Understanding EPF & EPS Date of Joining and PF Contribution Calculation

My doubt is whether one should feed in the e-Return Tool, the actual date of joining of the employee (in the organization) or whether it is the date coverage of the establishment into EPF. For example: Suppose an organization ABC started operations three years ago, i.e., 01-01-2010, and reached 20 employees on 20th October 2013, then the applicable date of coverage by EPF is 20/10/2013.

My Doubts are:

1) Suppose Mr. XYZ is an employee of the organization from its date of inception, i.e., 01-01-2010, then while feeding data into the Employee Master of the EPF software "e-Return Tool," what should be mentioned in the "date of joining" field of the employee Mr. XYZ? Whether it is 01-01-2010 or 01-10-2013 or if it is 20-10-2013.

2) What should be the PF contribution to be deducted for the month of October 2013 in respect of Mr. XYZ? Whether it is the contribution for the whole month (Oct 2013) or just the contribution for the 12 days of his wages, i.e., from the date of EPF coverage?

Thanks in advance for any help received.

Regards,

Sujith

So far, I have not received any suggestions or comments. Dear readers, I am awaiting your response.

This question was asked to me by a friend of mine, and I tried contacting the EPFO office. They instructed me to reach out to the enforcement officer of the region. However, when I attempted to contact the EO, I was informed that he/she is away for one week due to an official program.

You need to go and meet the PRO at the local PF office. He will be able to help you resolve this issue. From what I remember of the manual forms, the DOJ is the actual date of joining and not the date of applicability. However, it may have changed in the electronic forms.

Incidentally, check the FAQ on the website. It may be covered as others would have had the same query.

The answer is:
Q1. DOJ is 1.1.2010
Q2. Contribution for 12 days i.e. date of coverage.

Varghese Mathew
9961266966

If you key in the date of joining different from the month of ECR file, the system does not accept. It accepts only the current month's date, i.e., the month of ECR file. Further, the PF contribution is calculated for the month and not for days. What is the monthly salary and deduct 12% from that amount and not day-based calculation.

Does it mean that a person joining on the 20th of October has to contribute for the full month? No.

Varghese Mathew

No, the month represents the wages/salary earned or paid during the month for the number of days worked.

I think coverage does not start from the day the 20th employee joins. Instead, it starts from the beginning of the month when the employee joins.

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Dear Sujith,

In the E-Return Software, you should mention the actual Date of Joining of such an employee because, as per the law, his/her DoJ will be the actual one.

As per your example, if the organization got coverage under EPF w.e.f. 20-10-2013, in this case, only 12 days' contribution will be submitted for each employee who was in employment of the organization before 20-10-2013.

But, please note that when any such member withdraws his/her EPF Fund, at that time, you will need to mention Date of Joining & Date of Coverage separately in Form 10C & 19.

Hope this will help you. Cheers.

Dear Mr. Sujith,

Greetings!

As far as my professional knowledge goes:

1) The date of joining for Mr. XYZ is 20/10/13. The reason being the 'Date of Joining' in the E-Return Tool is the 'Date of Joining the EPF'. As the establishment is registered from 20/10/13, the date of joining cannot be a date before the date of registration of the establishment.

2) The contribution amount is payable for 12 days only. Continuing with the above logic, the contribution is payable only from the period the employee is covered under the EPFO. As the account is opened from 20/10/13, the contribution will be for the period following the date of joining.

The above inference is drawn on the basis of my professional experience with the enforcement officers in similar cases of my client. Hope that helps.

Mr. Darshan has given you the correct reply. The Date of Joining in EPF & EPS means from which date he got enrolled in EPF and not on the company's roll. If a person joins the company in 2005 and the company strength of employees reaches 20 in 2010, then the date of Joining in EPF & EPS should be shown as 2010 date and not 2005 date. Hope your doubt got cleared.

Dear Sujith,

The date of the employee's joining is the same as the date of coverage. If you mention the actual date of joining, it may affect his/her EPF service. Because if you mention the actual date of joining, the employee is eligible for a pension after completing 10 years from the date of joining. However, his/her actual contribution is around 7 or 8 years, which is incorrect.

Only 12 salaries are eligible for PF contribution.

I hope this information will be helpful to you.

Regards, Karthik.M
9865917663

Dear Sir,

I was working at Howrah Bengal Log Pvt Ltd. I don't know my joining date, and they are not cooperating with me. Could you please help me find out my joining date so that I can claim my PF account from the beginning to the present?

Thank you.

Dear Ankit,

I hope you have received your Service Certificate/Experience Certificate from your ex-employer. Please check and proceed further. If not, please send an email to your employer and ask for the Service/Experience Certificate and relieving letter so that you can claim your PF accumulation and use the same for your future employment.

Thank you all for all the help. I myself checked with the enforcement officers and found out that Mr. CA Darshan Balai's opinion is correct.

In the above case, the contribution needs to be remitted only for the 12 days for the month, i.e., the days left of the month after the date of coverage. So in the case of Mr. XYZ, although he was in the job since the date of inception and also had drawn a salary for the whole month in the month of coverage, he needs only to remit the PF contribution for only 12 days, i.e., for that part of his salary after the date of joining PF.