Confused About EPS Transfer: Will My Previous EPS Be Merged with My Current Company?

Hello everyone, there is a rule after September 2014 that states an employee with a salary of more than 15,000 is not eligible for EPS. I worked in organization A from 2017 to 2018 with PF and EPS. My salary was more than 15,000. I withdrew PF in 2018. They shouldn't have created EPS, but I was unaware of that at the time. I have now transferred EPS to my current organization, and the service from organization A has been transferred to the current company. The current company has also created PF and EPS, and they have confirmed that they will merge PF and EPS. My question is, will the EPS amount from organization A be merged with the current company?

Dear Colleague,

There is no rule stating that EPS is not applicable for persons drawing above 15K. The clarity is that a member joining a company for the first time, who was not previously a member of PF, may be exempted from coverage under PF as well as EPS, and is referred to as an "Exempted employee."

However, it is not mandatory that they shall not be covered under PF/EPS. For employees drawing more than 15K, PF and EPS can be deducted if both the employer and employee are willing.

In some cases, companies restrict the contribution to 15K only for PF/EPS. Conversely, some companies contribute based on the entire salary, such as consolidated pay or Basic Pay and DA, without any restriction to 15K as a welfare measure.

In your case, the EPS accumulations can be transferred to your current organization as your Universal Account Number remains the same, despite your PF/EPS Account number changing from organization to organization. (You may have closed some PF accounts in certain companies, but EPS would still remain.)

You may furnish all your PF/EPS numbers to your current employer/HR, who will support you in this process.