Employees' Provident Fund Organisation

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is the statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India that is responsible for regulation and management of provident funds in India. The EPFO administers the mandatory provident fund. It also manages social security agreements with other countries. International workers are covered under EPFO plans in countries where bilateral agreements have been signed. As of May 2021, 19 such agreements are in place.[2] The EPFO's apex decision making body is the Central Board of Trustees (CBT),[3][4] a statutory body established by the Employees' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.[5] As of 2018, more than ₹11 lakh crore (US$157.8 billion) are under EPFO management.[6]

Employees' Provident Fund Organisation
Native name
कर्मचारी भविष्य निधि संगठन
TypeStatutory Body
Founded4 March 1952 (1952-03-04)
Headquarters
Bhavishya Nidhi Bhawan, 14, Bhikaiji Cama Place,
New Delhi
,
India
Key people
Neelam Shammi Rao, Indian Social Security Service
AUM₹11 lakh crore (US$150 billion)
OwnerMinistry of Labour and Employment, Government of India
Websiteepfindia.gov.in

[1]

On 1 October 2014, the Government of India launched a Universal Account Number for Employees covered by EPFO to enable Provident Fund number portability.[7]

Origins

The first Provident Fund Act, passed in 1925 for regulating the provident funds of some private concerns, was limited in scope. In 1929, the Royal Commission on Labour stressed the need for creating provident funds for industrial workers. In the Indian Labour Conference held in 1948, it was generally agreed that the introduction of a statutory provident fund for industrial workers should be undertaken. The Coal Mines Provident Fund Scheme was launched in 1948. The success of this fund led to demand for its expansion to other industries.

The Constitution of India enacted in 1950 a non-justiciable directive that the State shall, within the limits of its economic capacity, make effective provisions for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old-age, sickness & disablement and undeserved want.

Accordingly, the last months of 1951 witnessed the promulgation of the Employees' Provident Funds Ordinance. The Ordinance promulgated on 5 November 1951 was replaced by the Employees' Provident Funds Act, which extended to the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir. The Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, framed under section 5 of the Act, was introduced in stages and came into force in its entirety by 1 November 1952. The cement, cigarette, electric, mechanical and general engineering products, iron, steel, paper, and textile industries were affected by the Act. The Acts and Schemes framed under it are administered by the Central Board of Trustees, which consists of representatives of central and state governments, employers, and employees. The Board administers a contributory provident fund, pension scheme and an insurance scheme for the workforce engaged in the organized sector in India.[8] The board is chaired by the Union Labour Minister of India.

Presently, the following three schemes are in operation under the Act:

  1. Employees' Provident Fund Scheme, 1952
  2. Employees' Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme, 1976
  3. Employees' Pension Scheme, 1995 (replacing the Employees' Family Pension Scheme, 1971)

Recent Developments

On 5 March 2020, the EPFO lowered the interest rate on employee provident funds to 8.50% for 2019-20,[9] from 8.65%.[10] The EPFO has retained the interest rate of 8.50% for the fiscal year of 2020-21.

Structure

The EPFO has the role of being the enforcement agency to oversee the implementation of the EPF & MP Act and as a service provider for the covered beneficiaries throughout the country. The Act is administered by the Central Board of Trustees. The CBT, as the Board is informally called, consists of a Chairman, a Vice-Chairman, 5 Central Government Representatives, 15 State Government Representatives, 10 Employees' Representatives, 10 Employers' Representatives with Central P.F Commissioner and the Member Secretary to the Board. The Executive Committee of the CBT is constituted from among the members of the CBT to assist the Central Board in the discharge of its function related to Administrative matters.

The officials of the organisation in the Cadre of Commissioners are appointed by the Central Board under Section 5D for the efficient administration of the Act and Schemes. To this end, the commissioners of the organisation are vested with vast powers under the statute conferring quasi-judicial authority for the assessment of financial liability on the employer, search and seizure of records, levy of damages, attachment and auction of a defaulter's property, prosecution and arrest and detention of defaulters in civil prison etc.

Administratively, the organisation is divided into zones that are headed by an Additional Central Provident Fund Commissioner. At present, there are ten Zones across India. The states have either one or more than one Regional Offices headed by Regional Provident Fund Commissioners (RPFC) (Grade I) which are again sub-divided into Sub-Regions headed by Regional Provident Fund Commissioners (Grade II). To assist them are Assistant Provident Fund Commissioners looking after the enforcement of the Act and Schemes. Many districts in the country have district offices where an assistant provident fund commissioner is stationed for implementation of the scheme and attend to grievances.

The total manpower of the EPFO is at present more than 20000 including all levels. The Commissioner cadre numbering 815 are recruited directly, competitively, through the Union Public Service Commission of India as well as through promotion from lower ranks. Subordinate Officers (Enforcement Officers/Accounts Officers) are also recruited directly in addition to promotion from the staff cadre of social security assistants.

Universal Account Number

The Universal Account Number (UAN) is a 12-digit number allotted to employees who are contributing to EPF. It will be generated for each of the PF members by EPFO. The UAN acts as an umbrella for the multiple Member IDs allotted to an individual by different establishments and remains the same throughout the lifetime of an employee. It does not change between jobs. The idea is to link multiple Member Identification Numbers (Member Id) allotted to a single member under a single UAN. This will help the member to view details of all the Member Identification Numbers (Member Id) linked to it.

The major benefit of UAN includes convenience when tagging multiple Member IDs of a single employee. The UAN helps with transfer and withdrawals of PF claims, online or offline. Along with these services like the Online Pass-Book, SMS services on each deposit of contribution and online KYC updates can be provided based on UAN number. One can transfer the balance from one EPF to another EPF account with the help of UAN.[11]

There is a new UAN portal which can check EPF balance and UAN status,[12] download UAN EPF passbook,[13] check EPF balance, provident fund claim, and many more facility provided by new UAN portal.

EPFO has started to provide refunds for Administrative charges, if KYC details are up to date for all employees.[14] This incentive program was announced to be implemented in the years 2016-2017.

A member who is unable to withdraw PF for any reason can withdraw without the consent of an employer. They can submit FORM 19 for EPF (Employees Provident Fund) and FORM 10C for EPS (Employees’ Pension Scheme) to the EPFO office in which their EPF account is maintained. [15]

A UAN provided by EPFO is mainly used to track PF balance and PF claim status.

Employee's Provident Pension

The Employee's Pension Scheme (EPS) has been controlled by the Employee's Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) since 1995. The main advantage of this scheme is to provide social security to its PF members. Under this scheme, employees working in the organized sector can gain pension benefit after reaching age 58. This EPS applies to both new members and existing members.

References
  1. "Tye, Alan Peter, (born 18 Sept. 1933), Partner, Tye Design (formerly Alan Tye Design (Industrial & Product Designers)), since 1962", Who's Who, Oxford University Press, 1 December 2007, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u38307, retrieved 23 September 2021
  2. "EPFO -- International Workers". www.epfindia.com.
  3. PTI (18 March 2016). "Interest rate on Public Provident Fund cut to 8.1% from 8.7%". The Economic Times. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  4. PTI (18 March 2016). "EPFO to invest more in government bonds amid corporate loan defaults". The Economic Times. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  5. "EPFO data shows 9.73 lakh jobs created in September, highest in past 13 months". www.businesstoday.in. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  6. Asher, Mukul (15 March 2018). "There is a need for NPS and EPFO to shape up". livemint.com. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  7. "PM Narendra Modi unveils labour reforms; launches Universal Account Number for employees". The Economic Times. 16 October 2014.
  8. "Employees' Provident Fund India".
  9. "EPFO Declares 8.50% interest Rate for 2019-20". Naya India. 21 February 2018. Archived from the original on 23 February 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  10. "EPFO cuts interest rate to 8.50 % for 2019-20 from 8.65% for 2018-19". The Economic Times. 22 February 2018.
  11. Motiani, Preeti (13 January 2020). "How to transfer your EPF account online". The Economic Times. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  12. "uan Registration & activation status procedure". epfuanlogin. 30 April 2018.
  13. "3+ ways to know your EPF Balance with uan & mobile". epfuanlogin.com. 30 September 2018.
  14. "EPFO UAN Member portal Login registration features passbook etc - UAN Login Unified Portal UAN Member portal login". UAN Login Unified Portal UAN Member portal login.
  15. https://www.epfuanlogin.com/download-uan-card/ Download UAN Card
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