EPFO launches online help desk to trace inoperative accounts
NEW DELHI: With a balance of Rs 27,000 crore lying in inoperative PF accounts, retirement fund bodyEPFO today set up an online help desk for subscribers to trace such accounts and seek final settlement.
There are about 8.15 crore inoperative provident fund accounts.
Inaugurating the online helpdesk, Minister of State for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya said: "It would encourage the members to seek quick settlement of their accounts."
Talking to reporters, Central Provident Fund Commissioner K K Jalan said efforts would be made to reconcile all the inoperative accounts within a period of one year.
He further said the EPFO would soon come out with a scheme to ensure online settlement and withdrawal of provident funds. The new scheme, which would significantly streamline the process, would be launched in a month or so.
Using the help desk, holders of the inoperative accounts can trace their accounts and go in for either settlement or transfer of PF to their present accounts, an official said.
The inoperative accounts are those accounts wherein the contribution has not been received for 36 months. EPFO had stopped payment of interest to such accounts from April 1, 2011.
The decision to set up help desk follows instruction given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of the 'Shrameva Jayate' programme regarding the settlement of inoperative accounts having Rs 27,000 crores as balance.
This online help desk can be accessed through EPFO's website. The member shall be prompted to provide the known details of his/her employment in a specially designed proforma including establishment code, PF account number, address, state, city, date of joining etc.
Likewise, personal information is also to be provided like name, mobile number, Date of Birth, Name of Father / Husband, e-mail Id, contact address, Aadhar number, Bank A/c No. etc.
The members are expected to provide the information to the extent available with them. Thereafter, a reference ID is created for future reference and tracking.
Based on the reference ID generated, the field office concerned (where the member held his PF account) shall contact the member and guide him for getting the settlement or effecting the PF transfer as the case may be.
EPFO expects that introduction of the portable Universal Account Number (UAN) for PF is expected to greatly facilitate the above initiative as UAN would enable consolidation of multiple previous PF account numbers with the present one
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Visakhapatnam/rs-32000-cr-lying-unclaimed-pf-commissioner/article6326219.ece
CITIES » VISAKHAPATNAM
HYDERABAD, August 17, 2014
Updated: August 17, 2014 21:38 IST
Rs. 32,000 cr. lying unclaimed: PF commissioner
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The Hindu
Central Provident Fund Commissioner at an interactive session with employers in Hyderabad on Sunday. Also seen is Regional Provident Fund Commissioner MSKVV Satyanarayana. Photo: Nagara Gopal
A staggering Rs 32,000 crore of unclaimed amount is lying in various inoperative accounts of Provident Fund across the country, said Krishan Kumar Jalan, Central Provident Fund Commissioner, Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
He felt that their latest initiative, Universal Account Numbers (UAN), will help in reducing inoperative accounts. “With the help of a UAN number, we can trace the inoperative account holders. Identification becomes easy and the issue is resolved. This will be beneficial for employers as well as employees,” he said.
Mr. Jalan was speaking at a press conference held in the city on Sunday where he said that UAN was launched with a view to integrate services and also to provide services directly to the members.
To receive a UAN, the employers and their employees have to furnish their bank account, PAN, Aadhar card and other details to the EPFO which is seeded to their existing PF account. Upon allotment of the UAN, the members can download UAN card and access their updated balances. These members or their employers are not required to submit any of the documents during claims.
According to Mr. Jalan, about 4.17 crore UAN had been provided to PF account holders in the country till July-end this year and the target is to add a crore more by August-end. He said this initiative will help weed out multiple PF accounts and predicted that out of 12 crore EPFO accounts, half of them might be duplicates.
Speaking about the Hyderabad circle, consisting of AP, Telangana and Orissa employees, he said that till date data of 6.2 lakh members has been uploaded, out of which data of 1.7 lakh employees has been verified.
Mr. Jalan was in the city to interact with the employers and appeal to them to speed up the process of UAN registration of their respective employees.
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