Blog

EPFO has made it mandatory that in India all private sector employees must have an EPF account. EPF stands for Employee Provident Fund. Not only in the private sector, is the EPF online payment facility available in all the government sector banks as well. The unified portal of the EPFO is a very big step towards making the whole process of EPF payment and facilitation as easy as possible for both the employers as well as the employees. There are endless services provided on the unified portal to make the process easy for one and all.

The link https://unifiedportal-emp.epfindia.gov.in/ is specifically dedicated to the employers. Here the employer needs to enter the username and password to make use of all the services which are available to the employer. There are many services which are made available to the employer like registration of the establishments, online payment of the PF, filing of the monthly returns etc.

But for using all these services the employer first needs to make an employer registration at the new UAN unified portal (if the employer has not already registered on the portal). The registration process is very easy and one just needs to provide the following details to register itself and to get the username and password.

1. Details of the employer/company (Personal as well as related to the organization).
2. Digital Signature
3. PF Code Number

If you have all, the process of registration is easy for you. Follow the below-defined steps to register yourself at the portal.

• Visit the page https://unifiedportal-emp.epfindia.gov.in/
• Agree to the terms and conditions by making a tick mark before that and then click on the Submit tab.
• Now fill on all the personal as well as organization details with all the precision. Remember, when you enter the PAN, you need to enter the PAN of the company only. You should not enter the PAN of the authorized signatory here.
• After entering the Mobile number, you will instantly get an OTP which you will need for the authentication. Enter the OTP to authenticate the registration and then click on the ‘Register’ tab.
• If all goes well, the employer gets an SMS which will consist of temporary UN and password. The employer will need it to Login to the portal for the first time. After that, the employer can change them as per wish.
• Now visit the employer portal with the link https://unifiedportal-emp.epfindia.gov.in/ and Login with the temporary UAN and password. It will then ask you to change them. Change them as per your wish.

Now, remember, there are two types of Sign In (a) Establishment Sign In and (b) Employer Sign In. It is highly advisable to use the Employer Sign In for the company level and Establishment Sing-In for all the regular activities.

Now, you must be interested to know what an employer can do on this portal. Well, there are various services that an employer can enjoy at this portal. Some of them are:

1. Create a UAN for a new Employee.
2. Make registration of new employee.
3. Link a new employee to the already existing UAN.
4. Upload KYC of the employee
5. Approve the EPF withdrawal

When you Login to the portal with the employer User ID and password, you will get to see six major tabs in which all the services are summarized very nicely. The 6 tabs are: (a) Home (b) Member (c) Establishment (d) Payments (e) Dashboard and (f) User. Let us discuss some of the major services provided to the employer on this portal and how to make use of them. 

(A) Generating UAN for the Employee:

UAN can be generated by both the employer and the employee. Here, as we are talking about the services that can be utilized by the employee, let us discuss how UAN can be generated by the employer.

• After login on the https://unifiedportal-emp.epfindia.gov.in/. You will see the home page. There will be a tab highlighting ‘Member’. Click on that.
• In the drop-down menu, select the ‘Register –Individual’ option.
• Use the Form-11 filled by the employee to enter the details of the employee on the portal. This reduces any possibility of error.
• Now, get a copy of employees AADHAAR Card and fill in the details of the employee from there.
• After filling in all the details, click on the ‘Submit’ tab.
• Instantly you will see that the UAN of the employee has been generated. This makes an employee an EPF member.

Note: This UAN is used for the ECR submission. An employer can not generate the UAN of the employee unless he has the AADHAAR, PAN and Bank details of the Employee.

(B) Modifying the UAN details of the new employee:

If the new employee already has a UAN, the employer just needs to take the UAN from the employee and then use it on the New UAN portal of the employer. When the employer enters the detail of the UAN, there is an automatic generation of the employee detail. The employer just needs to use the option where he/she can change the employer details, mobile number etc. When the employer is changed, the new employee gets linked to the new employer automatically.

(C) Payment of EPF online:

In order to access the E-Seva portal of the EPFO, the employee must possess a bank account in any of the Government Bank. If one has a corporate account, it is an added advantage and makes the process of EPFO payment as easy as possible. If one has opted and accessed the online banking facility, he/she can easily transfer the money from the Government bank account to the EPFO account.

Now let us directly talk about how to Pay EPF online. Just follow the below-listed steps to make the online payment of the EPF. Before starting to make the payment, just make sure that you have username and password handy to Login to the portal.

1. For making the payment, you first need to login to the E-sewa portal of the EPFO. https://unifiedportal-emp.epfindia.gov.in/ is the official link of the EPFO.
2. On the home page, make a login with the username and password.
3. Now after Login, search or the ‘Payment’ option. In the drop-down list, click on the ‘Payment (ECR)’.
4. On the new page, first of all, download the last month ECR. Make sure to download it in the Excel sheet form i.e. CSV format.
5. Now in the excel sheet, fill in the details in the column carefully. After filling all the required columns, just save the file in the text form i.e. in the *.txt form.
6. Next, you need to upload this file on the portal. After uploading, click on the ‘Proceed’ tab which is easily visible on the screen.
7. It is now the time to generate the challan. Search for the ‘Generate Challan’ tab and click on it to generate the challan.
8. If you will carefully look on the page, you will be able to find the TRRN. This is required for the ultimate payment of the EPF.
9. Now download the Challan receipt and the Acknowledgement Slip.
10. Now it will ask about the type of payment you need to make. Select the ‘Online Payment’ as the Payment Option.
11. When you select this option, you will be asked to select the bank through which you want to make the online payment. When you pay the EPF money online, one gets the message of the debited amount on the RMN (Registered Mobile Number).

Note: It is highly advisable that you must keep the ECR and TRRN with you for any future use. It is better to keep a print out of the online payment receipt. When you make a payment, you must keep one thing in the mind. There are certain administrative charges that gets deducted while making the payment. Mostly 0.85% of the Total EPF Wages is deducted and for EDLI 0.01% is deducted.

There are two ways for the payment of EPF: (a) Payment (Direct Challan) and Payment (ECR). The selection depends on the mutual consent of both the employee and the employer. Under the payments option of the portal, one also gets an option for ECR/Return Filing.

Services Offering List in EPF Grievance Portal http://epfigms.gov.in/….
We have discussed in detail about how the unified portal of the EPFO can be used to access all the services related to your PF account. However, it sometimes happens that we have some queries and we want to approach someone who can help us with those queries. In such condition, you can use the EPF grievance website. Not only this website is used to solve a query, but also to lodge a complaint.

Yes, the EPF grievance website is very helpful to solve any query of the user or for the grievance redress. The website is excellently designed. On the site, a person can lodge the complaint in detail and he/she can also add the images related to the problems they faced while using the EPFO portal / services. The website assures that all the queries or complaints are solved within 30 days. But remember, the website can only help you if you have UAN.

Grievances addressed by the EPF grievance portal at epfigms.gov.in:

So now the question is, what types of grievances or complaints regarding EPF can be registered on the EPF grievance portal i.e epfigms.gov.in? Well one can raise any type of complaint about the problem he / she faced while using the epfigms.gov.in website or its services, but the main issues about which one can register the complaint are:

• Related to EPS (10 C / the scheme certificate)
• In relation to the withdrawal of PF.
• Form 13 for transfer of PF.
• PF Balance issue.
• Misplace/Return of Cheque.
• Settlement of pension.
• Withdrawal of PF.

Important things to know about the epfigms.gov.in:

So now you know about the wide arena of issues on which you can seek help or raise a complaint. In short, the main highlights of the website are:

• On the site, any EP member, employer or pensioner can lodge the complaint at any time.
• One can ever raise the complaint against the employer as well.
• A complaint can be raised against any related EPFO also.
• All complaints on the epfigms.gov.in website have a resolve time of 30 days.
• If someone wants to get a quick resolution of the complaint, one can send the reminders of the same via this grievance portal.
• One can check the status of the complaint any time.
• If one does not get a satisfactory reply from the EPFO in the expected time of 30 days, one can even file RTI.

The process to file the online complaint on the EPF Grievance Portal:

The process of raising an online complaint on the EPF Grievance Portal is very easy if you have a UAN. Just follow the below steps to file the complaint:

Visit the site of the EPF grievance portal i.e. http://epfigms.gov.in

If you want to register any grievance, just click on the ‘Register Grievance’ option present on the home page.

Now you will be taken to a new window with the heading Grievance Registration Form, where you need to enter all the required details which are marked with an asterisk (*). You have to fill three types of information on this form.

1. EPF related information.
2. Personal Information.
3. Grievance Information.

1. Enter EPF Details:

Let us start with the very first one ‘Enter EPF Details’

• In the very first column of ‘Select Status’, you have to choose from the following four options: (a) PF Member (b) Employer (c) EPS Pensioner and (d) Others. Choose as per your wish. But if PF number is not known to you, choose the ‘Other’ option from the drop-down list.
• Now enter your 12 digits UAN Number.
• After that fill in all the details related to the PF. There is a specific format of the PF Number. First the region code, then the office and Establishment code, and then the extension or account number. Remember, if the extension is not known to you, you can enter three zeros (000) there to generate the PF number.

Note: Based on your PF Number, the employer and EPFO office details get filled automatically in the form.

2. Enter Personal Details:

• Here, you first need to enter your name, if you are making the complaint. If you are raising the complaint on behalf of someone, you need to enter the name and address of the complainant.
• Now simply enter the name of your country, state, and Pincode of your residence or office. You can enter the phone number, however, it is optional. We recommend you to fill at least the mobile number and email ID for the purpose of convenience.

3. Enter Grievance Details:

• In the enter grievance detail column, the first column that you need to fill in the ‘Grievance Category’. There are a lot of pre-selected categories to choose from. Choose the best category meeting your criteria.
• Once you have chosen the category of the grievance, you have to provide a description of your grievance in not more than 5000 characters.
• If you have any supporting documentation in favor of your complaint, you can attach the same in the next option of ‘Upload file’. The file needs to be attached only in the format of the pdf file.
• After uploading, click on the ‘Attach’ tab and then enter the Captcha code.
• Now finally click on the ‘Submit’ button. 

You are now finally done with the submission of the complaint. Together with the message of successful registration you also get certain information related to your complaint registration. The information attached is:

• The registration number of the complaint.
• Information related to the office at which the grievance is lodged.
• The officer in charge of the complaint.
• Phone number of the officer or related office.
• Email ID at which the complainant can make a query in relation to the complaint.

Note: It is highly advisable that you must note the registration number of the complaint. It is because this registration number is always needed if one wants to track the status of the complaint. One can even send the reminders with the help of this registration number.

After the complaint is successfully submitted, it gets verified by the EPFO. After verification, it is sent to the related department, office or person for the quick resolution. Mostly the resolution of the complaint takes about 15 to 30 days and not more than that.

There are various other tabs present on the home page of the website which can be used to perform various types of task. The name of the tabs in itself clarifies the purpose it serves. The major tabs are:

• Send Reminder
• View Status
• Change Password
• Upload Grievance Document
• FAQ

I hope the use of the epfigms.gov.in is very much clear to you. Just lodge a complaint and track the status easily with the complaint registration number. I hope you will get a lot of help with that.

EPF is the common term used in referring to Employees Provident Fund, a government run scheme to all Indian employees of the organized sector. Members of the EPF are required to contribute 12% of their monthly basic salary towards this scheme. They can then access these savings as soon as they retire or when one is rendered jobless.

Public Provident Fund on the other hand is a savings scheme operated by the government and can be accessed by every person regardless of whether you are self-employed, employed, unemployed or retired. PPF is not mandatory and there is no specific amount of money that you have to contribute as is the case with EPF. In this post, we are going to have a look at some of the differences which exist between EPF vs PPF.

Eligibility Criteria

PPF is made available to every Indian citizen regardless of whether you have a source of employment or not. This means that students, self-employed, employees and retired people of India can become members of the PPF. On the other hand, EPF is only made available to salaried employees of a company registered under EPF Act. You can therefore not become a member of EPF lf you have no source of employment.

Investment Amount

All members of the Employee Provident Fund will have to part with 12% of their basic salary every month towards EPF savings account. However, you can increase the contribution voluntarily depending on your monthly salary and financial muscle. For PPF members, there is no fixed amount that one needs to contribute. You will only have to make a minimum contribution of RS.500 and a maximum savings of RS.1.5 lambs per year.

Tenure

When it comes to tenure, EPF allows its members the chance of closing their accounts as soon as they quit the current job. One can also opt to transfer the account whenever they decide to change a company. Members of PPF are easy required to make the saving for 15 years after which they can extend for a block of 5 years indefinitely.

Governing Act

The Public Provident Fund is governed by the Government Savings Banks Act,1873 which has now been revised to Public Provident Act,1968. On the other hand, EPF scheme is under the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.

Taxation

Any investment in EPF qualifies for a tax deduction under section 80C of the Income Tax Act. The taxation is applicable to both the Employees and Employers contribution. Interests and withdrawals from EPF are tax free unless a member decides to access the savings within 5 years after opening the EPF account.

When it comes to PPF, any investment in your account up to RS 1.5 lakh per year will get you a tax deduction under section 80C of the income tax act,1961. The interest and maturity amount are also exempted from tax as is the case with EPF.

These are just some of the differences that exist between EPF vs PPF. The good news is that both the EPF vs PPF tend to be a safe method of statutory backing.

Track your PPO Pension Status using PPO Number and Know your PPO Number using Member ID or Bank Account number in mis.epfindia.gov.in website…..
Pension Payment Order commonly abbreviated as PPO is a 12 digit number that is given to every pensioner regardless of whether you are working in the public or private sector.  Getting your PPO number is now
very easy since pensioners have to rely on Epf India Website. This website has proven to be a step in the right direction since pensioners no longer have to go through tedious processes in order to get their PPO Number.

Pensioners only have to look for a device that can access the internet together with an internet connection before using this site. You will then have to follow the step by step guide given below to get to know your PPO Number by using Member ID or Bank Account Number.

Know your PPO Number using Member ID or Bank Account Number

• Enter https://mis.epfindia.gov.in/ on the search bar of your browser. This link will redirect you to the homepage of Epfindia web application.
• You will then have to select “Member ID Search” option on the new page that appears on your screen. Pensioners can also decide to use the “Choose Bank Account Number Search” option.
• Any pensioner who is using “Choose Bank Account Number search” option will have to type in the account number.
• Enter, your Member ID in the space set aside for this information when using “Member ID Search” option.
• Click on “Submit” button once you type in your member ID correctly. This action will generate a box from where you can see the Member ID details like PPO Number, Pensioner type and Pensioner’s name.

How to Know PPO Payment in mis.epfindia.gov.in Website

Pensioners can also get the chance to enquire about their PPO Payment by simply relying on Epfindia Website. This action can sometimes be difficult to perform especially if you have never used Epfindia Website before. However, you do not have to worry since the simple step by step explanation below will help you know your PPO Payment within a couple of minutes.

• You will first have to enter https://mis.epfindia.gov.in/ on the search bar of your browser. This is regardless of whether you are using Google Chrome, Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox.
• Press the “Enter” button on your keyboard once you type in the above link correctly.
• You will be redirected to the homepage of Epfindia website from where you should click on “PPO Enquiry/Payment Enquiry. This option can be clearly seen on the services menu of Employees Provident Fund Organization Website, India.
• A log in page will appear on your screen. Enter the login details correctly after which you should click on “Login” button to access your account.
• Next, fill in all the mandatory details correctly in the space set aside for each information. These details include Date of Birth, PPO Number and the PPO office.
• Enter the captcha code as it appears in the image. Alternatively, you can click on “Refresh” button to generate a new captcha image.
• Click on “Submit” button after filling in every detail.
• Now, choose the Pension Enquiry option that is present on the left side corner of this current page.
• You will have to click on “PPO Enquiry” option to have a look at the details. This action will open a new page from where you can see your PPO payment details.

How to track PPO Pension Status using PPO Number in mis.epfindia.gov.in

Knowing the PPO Pension status using PPO number is now very easy thanks to Employees Provident Fund Organization Website, India. Any person who wants to make use of this service without moving from their current location will have to follow the guide given below.

• Open your browser and enter https://mis.epfindia.gov.in/ as the official link for accessing Epf India web application.
• Hit the “Enter” button on your keyboard to access the page. This action will open the homepage of Epfindia Website.
• Alternatively, you can use https://mis.epfindia.gov.in/  to access the page for checking your PPO Pension status.
• A new page will appear on your screen from where you should select the office that issued your PPO. These details will appear in a drop-down list.
• Next, type in your PPO Number in the box that is specifically set aside for this number.
• Click on “Get Status” button after typing in your PPO Number. You will then be able to see the PPO Pension Status without facing any difficulty whatsoever.

Services Available in mis.epfindia.gov.in Website

Employees Provident Fund Organization Website has quite a number of services that employees and employers can rely on. Initially, employees had to avail themselves physically in Epfindia offices in order to get these services. However, this is now a thing of the past since we are living in an internet era where most things take place online. Some of the services that you can get when using Epf India Website are explained below.

Establishment Registration

In order to register your establishment, you will have to access Epf India website before clicking on “Establishment Registration” option. This action will open a new page on the site from where you should log into your account using a User id and Password. You can then complete the establishment registration by filling in all the mandatory details.

Status of Establishments

This service is specifically set aside for any person who wants to check the status of their establishments. By doing so, you will be able to know whether your establishment registration was successful. You will have to open Epfindia website and click on “Status of Establishments” option. A drop down box containing details like List of Exempted Establishments, Exempted Return Manual and Provisional Monthly Estimate of Payroll. Click on the most suitable option to check your establishment status.

Updating your KYC Details

Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members can update their KYC details online using Epf India Website. All you have to do is open the site and click on “KYC Updation (Member)” option. You can then make the necessary changes before finally saving this information.

Other services that you can get from Epf India Website include:

• ECR/Returns/Payment
• UMANG
• e-Passbook
• Online Claims Member Account Transfer

With Epf India website, you will never have to worry about getting any service that they have to offer.

Procedure on National Pension System NPS Account Registration and NPS Amount Withdraw process by login into enps.nsdl.com/eNPS/ website……
What is National Pension System (NPS)? Planning for your retirement through savings and investments is one of the most important things that should be put into consideration especially if you do not own a personal business.  It is for this reason that the National Pension System (NPS) was launched by the Government of India. NPS is a low cost government sponsored scheme that was launched in 2004 with the aim of serving all employees of the government.

This scheme was later on extended to all sections after an increase in demand that was as a result of the benefits that it had on government employees. In this article we can give the more data on NPS Account Registration.

This pension scheme was mainly developed with the intention of:

• Providing old age income
• Proving a reasonable market based return after a long term saving
• Cover old age security to all citizens.

The NPS is available to all citizens of India who have attained the age of 18-60. Once a person becomes a member, you will have to make regular contributions which will then be placed in a pension account. Once a person retires, you can easily withdraw part of the savings and use the remaining amount to earn a regular income.

Who can apply for the National Pension System (NPS)?

Any Indian citizen who is 18-60 years as on the date of submitting their application to the Points of Presence Service Providers is eligible to apply for this scheme. You can either decide to join this scheme as an individual or using the employer-employee group so long as all the details and KYC documentation are submitted to the application authority. A Non Resident Indian can also be given the opportunity to become a member of the NPS. However, the personal account will be closed if one opts to change their citizenship.

How to Open a New NPS Account Registration in enps.nsdl.com/eNPS/

Indian citizens both residential and non-residential can open an NPS account online so long as they have the following details ready:

• An Aadhaar card that contains the current registered mobile number and address
• PAN Card that has been linked to their current bank account.
• Passport size photograph
• Scanned signature image
• Email ID
• A bank account that has Net Banking Facility.

Once all these requirements are in place, you can proceed to open an NPS account online by following the simple step by step explanation given below:

• On the search bar of your browser, type in https://enps.nsdl.com/eNPS/NationalPensionSystem.html to log on to NPS Trust Website.
• Once in the website, click on “Registration”. This action will automatically redirect you to the online subscriber registration page. Here, click on “New Registration” option and select “Individual”.
• Enter your 12- digit Aadhaar number or the Virtual ID number before clicking on “Generate OTP” button.
• Enter the OTP that will be sent to your registered mobile number after which you should click on “Continue”. Any person who is using the PAN Number will have to wait for their bank to verify their details. This action will cost you Rs 125.
• Once you have selected “Continue” you will be able to get an acknowledgement number that contains your name. Select “Ok” after you receive these details.
• Correctly fill in your personal details and then click on “Save and Proceed” button.
• You will then be required to enter your banking details. Remember to use a bank account that has Net Banking Facility. Click on ‘Save and Proceed’ once this is done.
• This next step involves selecting the portfolio allocation from the four funds that are currently available i.e. corporate bond fund, government securities fund, alternative investment fund and equity fund. Once you have filled in the allocation details you will have to provide the details of people who will get the Corpus incase an investor dies.
• Upload your Scanned signature image, Passport size photograph and a cancelled cheque of your bank account.
• Finally, you will have to make your first contribution with a minimum of Rs 500 for Tier 1 and Rs 1000 for Tier 2.
• Once the payment has been made successfully, you will be given a Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN) together with the payment receipt.
• You will then be required to access the print registration page from where you are to select e-Sign with Aadhaar Card. Key in the OTP that will be sent to your registered mobile number for the Aadhaar to be authenticated. Your registration will now be signed electronically.

How to Withdraw NPS Amount

A member of NPS can only withdraw their funds in only three scenarios i.e.

• Death of the subscriber.
• Premature exit
• Superannuation

The online withdrawal can be initiated by using any of the two methods given below:

• Using the user ID and IPIN -The subscriber can decide to directly request for a withdrawal application using their own personal user ID and IPIN in the CRA system. This action should be done within a period of six months before the superannuation date that was selected by a subscriber. While requesting a withdrawal, the subscriber must give the Nodal office relevant bank details, Nomination details, Lump Sum percentage to be withdrawn, Annuity Service Provider details and annuity percentage share details.
• By POP/Nodal office/ Aggregator- When the subscriber cannot initiate the withdrawal request directly into the system then it can be initiated by a concerned POP/Nodal Office/Aggregator by using their logins. The subscriber will then be asked to submit physical withdrawal form together with other documents such as bank details, address proof and identity proof. These documents should be issued to the Nodal office.

In case a subscriber dies, then the POP/Nodal office/ Aggregator will have to initiate a withdrawal request via the respective logins into the CRA system. The Nodal office will then have to confirm whether the withdrawal request form is correctly filled by the claimant. The KYC documents will also be looked into after which the authorization request will be initiated by the Nodal Office who will have to forward all documents submitted by a claimant.