Dude, where’s my PF? #DecipheringYourPF #DigitalIndia

As employees in India, each one of us has a Provident fund account! And sadly, not a lot of people know how much money is lying out there! The PF department has gone digital to a large extent and if you have no clue about your PF account, now is the time to start finding out!

NOMENCLATURE

EPF - Employees’ Pension Fund
EPS - Employees' Pension Scheme


AMOUNT CALCULATIONS

Your PF components PF is calculated on your BASIC +DA and is broken up into 2 parts

i) Employee contribution (12% of BASIC+DA)
ii)Employer contribution (12% of BASIC and DA - Out of which 8.33% (or INR 1250, whichever is higher) goes to EPS and the rest goes to EPF.

LINK : http://www.indiainfoline.com/article/news-sector-others/little-known-facts-about-epf-eps-113111500130_1.html


PF ACCOUNT NUMBER

If you don't know your PF account number you can generally findit mentioned on your salary slip.

There are 2 formats in which the PF account number can be mentioned - the old format and the new format. If your salary slip mentions the PF in the old format, you’ll have to find the equivalent new format, since the old format is, well, old and therefore not used anymore.

OLD FORMAT 
The old PF account number is made up of 4 parts as follows
Old Region Code/Establishment Code/Establishment extension/PF Account Number
eg. KN/0010088/000/1234

i) First part is Old Region Code, in this case KN for Karnataka
ii) Second part is 7 digit Establishment code, unique in that region for your office, in this case - 10088
iii) Third part is the 3 digit Establishment extension, which is 000 in most cases. Mostly this is not mentioned in salary slips.
iv) Fourth part is your PF account number.

So, KN/0010088/000 uniquely identifies your employer and 1234 identifies your PF account. Also since the extension is mostly zero, the same account number can also be written as follows : KN/10088/1234

NEW FORMAT
The new format is made up of 5 parts. The only change being that the first part, region code, in the old format is broken up into 2 parts.
The new format is structured as follows:

Region Code / Office Code / Establishment Code / Establishment extension / PF Account Number

And in the case of the example provided it becomes PY/BOM/0010088/000/1234 
where PY stands for PEENYA and BOM stands for Bommasandra 

*******  UPDATE  *******

The epfoservices.in domain, which used to host all EPFO online functionalities, has been down for over a month.
A new link is operational and can be accessed here. However, this site has very limited functionality as of now

LINK : https://unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/

*******

PF ACCOUNT NUMBER : OLD FORMAT TO NEW FORMAT

To convert your PF in old format to the new format, use this link to find your employer
LINK : http://search.epfoservices.in/est_search.php

As an exercise, can you recognize which firm we are talking about in the example above? :)


KNOW YOUR PF BALANCE

So now that you know your PF account number, you might want to know how much money is lying out there. And this link will help you find out.
LINK : http://www.epfindia.com/site_en/KYEPFB.php


KNOW YOUR UAN

Everybody knows the delays one faces in transferring one’s PF account from your previous employer to your current employer. As a solution to this, the government has introduced the concept of a Universal Account Number which remains constant throughout your employment. The new PF accounts are linked to this UAN once you change jobs, thereby making the entire process easier.

To find out your UAN, you can either check with your HR department, or you can click the link below.
LINK : http://uanmembers.epfoservices.in/check_uan_status.php


REGISTRATIONS

Now you know your PF account number and your UAN.
Next up, is registering yourselves on the respective portals.

To register yourself on the EPF Member portal go to the link below.
LINK : http://members.epfoservices.in/employee_reg_form.php

Activating your UAN member login
Go here to activate your UAN registration.
LINK : http://uanmembers.epfoservices.in/uan_reg_form.php






PORTAL LINKS

The EPF and UAN portals can be accessed the the links below.
The PF passbook, which gives current balance and transaction history of your PF account, can be downloaded at the UAN portal.

EPF MEMBER PORTAL : http://members.epfoservices.in/
UAN MEMBER PORTAL : http://uanmembers.epfoservices.in/index.php


INITIATING A TRANSFER CLAIM

Now suppose you switched jobs and want to transfer your PF account, This can be done online as well.

Go to the member claims link given here.
LINK : http://memberclaims.epfoservices.in/
Login using your EPF MEMBER PORTAL credentials.
You would need to know your PF account at previous employer as well as the PF account at the new employer.
And the transfer claim can be initiated online. 

REGISTERING A GRIEVANCE

Now let’s say you initiated a transfer and are facing delays or have a general query regarding any of your old PF accounts.
There is an online EPF Grievances Portal to raise your concerns as well.
LINK : http://epfigms.gov.in/
Click on the Register Grievance tab and enter the required details and your query would be answered to.
There are options to Send Reminders and Check Status as well. However, the couple of times I have used it, the response has been quick and within a couple of days.


WITHDRAWING YOUR PF AND EPS

In this section, we will look at how to go about withdrawing your PF and EPS.
The withdrawal process has still not been migrated online, and is carried out offline.
Depending on your case you would have to submit the appropriate forms to your ex-employer to facilitate the withdrawal/pension certificate/initiate pension.

Withdrawal is allowed only if you have quit your job and haven’t found a job even after 2 months. There are specific scenarios where you might be allowed to withdraw your PF even when you are currently employed. These scenarios can be found at the following link.
LINK : http://www.epfindia.com/site_docs/PDFs/Downloads_PDFs/TypesOfAdvances_Form31.pdf

To find out which form you would need to fill for withdrawal check out the link below.
LINK : http://www.epfindia.com/site_en/WhichClaimForm.php

UPDATE
A new process has been introduced (since Dec2015) by which you can directly submit your withdrawal forms to the EPFO office. You don't have to get your employer's verification.

This works only if the following conditions are met :
1) You have your UAN generated.
2) Aadhar and Bank details are submitted as KYC documents and verified by the employer in UAN portal.

The forms are named as Form 19 UAN, Form 10C UAN and Form 31 UAN.

SCENARIOS

       This can be done online at http://memberclaims.epfoservices.in/

LINKS TO DOWNLOAD THE FORMS

FORM 10C   http://www.epfindia.com/site_docs/PDFs/Downloads_PDFs/Form10C.pdf

FORM 10D   http://www.epfindia.com/site_docs/PDFs/Downloads_PDFs/Form10D.pdf

FORM 13      http://www.epfindia.com/site_docs/PDFs/Downloads_PDFs/Form13.pdf

FORM 14        http://www.epfindia.com/site_docs/PDFs/Downloads_PDFs/Form14.pdf

FORM 19     http://www.epfindia.com/site_docs/PDFs/Downloads_PDFs/Form19.pdf

FORM 20    http://www.epfindia.com/site_docs/PDFs/Downloads_PDFs/Form20.pdf

FORM 31     http://www.epfindia.com/site_docs/PDFs/Downloads_PDFs/Form31.pdf

FORM 51F  http://www.epfindia.com/site_docs/PDFs/Downloads_PDFs/Form5IF.pdf

FORM 19 UAN, FORM 10C UAN, FORM 31UAN
Forms for Direct Withdrawal from EPFO (No employer verification required)

TAX DEDUCTED AT SOURCE (TDS)

When you apply for withdrawing from your PF account, there are certain rules to decide how much tax you would have to pay. This tax is deducted at source. The rules are as follows.

QUESTIONS

I hope this answers all your questions. If you have any more questions, I would be more than happy to try and answer them in the comments section.

1`