Incorrect details in your Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) account can lead to significant issues, including delays in claims, withdrawals, and pension benefits. Common problems include discrepancies in personal information, such as incorrect names, dates of birth, or missing employer contributions to the provident fund. These errors can hinder the smooth processing of claims or withdrawals.
However, in a move that will benefit 7.6 crore subscribers EPFO members can now update their personal details which include name, address, and bank details, without requiring approval from their employer.
Before this, the process was more cumbersome. Members had to support correction requests with supporting documents. They had to be verified by the employer, Then it had to be sent to EPFO for final approval.
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Under the new system, members who have their UAN linked to Aadhaar can correct these details directly through the EPFO portal. This will save time that would otherwise be required for corrections. This feature will be available to all members who have UANs linked to Aaadhar.
Employees who have been issued after October 1, 2017 (this is when Aadhaar linking became compulsory), can now correct most common errors directly without the need for the employer for verification.
If the UAN was issued before October 1, 2017, corrections can be made without employer approval. The requirements for supporting documents have also been simplified for such cases.
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Filing Of Transfer Claims
Also, EPF members with fully compliant E-KYC accounts can file their online transfer claims with Aadhar OTP. This can be done directly with the EPFO without any intervention from the employer.
Before this any online request for transfer of PF account in case of a job change, had to be verified by the employer before being submitted to the EPFO. The time taken by the employer to verify would be about two weeks which delayed the process.
According to data, in the past nine months two million claims have been pending with employers for more than 15 days.
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Further, in an instance when a member has already filed his transfer claim and is pending with the employer, they can delete the claim that has been filed and submit a fresh claim with the EPFO. The internal processes at the EPFO are also being simplified, which will further make the claim process smoother.