Now, PF office to remain open from 7 am to 10 pm

Rachna Khaira

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 22

In a unique move, Provident Fund Commissioner Dheeraj Gupta today announced to keep his office open from 7 am to 10 pm from Monday to Saturday to facilitate employees who would like to get a universal account number (UAN) issued to operate their provident fund account.

Gupta said only 36,883 employees had so far activated their UAN in the region comprising Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr and around 59,936 employees had given their Aadhaar number. He also expressed displeasure over employers who have not got the universal account number of their employees linked to their account.

“As per the Employee’s Provident Funds Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, it is a punishable offence and can draw huge penalty. I have formed a 20-member team who would sit from 7 am to 10 pm from Monday to Saturday to facilitate both employers and employees who would like to activate their UAN to operate their PF accounts,” said Gupta.

He said an employee would be able to check his provident fund balance, receive monthly credit updates/alerts and even transfer funds from old accounts to existing accounts.

What is UAN

The UAN is a 12-digit ‘portable’ number allotted to each member which gives them control of their EPF account and minimises the role of employer in matters related to a member’s account.

The universal number is a big step towards shifting the EPF services to online platform and making it more user-friendly.

How UAN is being allotted

The EPFO will allot employers universal numbers of their employees. The employer would then allot the number to its employees, who need to provide their know your customer (KYC) details to the former. The KYC details of employees would then be updated online on the EPFO website by the employer. A scanned copy of the KYC document can also be uploaded through the EPFO website with the UAN-based registration. However, an employer has to digitally verify the KYC details of his employees.

No need for fund transfer

Earlier, transferring your EPF money from one employer account to another was a tedious process. But the UAN will do away with the need to transfer your funds at all. All you have to do is furnish your UAN and KYC details to the new employer.

At present, any request for EPF withdrawal has to be signed by your previous employer and then sent to the EPFO. However, the universal account number will change this process.

There would be no need for transfer requests as money lying in your previous account would automatically get transferred to your new account once your present employer verifies your KYC details. Every month when you and your employer contribute to your EPF account, you will receive an SMS alert from the EPFO.

This will be similar to the SMS alerts you receive every time your bank account is credited or debited. You can even check your total balance by downloading the EPF passbook.