Good News! EPFO Simplifies PF Transfer Rules – Now You Can Complete Everything From Home
New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has taken a big step for the employed people. Now it has become even easier and faster to transfer Provident Fund (PF) when changing from one job to another. EPFO has made many important changes to make this process completely online and increase the convenience of the members.
Earlier, the process of Provident Fund (PF) transfer required approval from two EPFO offices – the source office (from where the PF is to be transferred) and the destination office (where the PF is to be transferred). This used to take a lot of time in the transfer and cause inconvenience to the members.
But, under the new system, the requirement of taking approval from the destination office has been eliminated in most cases. Through the 'Revamped Form 13 Software' developed by EPFO, as soon as the transfer claim is approved from the source office, the old PF account amount will be automatically transferred to the member's existing account. This change will significantly reduce the time taken in the PF transfer process and EPFO members will get direct benefit.
This new facility clearly separates the taxable and non-taxable portion of the PF amount. This will enable accurate calculation of TDS on taxable PF interest. It is estimated that this move will benefit about 1.25 crore members every year and will speed up PF transfers of about Rs 90,000 crore.
Apart from this, EPFO has also relaxed the requirement of Aadhaar for generating UAN and crediting old PF funds in certain special cases, such as for members of Exempted Trusts or those involved in quasi-judicial/recovery cases. Now with the help of a new software facility, a large number of UANs can be generated based on member ID and other details, thereby allowing faster credit of funds even if Aadhaar is not initially linked.
However, to ensure the safety of PF funds, such UANs will remain frozen and can be used only when they are linked to Aadhaar. EPFO says that these changes will further improve member services, reduce complaints and make the claim settlement process much smoother.
