EPFO Claim Rejected: Confirm previous EPS membership

Hello Experts,

I was an employee at two different organizations from 2013 to 2016 and 2016 to 2019. I am not working with any of the employers now in India. Now, when I tried to claim EPF, the form automatically had the member ID of the second organization. The claim was rejected with the reason: "wages more than 15000 pension contribution deducted by the employer confirm previous EPS membership." What does this mean?

I can see deductions of 12% (employee), 3.67% (employer), and pension (8.33%) for both the first and second organizations.

1. My service history shows both the organizations where I had worked. Don't they have access to my service history?
2. Or does it signify that I need to transfer the PF from the first organization to the second organization, and I should then raise the claim? Since I don't see an option to select the member ID of the first organization while raising the claim online, it leads me to believe that I have to transfer the PF first and then raise the claim.

Could someone clarify how to go about this?

Thanks,
Theja

The rejection is due to a technical issue only. Since you had joined the EPF in 2013, the question should not have arisen because the matter of non-coverage to the Pension Scheme applies only to those employees who became a member of EPF after 1st September 2014. Obviously, an employee who joins EPF after that date with a salary of Rs 15,000 shall not be enrolled under the Pension Scheme. If, by mistake, the employer had contributed 8.33% of his contribution to the Pension Fund, then the question will come, why did that contribution was made, and the employer would be asked to revise the contribution. But in your case, there should not be any such question. Therefore, you have to give a clarification, preferably signed by yourself and the second employer, that:

I became a member of EPF on ......2013, and I have been contributing to the Pension Scheme since then. I left that establishment on....2016 and joined XXXX (company), the immediate previous establishment, on....2016. Whereas I have already been covered by the Pension Scheme, the immediate previous company also contributed to my pension fund. I believe that an employee already a member of the Pension scheme would not be affected by the amendment of 2014 which provided that an employee whose wages at the time of joining the Fund exceeds Rs 15,000 shall not be covered by the Pension Scheme. I also believe that, having joined the Fund in 2013, I will not fall under the 2014 amendment.

The above clarification may be submitted to the EPFO. That will solve the problem.

Hi Madhu,

Thanks for the explanation. I have two further questions. If you can help, that would be wonderful.

1. How can I provide them with this clarification? I don't see any way to contest the rejection. Is there a way to reply to the rejected claim with clarification?

2. I have PF with the first organization as well, and I don't see a way to select that MID when raising a claim. I can only select the most recent one. How can I claim all the money from both the first and second organizations? Do I have to raise a transfer request?

Regards,
Theja

In order to claim the funds by closing the same permanently, you can either close/withdraw them separately or by transferring the first one to the second and then withdrawing the second one after the credit from the first one has come to it. It will be fine if you do the transfer and withdrawal after the interest credits are made by the EPFO. They will do it probably on 31st March. If you transfer or withdraw the amount now, you will have to do the same exercise to withdraw the interest portion remaining in the account again.

You will have only one UAN even if you had two member IDs. If the second establishment had created a UAN which is not the same one created by the first one, then you have to log in using the portal activated through the second employer UAN. Then transfer the first account to this second one and complete the transfer.

You can only submit the reply/clarification to the rejection personally. Before that, you should resubmit the claim online and get a printout of it. Prepare a letter showing why the second company contributed to EPS, get that attested by the employer also. This will make a statement by the employer that whatever the employer had done was as per law, then submit it to the office where the employer's PF accounts are maintained.