Can an Employee Keep Their Old PF Account When Joining a New Company? What Are the Options?

Apologies if this is a basic question; I am a newbie to PF. If an employee says he already has a PF account with an earlier employer and wants to continue with the same account, is it possible and allowable? Or is it necessary that he has to transfer that account to the new account with the current employer? What are the options available in this situation?

Thanks,
Ramesh

Dear Ramesh,

You cannot continue with the old PF number. You have to transfer it to a new account by filling out Form 13 with your present employer.

Regards,
J. S. Malik

You cannot continue with the old PF number. You need to transfer to the new account where you are working now. To do this, you need to file Form 13, which is available at the local PF office or can be downloaded from the internet.

Thanks, Malikjs and Guntha. Another doubt... Do I understand correctly that the new account commences before the transfer is done? So then the new account reference can be provided in the form 13?