EPS Not Showing In EPF Passbook? Check Reason And What You Should Do

The employee provident fund (EPF) passbook shows the balance of the EPF deducted every month by the current employer and the balance with the previous employers. It also shows the Employee’s Pension Scheme (EPS) transactions. However, sometimes, when a person switches jobs, the pension deductions by the previous employer don’t appear. While EPF earns interest, which is credited once a year, usually in the first or second quarter of a financial year, EPS accumulation doesn’t earn interest. The contributions matter because the pension is determined based on the pensionable salary and the number of service years.

Why Does EPS Amount Not Show In The EPF Passbook?

EPS, when deducted, shows in the passbook. However, in some cases where one has worked in an exempted organisation (the entities that maintain their own provident fund trust and manage the contributed money), the balance doesn’t show in the EPF passbook portal or in UMANG app. The simple reason is that the funds were managed by a private provident fund trust separate from the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). There are over 1200 exempted establishments as of August 2024.

How Can An Employee Check EPS Details After Leaving An Exempted Organisation?

Says Pratik Vaidya, managing director, Karma Management Global: “After leaving an exempted organisation, the employee should monitor EPF and EPS separately and not mix the two. For EPF, if the previous employer was an exempted trust, the old PF balance may not appear in the regular UAN passbook view. EPFO’s own UAN frequently answered questions state that the passbook is not available in the portal for employees working in exempted establishments, and the employee should approach the establishment to get the PF statement.”

So, one needs to clarify with the employer whether it is an exempted establishment or not, and ask for the statement or passbook accordingly.

However, in the case of EPS, exiting employees should focus on other EPS-related information more than the accumulated amount.    

Vaidya emphasises that in the case of EPS, employees should focus on accurate updation of the service period. They should check whether the transfer record, such as Annexure K, containing the core details relevant to transfer, including PF accumulations, interest, service history, date of joining, date of exit, and employment details, has been generated where applicable. That document becomes very important later, especially when pension eligibility is examined. Employees should also make sure that the old and new employment records are correctly mapped under the Universal Account Number (UAN).

Can The Funds, Both EPF And EPS, From Exempted Establishments Be Transferred To EPFO?

When an employee switches jobs, the new employer open one provident fund account in the name of the employee under the same UAN, and the fund from the previous employer's PF account is transferred to the new PF account.

“EPFO’s Form 13 instructions make this point very clearly. Provident fund accumulations are transferred, service details are also sent for pension purposes, and no pension fund amount is transferred unless the establishment is exempted under the Pension Scheme itself. That distinction is very important in practice. In many exempted establishments, the exemption is only for the provident fund trust, while the pension side still remains with EPFO. In such cases, the employee should not assume that “EPS money” is moving like PF money. What must certainly carry forward is the pension service record,” says Vaidya.

In short, the EPS accumulation is visible in the passbook. However, in the case of exempted establishments, employees need to ask their employers to provide them with the passbook or EPS statement. More importantly, employees should be careful that their service records are updated accurately because their pension is based on their service years (which should be a minimum of 10 years) and pensionable salary (the last 60 months' average).

Note that employees contribute 12 per cent of their salary (basic plus dearness allowance) to the EPF, and employers contribute a matching amount, of which 3.67 per cent goes to the EPF and the remaining 8.33 per cent to the EPS.