Efficient PF Claim Settlement Process and EPF Withdrawal Guidelines

Dear Friends,

From now onwards, we can get our PF settlement credited to our account within 30 working days.

This news was published in the Financial Chronicle e-newspaper, for which I am providing the link below:

http://mydigitalfc.com (link updated to site home)

Bhaskar,

It sounds encouraging, but do you believe our PF officials will comply with the directives and settle within 30 days? I doubt.

Pon

Yes, Mr. Ponraj.

Everything depends on the officials. For our officials, needless to say that there are so many other ways just to delay or deny. They will give some comments or observations on the application and keep it pending until the applicant approaches them.

But let us hope, the only thing we can do is what is in our hands.

As per EPF Act Sec 2 (f), the definition for an Employee means any person who is employed for wages in any kind of work, manual or otherwise, in or in connection with the work and gets his wages directly or indirectly from the employer, and includes:

1. Employed by or through a contractor in or in connection with the work of the establishment.
2. Engaged as an apprentice (other than an apprentice engaged under the Apprentices Act).

As per the definition of an excluded employee under the EPF Scheme,

Sec 2 (f) Excluded employee means:

(i) An employee who, having been a member of the fund, withdrew the full amount of his accumulations in the Fund under clause 69 of the scheme.
(ii) An employee whose pay at the time he is otherwise entitled to become a member of the fund exceeds Rs. 6500 per month.

Explanation: Pay includes basic wages with dearness allowance, retaining allowance (if any), and the cash value of food concession admissible.

My question is, based on these definitions, can an employee whose salary exceeds Rs. 6500 per month be excluded from the EPF scheme as an excluded employee, and no EPF deduction to be made from him?

All the employees/workers (direct or through subcontractors) are to have PF deducted and deposited with the PF Commissionerate every month within 15 days from the end of the wage/salary month, without any deviation. Only retired employees who are re-employed can be exempted, but even for them, it can still be deducted.

Since the last 2 years, the SSN (Social Security Number) is not made compulsory for the withdrawal of PF. The SSN card can be used as an identity card.

Hi,

I have submitted my EPF claim settlement form, and it was accepted at the Delhi South EPF office on 01/04/2011. However, whenever I check the online status, it only shows "under process." I filed a complaint with the grievances cell, and they responded saying that due to annual account and software updates, there is a delay. Can anyone tell me how I can check my balance and when it will be cleared?

EPF NO: DL/28730/1922

Ravi

Dear Soumik1570,

If a person leaves the job in January, then their January PF will be submitted to the PF Office by February 15th. The government will take one month to credit it to the appropriate account. That's why we advise workers to apply after two months' time. You should submit the application at your office's PF Desk in April. It will then be processed by checking the correctness of details, This Financial Year Contribution Details, Form 5 date, and Form 10 Details. Consequently, it will reach and be acknowledged at the PF Office by the end of April. The countdown of 30 days starts from the date of acknowledgment, as specified by the government. However, there may still be numerous reasons for delays.

Note: The details provided in this thread are based on the information I received in my email and may not necessarily be followed by our officials.

Hello all. Please help me to come out from the frustration of losing my EPF.

Actually, I worked at XYZ Limited in Delhi from November 2004. I signed an offer letter stating that all terms and conditions were accepted by me. Although this offer letter was printed on plain A4 paper, I joined as a junior engineer. According to the offer letter, I was required to execute a bond of Rs. 50,000 to serve the company for three years, although the company never had this bond executed. EPF contributions started to be deducted. The training and probation period was for two years during which I was not allowed to apply for any other job. Despite having a higher qualification of B.Tech, I applied for better jobs without informing the company as they would not forward my application as per the offer terms. I secured a better job and resigned in November 2005. My immediate two bosses signed off on that resignation, with my immediate boss making the remark 'suitable reliever may be arranged if the resignation is accepted.' In the meantime, I joined a new job and a new EPF account was created there. Now, after more than three years, my old company informed me that I had been terminated due to unauthorized absence. I seek your help on how I can withdraw my old EPF amount without the consent of the old employer, as they are unlikely to cooperate. Additionally, I have not informed my new company about my previous employment. As per the terms of the old employment offer, a three-month notice period was required from my side and one month from the employer's side, which I did not serve as I had to join my new job immediately.

Hi, can anyone tell me if there is any way to get your PF money if the company has not paid the penalty charged? I have worked for an organization for 2 years, filled the form, etc., and it's been almost 3 years I have been following up. But I get the same response that it takes time. Is there any way I can get my money back, or will I have to lose hope?

Please help.

Rashmi

Hello all, please help me to come out from the frustration of losing my EPF.

Actually, I worked at XYZ Limited in Delhi from November 2004. I had signed an offer letter stating that all terms and conditions were accepted by me. Although this offer letter was printed on plain A4 paper, I joined as a junior engineer. According to this offer letter, I was required to execute a bond of Rs. 50,000 for serving the company for three years, although the company never had this bond executed. EPF contributions started to be deducted. The training and probation period was for two years, during which it was not allowed to apply for any other job. I had a higher qualification of B.Tech, so I applied for better jobs without informing the company, as per the offer terms. I got a better job and resigned in November 2005. Both of my immediate bosses signed that resignation, with my immediate boss making the remark, 'suitable reliever may be arranged if resignation accepted.' In the meantime, I joined a new job, and a new EPF account was created there. Now, after more than three years, my old company informed me that I had been terminated due to unauthorized absence. I want to seek your help on how to withdraw my old EPF amount without the consent of the old employer, as they will likely not cooperate with me. Additionally, I have not informed my new company about my previous employment. As per the offer terms of my old employment, a three-month notice period was required from my side and one month from the employer's side, which I did not serve as I had to join my new job immediately.

Hi,

I have a doubt. I had resigned from Mafoi in December 2009. At that time, I didn't withdraw my PF due to my maternity. My query is, is it possible for me to withdraw that amount now?

Ya, I am working now. Is it possible to transfer that amount? But I had joined this company in April 2011 itself.

Regards,
Supraja

Supraja,

No issue. Submit Form 13 to your new employer for transfer. Approach your HR; they will guide you.

Ponraj

Dear Friends,

From now onwards, we can get our PF settlement credited to our account within 30 working days. This news was published in the Financial Chronicle e-news paper, for which I am providing the link below: [http://mydigitalfc.com](http://mydigitalfc.com) <link updated to site home>

Wishful expectation in this world of corruption. You can wait and watch.

Dear Mr. Dhingra,

This is the only policy declared by our government, and it will be successful only with effective implementation by our great officials. If they want, they can settle the issue.

In Defence, whoever is leaving the service will stop deducting the PF for the last 2 or 3 months, and on the last day of service, the Defence personnel who are getting released will be issued a cheque of PF Emoluments and other benefits. Within 7 days from the release, they will receive the Pay Pension Order (PPO) directly from their records office, and from the very next month onwards, they will receive the pension.

The only requirement for settling things properly is dedicated workmanship and service-minded people in their respective roles. In case of some minor mistakes, they should correct themselves and clear the issue then and there without any further delay in processing the papers for Pension and PF Settlement, which will surely yield good results.

Nowadays, we are witnessing a change in the service of the banking industry compared to that of two decades ago. Previously, you had to wait in a lengthy queue to receive your own money, but now you can enter any ATM, insert your card, and receive the money in your hand within 1 minute. There has been a significant change in the attitude of bank employees and their views regarding customers have truly evolved. You can now see the real Gandhian philosophy in action. In earlier days at SBI, Mahatma Gandhi's photo would be displayed with the words, "We are here to serve the customers and not the customers are here to serve us," but now we are only starting to see the same attitude in the minds of employees of modern banks. The traditional banks and their attitudes have not yet changed.

Mr. Dhingra, let us hope for some change at least in this transitional period.

Dear Bhaskar,

Everyday paper tigers, as policies, are issued by the authorities just to befool the gullible public and even its own employees, but you cannot expect any change from the overly corrupted machinery, which has to implement the change. If they are so serious about the welfare of the employees, why does the Government not make provision for stringent disciplinary action against such officials who willfully delay the settlement of claims? What is the purpose of the supervisory staff and management posted in PF offices if they fail to manage timely settlement of the claims? Who prevents them from exercising their power to expedite the settlement of claims? Regular inspections are made by the higher authorities within the organizational offices, Statutory and Internal Audits are already there, CVC is already there, but who has taken any action so far against any such official who delayed the settlement of claims of employees? Anyway, let us see to what extent the orders get implemented.

Dear Mr. Dhingra,

This is only a policy declared by our Government, and it will be successful only with effective implementation by our great officials. If they want, they can settle the issue. In Defence, whoever leaves the service, they will stop deducting the PF for the last 2 or 3 months, and on the last day of service, the Defence personnel who are released will be issued a cheque of PF Emoluments and other benefits, and within 7 days from the release, they will receive the Pay Pension Order (PPO) directly from their records office. From the very next month onwards, they will receive the pension. The only requirement for settling things properly is dedicated workmanship and service-minded people in the respective chairs. In case of some minor mistakes, they should correct themselves and clear the issue then and there without any further delay in processing the papers for Pension and PF Settlement, which will surely yield good results.

Nowadays, we are witnessing a change in the service of the Banking industry compared to that of two decades ago. Earlier, you had to wait in a lengthy queue to receive your own money, but nowadays, you can enter any ATM, insert your card, and get the money in your hand within a minute. There has been a terrific change in the attitude of the employees of Banks, and their views regarding the customer have really changed. You can now see the Real Gandhian Philosophy in action. In earlier days in SBI, Mahatma Gandhi's photo would be available with some wording underneath, stating, "We are here to serve for Customers, and not the Customers are here to serve us," and so on. However, now we are seeing the same attitude in the minds of employees of Modern Banks. Still, the traditional banks and their attitudes have not changed.

But Mr. Dhingra, let us expect some change at least in this transitional period.

Hi, my EPF claim settlement is approved for both the forms, and the payment is under process. I received the SMS as well. Can you or anyone tell me how many days it will take to credit in my account? Many thanks in advance.

Once you receive an SMS from the PF Authorities about the process of PF Claim, it will take 1 month. You will receive two more SMSs: one for PF amount deposit details and another for EPS amount deposit details in your designated SB Account.

All the best

Dear Sir,

Thank you very much for the updated information. I have no idea about SSN (Social Security Number). Could you please brief me on what this is?

Thanks, Regards, J.N. Modi

Dear Jay Narayan Modi,

Please go through the SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER (SSN) &lt;link updated to site home&gt; (Search On Cite | Search On Google) link from where you can have some idea about the NSSN (National Social Security Number), which is created for those who used to get transferred from one state to another and by which they can get the link of all their PF Accounts. Nowadays, all the PF Offices are online, and anyone's account can be accessed from anywhere at any time. Hence, it will be of no use.