be his parents.
 But if the member did not complete his pensionable service then his parents will get
return of capital. I.e. the money that has been deposited under the pension fund.
Documents required for claiming Pension death benefits
The following documents are needed to be submitted to receive death benefits:
 Combined Death Claim Form (earlier separate Forms 20, 10D, etc were required)
 Death certificate
 Aadhaar card of wife and children
 Birth certificate of wife and children
 Separate bank account details (passbook copy) of wife and children (preferably in SBI)
 3 Passport size photo in colour of wife and children
 3 Joint passport photo of wife and children
Exceptions
 If an employee is working for a long duration but hasn’t reached the pension withdrawal
age, then upon changing jobs, must continue the pension and PF credentials to the new
office.
 A lapse can happen when for continuous 36 months the contribution has not been paid,
even though the service can be of more than 20 years.