Accenture PF withdrawal issue - "Claim Rejected PREVIOUS COMPANY DEDUCTED EPS CONTRIBUTION, AND PRESENT COMPANY NOT, PL CONTACT EMPLOYER"

Hi, I am an ex-employee of Accenture. I created a PF withdrawal request online in March 2022, which was rejected with the reason "Claim Rejected: PREVIOUS COMPANY DEDUCTED EPS CONTRIBUTION, AND PRESENT COMPANY NOT, PLEASE CONTACT EMPLOYER." I have been contacting Accenture since March 2022, and they have been just giving reasons or asking me to fill out some documents. For the past few months, I have been receiving a standard reply mentioned below:

"The EPS clarification is ready, and the same is sent to the legal team for validation. Once the validation is completed, we will take authorization on the forms, and documents will be submitted to RPFC on priority. We will update you once it's done, and you can file your PF application. Thank you for your understanding and patience."

Is there any other way to get the EPS clarification letter submitted to the PF office or get the withdrawal done without involving Accenture? Your help is much appreciated.

From your post, I understand that your immediate previous company was Accenture. Before joining Accenture, you had worked with another company, let's say X. The date of joining X was before 1st September 2014, and they contributed to your Pension Fund. You joined Accenture sometime after 1st September 2014. Due to a mistake on the part of Accenture or a lack of disclosure on your part regarding your employment with X and the existence of a PF account there, Accenture created a PF account without a Pension Fund.

Please note that an employee joining an establishment without an EXISTING PF ACCOUNT and earning a salary of over Rs 15,000 will not qualify for a Pension. Hence, no contribution should be remitted to your Pension Fund; instead, the entire 12% payable by the employer should be deposited into the PF account alone.

If the above scenario is accurate, then you cannot withdraw the PF without providing an explanation for not contributing to EPS by your immediate employer, i.e., Accenture.

If, at the time of joining Accenture, you had submitted Form 11, a declaration of your existing PF with details of your PF from X company, then your position is secure. On the other hand, if you had not disclosed your previous service with X and declared that you did not have a PF account, then it is going to be challenging for you.