Now you don't need to depend upon your employer to obtain your universal account number (UAN). It may be noted that the Employee's Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has launched this facility for the formal sector. As per the existing rules,
employees have to apply through their employers to get the UAN, which enables them to avoid filing claims for the provident fund (PF) transfer while switching the jobs.
employees have to apply through their employers to get the UAN, which enables them to avoid filing claims for the provident fund (PF) transfer while switching the jobs.
The UAN remains the same throughout the life of an employee. Under this new facility, any worker can acquire UAN directly from the EPFO website which enrolls them for provident fund, pension and life insurance benefits. So, now the employee will not have to depend on his or her employer for the UAN.
Apart from this, EPFO has also launched a new facility under which over 65 lakh pensioners can download their pension-related documents such as pension payment order (PPO) on Digilocker. In order to create a depository of electronic PPOs so that it becomes accessible to individual pensioners, the EPFO has integrated with Digilocker of National e-Governance Division (NeGD).
On 67th foundation day celebrations of the retirement body, Labor Minister Santosh Gangwar had launched these two facilities on Friday. Along with these, he also launched an E-Inspection facility as well, which is a digital interface of the EPFO with employers.
The E-Inspection form will be available in the user login of employers not filing ECR which enables them to inform either closure of business or unpaid dues with a proposal for payment. According to the press release, "It will nudge employers for compliant behavior and prevent undue harassment of non-willful defaulters and eliminate inspector raj."
Shri Heeralal Samariya, Secretary, Labour and Employment appreciated the efforts of the EPFO and said that workers believe that their money is safe in EPF and also earn a high income on the deposit. He further stated that a robust investment mechanism and close monitoring by CBT has ensured safe investments and also higher returns. Along with this, SMS to employees about the receipt of their monthly contribution and online claims have strengthened their trust in EPFO.
It may be noted that EPFO has six crore active members and 65 lakh pensioners, maintaining around 22 crore accounts of workers with a fund of approximately 13 lakh crore. Recently, the government has approved an 8.65 per cent interest rate on employees provident fund for the year 2018-19.
