The Employees Provident Fund Office (EPFO) in Mysuru has stated that integration of the members’ multiple PF accounts will enable continuance of lifelong PF membership and allow PF, pension and insurance benefits on combined service. It is expected that payouts to members on superannuation would be significant.
Universal Account Number
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Universal Account Number (UAN) for EPF members in October 2014 to enable members to have continuity in their PF membership during change in job or location.
Instructions had been issued to all establishments that in case any new employee joins an establishment, they may furnish, UAN, if any, or declare that she is becoming a PF member for the first time, a release from the assistant PF commissioner, Mysuru, said.
Meanwhile, the EPFO Mysuru advised its members to link all their PF account numbers with the UAN and to also seed KYC data against their UAN number.
KYC primarily means Aadhaar, PAN and bank account details. The establishments are advised to upload and then digitally authenticate the KYC information, the release said.
Digitally authenticated
As on April 25, 2016, 6.77 crore UANs had been issued in the country and Aadhaar details had been uploaded against 1.30 crore UAN, of which 1.03 crore Aadhaar had been digitally authenticated by the establishments.
With the enactment of Aadhaar Act, 2016, EPFO is now seeking to make Aadhaar the primary identifier. It is planned that in case of members having Aadhaar-seeded UAN, there will not be any requirement of attestation of claims by employers, the release said.
EPFO also seeks to encourage members to continue their PF membership by offering increasingly better services and ease of convenience. There is no proposal to discourage PF withdrawals, the release said.
