Money, they say is liquid, for it flows out of your hands as swiftly and easily as it comes. Therefore, it is important to be aware and vigilant as to how can money be safeguarded and utilized well with an aim to make the most of it. That said, often when we change jobs, we end up creating a new Employee Provident Fund Account, instead of transferring an existing one to the new employer. Often, there is less awareness about the norms and conditions associated with the upkeep of Employee Provident Fund. But the good news is that 2016's latest rules and policies have made it all the more easier. Let's find out:
With an aim to make the Employee Provident Fund transfer easier and swifter, the Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has introduced a new form of transfer to accounts. As of now, all the relevant information is available on the EPFO website, but for now, let's delve into some important highlights.
The New Declaration Form, which is form no.11 is now slated to replace the existing Form No.11. Although, in hindsight it may just sound a bit perplexing to note why the EPFO couldn't replace the term 'New' with a newer phrase. Nevertheless. Change is good!
An important aspect with regards to the Employee Provident Fund has always been the Universal Account Number. But the EPFO found out that these UAN's weren't being updated by employers and ever since their launch, multiple UAN's were being operated that was making it all cumbersome.
At the moment, the EPFO has found out that, at the moment of a person's exit from a job toward a new one, his existing UAN wasn't being updated. Therefore, many EPFO members were creating UAN's upon changing jobs, which in itself is a complicated process.
If in case an employee does not know his new UAN number, a new one will be created. This can happen in cases where a person's phone number or marital states undergoes change and therefore doesn't match with the declaration with the new employer's record.
It turns out (according to the EPFO) that not only is the new form much simpler to fill, it is also easily accessible on the EPFO website - www.epf.gov.in
Till 2015, EPF was deemed mandatory for all those whose salary was less than Rs. 15000. Before that, the limit was Rs. 6500. However, this rose to 15,000.
An important construct of the EPF is KYC (know your customer). In the wake of necessary transfer of one's funds into another account, one needed to fill out Form no.13. This was a complex and long process in the past. But all of this has changed now. While employees preferred withdrawal instead of transfer (a long process), things have become simple now.
Only those who have been allotted a UAN, and whose KYC details have been verified (digitally) by previous employer, need to fill Form. no. 13 separately.
In their bid to make the EPF process a smooth running initiative, the EPFO has worked hard to make tardy processes swift as evident from above changes. And as of September 2016, more than 28 million EPF members have already activated their UAN on the UAN portal.
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