How Can My Friend Correct a PF Contribution Error from 2010-11 in the Same Organization?

Dear Senior,

Please guide. My friend worked in a hotel and had PF No. "A". After completing 8 years and six months of service, he resigned (11/06/2009) from the hotel and applied for his PF and pension claim form to the PF office. After that, he received the PF and pension amount.

However, after 11 months, he rejoined (May 2010) the same hotel with a new PF No. "B". Due to a clerical mistake, his PF contribution in Form 3A for the period 2010-11 was mentioned under his old PF No. "A" and was submitted to the PF office at the time of the annual return submission.

After that, he submitted Form 13 to the PF office to transfer his PF and pension amount (for the period 2010-11) from PF No. "A" to PF No. "B". However, after some time, he received a rejection letter from the PF office stating "Claim already settled". But when he checked the status of the old PF No. "A" online, some amount appeared for the period of 2010-11.

Please suggest and advise how he can withdraw or transfer his PF and pension amount for the period 2010-11, which was mistakenly submitted under his old PF number "A" instead of PF No. "B".

The company can request the PF office through a letter stating that they erroneously showed the old PF account while filing the annual return. Hence, please correct the same and transfer it to the new PF account. They have to approach the PF accounts officer, who, on verifying the records, will do the needful.

Thanks & Regards,
Guru

As this is a clerical mistake, it is the responsibility of the company representative to set things right. This might require a trip to the PF office with a written requisition. Remittances and transfers are handled by different departments within the PF office, which is why you received the reply "Claim settled" (which is technically correct). This is not a major issue, and the company representative who is in touch with the PF office should be able to straighten it out.

Regards,
Sree

The unintentional mistake that occurred at the HR end while preparing 3-A could have been rectified by submitting a revised 3-A with a covering letter to the PF department, instead of submitting a transfer request in Form 13 by the concerned employee. The PF department issues an annual contribution statement to each covered employee every year through HR. This statement indicates the accumulated contributions (employer as well as employee), the interest accrued, the account number, etc. It also states that any noticed mistakes should be reported to the PF authority within one month.

I hope the HR personnel have received the annual contribution statement for 2010-11. If any mistakes were identified, HR can contact the relevant dealing person/Dy. Commissioner, EPF of the circle, with a letter requesting the unintentional mistakes be rectified in their records. They should issue a revised annual contribution statement for the employee based on the corrected 3-A. The authority should respond positively to this request.

All the best