Navigating EPF Payments: Can I Skip Contributions if an Employee Has a UAN?

I want to avoid paying EPF to employees. Can I be sure of the case below and forgo EPF payment even if the employee has a UAN?

Case Scenarios

I have these two cases:

a) The employee withdrew the full amount and had only a zero balance left.

b) The employee's EPF has some amount, say Rs. 500, left.

Excluded Employee Status in EPF

An employee who has withdrawn the PF accumulations after attaining the age of superannuation only can be considered an excluded employee. Even an employee who has withdrawn the PF after a VRS will be covered by EPF if he joins another organization, subject to salary conditions as applicable. In this case, the employee has an active UAN, and therefore, there is no scope for excluding the employee.

Dear Madhu Sir,
With due respect to what you have mentioned about the excluded employee, I would like to seek your opinion on the below definition of the excluded employee.

Definition of Excluded Employee

(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 (a) or (c) of sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 69;
(ii) an employee whose pay at the time he is otherwise entitled to become a member of the Fund exceeds fifteen thousand rupees per month.

Thanks & Regards,
Anil Pandey

Circumstances in which accumulations in the Fund are payable to a member

Yes. For the purpose of (1) above, we need to see what is given in Scheme 69. Scheme 69, which provides for "Circumstances in which accumulations in the Fund are payable to a member," reads as follows:

69. Circumstances in which accumulations in the Fund are payable to a member

(1) A member may withdraw the full amount standing to his credit in the Fund—

(a) On retirement from service after attaining the age of 55 years;

(b) On retirement on account of permanent and total incapacity for work;

(c) Immediately before migration from India for permanent settlement abroad [or for taking employment abroad];

(d) On termination of service in the case of mass or individual retrenchment;

(dd) On termination of service under a voluntary scheme of retirement framed by the employer and the employees under a mutual agreement.

Exclusion status criteria

The exclusion status is available only when the withdrawal happens due to two reasons, i.e., clause (a) and (c) above. That means an employee withdrawing the PF accumulations on retirement after attaining 55 years of age (clause (a)) or an employee withdrawing PF accumulations on taking up employment abroad (clause (c)) shall only qualify to become an excluded employee.

At the same time, if the withdrawal of PF was on account of retirement after incapacity to work or if he was terminated from service and consequently withdrew the accumulations, then, or he withdrew the Fund following retirement following VRS, the exclusion shall not apply. Still, if the withdrawal was made on or after attaining the age of superannuation or 55 years of age, clause (a) would get satisfied, and the employee would become an excluded employee.

Rejoining conditions

Obviously, on rejoining, the conditions relating to salary (of not more than Rs 15,000) will be applicable. If, at the time of rejoining, his salary exceeds Rs 15,000, then he may be declared an excluded employee.