EPFO (Employees Provident Fund Organization) – Eligibility, Interest, Calculation, Form

Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is a government scheme encouraging employees to save funds. Know its objective, interest rate, calculation, eligibility, etc.

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India. It is responsible for administering the Employees’ Provident Fund Scheme, the Employees’ Pension Scheme and the Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme.

The EPFO was established in 1952 with the objective of providing social security to employees in the organised sector. The EPFO has a membership of over 60 million employees and covers over 1.5 million establishments.

The EPFO collects contributions from employers and employees at the rate of 12% of the basic salary and dearness allowance. The EPFO invests these contributions in a variety of financial instruments, including government securities, bonds and equities.

The EPFO provides a number of benefits to its members, including:

• Provident fund: The EPFO provides a provident fund to its members, which is a savings account that accumulates interest. Members can withdraw money from their provident fund account after they have completed five years of service.
• Pension: The EPFO provides a pension to its members, which is a monthly payment that is paid out after retirement. The pension amount is based on the member’s salary and the number of years of service.
• Insurance: The EPFO provides life insurance to its members, which is a death benefit that is paid out to the member’s nominee in the event of the member’s death. The insurance amount is based on the member’s salary.

The EPFO is a vital social security institution that provides a safety net to millions of employees in India. The EPFO has played a significant role in improving the lives of its members and their families.

Here are some of the key features of the EPFO:

• Compulsory membership: All establishments with 20 or more employees are required to be members of the EPFO.
• Contribution: The employer and the employee contribute equally to the EPFO. The contribution rate is 12% of the employee’s basic salary and dearness allowance.
• Benefits: The EPFO provides a number of benefits to its subscribers, including provident fund, pension, and insurance.
• Services: The EPFO provides a range of services to its subscribers, including online access to their accounts, claim settlement, and grievance redressal.

EPFO is one of the World’s largest Social Security Organisations in terms of clientele and the volume of financial transactions undertaken. At present it maintains 24.77 crore accounts (Annual Report 2019-20) pertaining to its members.

The Employees’ Provident Fund came into existence with the promulgation of the Employees’ Provident Funds Ordinance on the 15th November, 1951. It was replaced by the Employees’ Provident Funds Act, 1952. The Employees’ Provident Funds Bill was introduced in the Parliament as Bill Number 15 of the year 1952 as a Bill to provide for the institution of provident funds for employees in factories and other establishments. The Act is now referred as the Employees’ Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 which extends to the whole of India. The Act and Schemes framed there under are administered by a tri-partite Board known as the Central Board of Trustees, Employees’ Provident Fund,consisting of representatives of Government (Both Central and State), Employers, and Employees.

For Employers

The Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952 applies to the Factories engaged in Industries specified in Schedule I of the Act or to other establishments notified and engaging 20 or more employees. To facilitate easy compliance by the Big Industries, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), other Establishments EPFO has provided online facilities starting from the registration of the Establishments, filing of monthly returns integrated with online payment of the contributions and charges. The process for all the online facilities are explained through well illustrated documents and FAQs and even the probable entrepreneurs can visit the site and collect the information.

*Employers may pay directly through Internet Banking of PNB, Indian Bank, Allahabad Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra bank, Axis Bank, Union Bank, HDFC Bank, Bank of Baroda, Central Bank of India, IDBI & SBI in addition to Payment Gateway of SBI

SERVICES

• Online Registration of Establishment
• Online ECR / Challan Submission / OTCP
• EPFiGMS (Register your Grievance)
• For Principal Employers
• Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana
• TRRN Query Search
• Establishment Search
• Establishment Search for Jammu & Kashmir

FOR EMPLOYEES

The three Social Security Schemes run by the Employees’ P F Organisation are for the employees engaged in the Industries and establishments and EPFO constantly makes effort to provide better services. Information regarding all the available services and the application forms for Employees and Pensioners are available for download and the process for availing the benefits have been explained in the documents and FAQs. The women employees are also given the benefits at par and there are special benefits for the employees who had to leave the present job due to physical incapacitation. The youth of the country who are our potential customers either by becoming an entrepreneur or an employee can also collect all information on the facilities and the benefits provided by the EPFO.

SERVICES

• Member Passbook (EMPLOYEE LOGIN)
• Member UAN/Online Service (OCS/OTCP)
• OCS / UMANG – FAQs / Eligibility
• Know Your Claim Status
• EPFiGMS (Register your Grievance)
• List of Nodal Officers – for Grievances
• Fillable Application Form for COC
• Pensioner’s Portal
• One Employee – One EPF Account

EPF Eligibility

Here are the eligibility requirements that must be met to join an EPF scheme-

• The Employee Provident Fund is open for employees of both the Public and Private Sectors, which means all employees can apply to become a member of EPF India.

• Any organization that employs at least 20 individuals is deemed liable to extend the benefits of EPF to its employees.
•  After beocming an active member of the EPF scheme, the employees are eligible to avail several Employees Provident Fund benefits including insurance benefits and pension benefits.

EPF Interest

For the Financial year 2024-25, the pre-fixed rate of interest offered by the EPF scheme is 8.15%.

The interest amount accrued on the investments in a PF online account is tax-free.

EPF Form

EPF forms are vital for the processing of any activity in an EPF employee member’s EPF account. Be it registration, PF transfer, withdrawal or availing loans, an EPF form is mandatory for completing such activities.

The table below offers a brief idea about the different EPS forms and the purpose they are required for –

Form	Purpose Of The Form	Application
Form 2	For nominating and declaring.	Applicable to both EPF and EPS.
Form 5	For registering.	Applicable to new employees registering for EPS and EPF.
Form 5 IF	For availing a claim under EDLI scheme
Form 10C	For availing withdrawal benefits or scheme certification.	EPS
Form 10D	For availing monthly pension.
Form 11	For transferring EPF account.	EPF
Form 14	For purchasing LIC policy.
Form 15G	For availing tax-saving benefits on interest.	EPF
Form 19	For settling employees provident fund.	EPF
Form 20	For settling employees provide a fund in case of death.	EPF
Form 31	For EPF withdrawal.	EPF

EPFO account holders can update exit date online after a job change

The EPFO has now enabled a feature on the official website that allows users to update their ”date of exit”, after changing jobs, online. This facility was not available to employees previously. It was only employers who were able to update their exit dates online.

Steps to update your date of exit online

• Visit the EPFO‘s official website
• Log into your account using your Universal Account Number (UAN) and password
• Navigate to the section called ”Manage”
• Click on ”Mark Exit”
• This will give you a dropdown menu on ”Select Employment” from where you can select your PF account number
• Fill in your date of exit and reason for exit
• Click on ”Request OTP”. The OTP will be sent to the mobile number linked to your Aadhaar card
• Enter the OTP
• Select the checkbox
• Click on ”Update” and ”Ok”
• You will receive a message confirming that the date of exit has been successfully updated
• Now navigate to the ”View” section and under that, ”Service History”
• You can now see the date of joining and exit from both your EPS and EPF accounts

Note that you can mark your date of exit only after 2 months of leaving your place of employment.

Importance of updating the exit date

Updating your exit date is important for claims submissions and settlements. If your exit date is not updated or is mentioned inaccurately, then your employment will not be marked continuous and you would have to pay tax on the interest that is earned during the intervening period.

BRANCH & OFFICE ADDRESS OF EPFO IN INDIA

HEAD OFFICE	EPFO HEAD OFFICE Bhavishya Nidhi Bhawan, 14, Bhikaiji Cama Place, New Delhi – 110 066. ………………………………………………………………………….
ZONAL OFFICES	Zonal ACC Office DELHI & UTTARAKHAND, JAMMU Office of the Addl. Central Provident Fund Commissioner(Delhi & Uttarakhand), Bhavishya Nidhi Bhawan, 8 th Floor, 28, Community Centre, Wazirpur Industrial Area, New Delhi-110052 ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office PUNJAB & HIMACHAL PRADESH Office of the Addl. Central Provident Fund Commissioner (Punjab & Himachal Pradesh), S.C.O. 4-7, Sector 17-D, Chandigarh.- ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office UTTAR PRADESH Office of the Addl. Central Provident Fund Commissioner (Uttar Pradesh), Nidhi Bhawan,Sarvodaya Nagar, Kanpur -208 005 ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office KARNATAKA (OTHER THAN BENGALURU) & GOA (HUBLI) Office of the Addl. Central Provident Fund Commissioner, Karnataka (Other than Bengaluru) & Goa), Bhavishya Nidhi Bhavan, New Block No. 10, Navnagar Hubli-580025 ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office CHENNAI & PUDUCHERRY (CHENNAI) Office of the Addl. Central Provident Fund Commissioner(Chennai & Puducherry), No. 37, Royapettah High Road, Opposite Swagat Hotel, (TN). Chennai-600 014 ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office TAMIL NADU(EXCLUDING CHENNAI) P.B.No-3875, Dr. Balasundaram Road, Coimbatore-641018. ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office MAHARASHTRA(EXCLUDING MUMBAI)(PUNE) 2nd Floor, Pune Cantonment Board Building, Near Golibar Maidan, Camp Pune(Maharashtra) – 411 001. ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office BIHAR & JHARKHAND(PATNA) Road No.06,Block R, Serpantine Road,Near MLA Flats Patna-800001. ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office KERALA & LAKSHADWEEP (THIRUVANANTHAPURAM) Bhavishyanidhi Bhawan,P.B. No. . 1016, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram- 695 004. ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office RAJASTHAN Nidhi Bhawan, Vidyut Marg, Jyoti Nagar,(RJ) Jaipur-302 005 ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office HARYANA Office of the Addl. Central Provident Fund Commissioner(Haryana), Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Institute of Social Security Administration Building, Sector 16-A, Old Faridabad Haryana-121002 ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office ORISSA (BHUBANESWAR) Bhavishyanidhi Bhawan,Unit-9, Janpath, (Orissa) Bhubaneshwar-751 022. ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office TELANGANA (HYDERABAD) NAC CAMPUS, KOTHAGUDA Hyderabad-500084 ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office ANDHRA PRADESH (VIJAYAWADA) D.No.26-4-16,17, 2nd Floor Gnanolive Street, Gandhi Nagar Vijaywada-520003 ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office GUJARAT (AHMEDABAD) Bhavishyanidhi Bhawan, Near Income Tax Circle Ashram Road (Gujarat) Ahmedabad-380 014. ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office MADHYA PRADESH & CHATTISGARH (BHOPAL) Bhavishyanidhi Bhawan, 59-Arera Hills, (M.P.) Bhopal-462 011 ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office BANDRA 341, Bhavishya Nidhi Bhawan, Bandra (East), MUMBAI-I (BANDRA)-400 051 ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office THANE Vardan Commercial Complex, 6th Floor M.I.D.C. Road No.16,Wagle Estate, (Maharashtra). Thane-400604. ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office NORTH-EASTERN REGION (GUWAHATI) Bhavishyanidhi Bhawan, G.S. Road, Near Bharalu Bridge, Bhangagarh, (Assam) Guwahati-781 005. ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office WB, A&N ISLANDS & SIKKIM (KOLKATA) Office of the Addl. Central Provident Fund Commissioner (West Bengal, NER) DK-Block, Sector-II, Salt Lake City, Karunamoyee, Kolkata- 700 091. ………………………………………………………………………….
	Zonal ACC Office BENGALURU (BENGALURU) Bengaluru Zone (Karnataka) Bhavishya Nidhi Bhavan, No.13 Raja Ram Mohan Roy Road, Bangalore-560025 ………………………………………………………………………….
VIGILANCE WING	VIGILANCE WING Vigilance Headquarters Employees Provident Fund Organisation Bhavishya Nidhi Bhawan, 14, Bhikaiji Cama Place New Delhi-110 066 ………………………………………………………………………….
AUDIT WING	INTERNAL AUDIT WING Bhavishyanidhi Bhawan, 14, Bhikaiji Cama Place, New Delhi-110 066 ………………………………………………………………………….
NATIONAL DATA CENTER	EPFO NATIONAL DATA CENTRE NDC, 1st Floor,EPFO Complex, Plot No. 23,Sector-23, Dwarka, New Delhi-110077 ………………………………………………………………………….
TRAINING INSTITUTE	EPFO TRAINING INSTITUTE PDUNASS 30-31, Institutional Area Janak Puri, New Delhi – 110058