How to make Provident Fund simple : EPFO your savings ally
Are you like me who has switched over three jobs in seven years and conveniently forgotten about hard earned PF money?? Every time we move to another firm we have to open a new PF account because we are too lazy to transfer the PF amount from our previous company. Pretty standard, eh?
Truth is, at least 50% of us tend to let go of our PF money as we switch companies in the initial years primarily because the PF amount may have been negligible or due to paucity of sufficient information.
Surely, it looks like a small amount of savings every time you see your salary slip but should you choose to withdraw , say after you move to another firm, the accumulated sum along with interest, it can actually take care of your next vacation, higher education fees if you wish to study further., and so forth. Or even better , retain your savings for something unforeseen! Please note - withdrawn amount is taxable.
I regularly have the opportunity to interact with EPFO core team for work and in due course I realized that handling PF money is as easy as booking flight tickets online. So I am sharing a few pointers- to give a purview of PF handling process at the back end and how to wisely manage PF portfolio- which surprisingly is a matter of a few clicks.
Overview :
Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) is a government statutory body under Ministry of Labour that administers Provident Fund for over 4 crore members in India. It also gives you interest. Most of the firms are already registered.
EPFO has launched Universal Account Number (UAN). It is like a Social Security code unique to every individual.
What you need to know :
- Take your UAN number from your employer. Your UAN is readily available with employer. This is an umbrella code unique to you. Your PF Account number may change every time you switch jobs however your UAN number stays with you. This is just like you may change your hand set but your cellphone number is unique to you.
- You will have to manually activate your UAN at http://uanmembers.epfoservices.in . You just need to fill in your identify proof details to it can synchronize both earlier and present PF transactions .And done!
- Both Employer Establishment code and your PF A/C number would be mentioned in your payslip. If not, you may check with your HR. This is your number and firm cannot deny you this information.
- Should you move to another company, share this UAN with your new employer who will automatically transfer the revised PF amount (as per your new salary break up) to this account. It may be a new PF A/c but will come under your UAN.
After 3 years if there is no inflow of money in your PF account ( i.e. incase you retire and don’t withdraw or left the firm three years back that was handling your PF account and have activated your UAN), EPFO will stop giving interest on the accumulated PF money.
Every big or small firm is usually registered with EPFO. Some really big companies which have their in-house trust funds don’t come under EPFO.
