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The Government of India vide notification No.WSU/2022/Rationalisation of work areas/Joint Declaration (E-54018), prescribed the standard operating procedure (SOP) for filing joint declarations. Please refer to the circular for more details.

Click here to read the notification

EPFO has introduced certain dos and don’ts to Minimise the PF Claims Rejection. To ensure a smoother experience for all employees, we are sharing important points to help employee and employers.

ADVISORY NOTE

(For Employees/HR Officials of Establishments)

Please keep a checklist of following main reasons of claim rejection while filling /applying /submitting/ authorizing the claim forms so as to ensure no/minimal rejections, at least because of these reasons.

REASONS OF REJECTION (HIGH REJECTION RATIO) - IN CLAIM FORMS IN NORMAL CASES

1. Member already taken the benefit (Claim already settled) but still filed the claim form for the same benefit- Form-13 (Annexure-K) / Form 19 / Form 10-C cases
2. Member not eligible for the benefit but still filed the claim form for that benefit-

• Form 10-C – Eligible service is less than 6 months / more than 9 years and 6 months
• Form 10-D – Eligible service is less than 9 years and 6 months /Member Age is less than 50 years.
• Form 19 – Date of Exit not shown/Absence of cooling period of 2 months after date of exit/ PF Balance showing zero.
• Form 13 – Form 19/Form 13 already settled for that service period.
• Form 31 – Date of Exit shown/ Insufficient Service for selected advance or Insufficient Balance in member PF Account under employee and/or employer head/Already availed the selected advance for permissible times.
• Form 20/Form 5 IF/ Form 10-D (Death case) - Date of exit not shown/ reason of exit is not shown as “death”/ date of exit in system and date of death differs/ Non availability/ submission of on-roll death certificate.

3. Bank Account related problems- Passbook without proper printing of Account number/without sign & stamp of bank official/Bank details without IFSC Code/Branch name not mentioned/Cheque without printed name of account holder/Joint Account (only valid with spouse)/ Bank Account number linked with more than one UAN/ illegible copy of Bank passbook/Cheque uploaded in online claims.

GENERAL REASONS OF CLAIM REJECTION

1. KYC mismatch – Member name, Father Name, Surname, Date of birth differ (For pension in Form 10-C and Form 10-D)
2. Non submission of Form 15G/15H/PAN
3. Service Overlapping
4. Date of joining and/or Date of leaving differ, Non-contributory period (NCP) is not given.
5. Claim is applied for more duration than actual contribution received / actual contribution received for the period after date of exit.
6. Member re-joining on same PF Account Number rather than allotment of new PF Account Number.

REASONS OF REJECTION OF CLAIM FORMS (IN DEATH CASES)

1. Not eligible for the benefit but still filed the claim form for that benefit- Form 20/Form 5 IF/ Form 10-D (Death case) –

Date of exit not shown/ reason of exit is not shown as “death”/ date of exit in system and date of death differs/ Non availability or non-submission of in service (on-roll) death certificate.

Form-10D/ Death claim:

1. Date of birth certificate for settlement of Pension under claim form 10-D.
2. Family age proof – Birth certificate or any other age proof for 10-D.
3. Date of birth differs (For pension in form 10-D).
4. Details of non-contributory period during the service.

Form 20/ Death claim:

1. No signature by authorized signatory of the establishment /Signature differs.
2. Nominee/ legal heir should apply in form-20/Form 10D/Form 5IF only.
3. Death certificate of the member.
4. Certificate of the employer stating whether the death was while in service of the member or not.

From 5-IF/ EDLI:

1. Copy of Muster Roll for settlement of Insurance claim.
2. No signature of establishment, Signature differs.
3. Ensure that member died while in service/on-roll death certificate.

After a new update by the EPFO in the EPF member portal, many EPF members are facing the issue that their UAN is disabled.EPF Members are not able to access their EPF accounts showing them as Locked/Disabled.

However, there is no official notification issued by the EPFO on the reason for these issues and what is the remedy to solve them.

There can be two basic reasons, firstly due to Aadhar No. which is linked to different employee mobile numbers. Secondly, it may also be due to UAN no. getting linked to a different/wrong mobile number.

It is advised that the member should update his/her Aadhar linked mobile number with UAN by selecting FORGET option. If any further problem /error persists they can mail to the EPFO Department technical team at employeefeedback@epfindia.gov.in or rc.ndc@epfindia.gov.in for more assistance.

With the coming into force of Section 142 of the Code on Social Security, 2020, has been notified vide Gazette Notification No. 1730(E) dated 30.04.2021 the monthly ECR shall be allowed to be filed only for those members, whose Aadhar numbers are seeded and verified with the UANs w.e.f 01.06.2021.

1. The employer has been given the responsibility to make your account Aadhar verified. If they fail to do so can lead to the stoppage of employer contribution credited to your account. Therefore, it is important that you link your PF account with Aadhar in time.
2. UAN should also be Aadhar verified. If UAN is not Aadhar verified, then its ECR- electronic challan cum return will not be filed.
3. If the accounts of the holders are not Aadhar verified, they will not be able to use the services of EPFO.

So, the EPF account holders are suggested to ask their employers about the EPFO guidelines and do the needful if the employers have not done Aadhar verification of one’s EPF account and UAN.

How to do EPF Aadhar linking online

An EPFO subscriber can do the EPF Aadhar linking through online

1. Log in at the direct link of EPFO — iwu.epfindia.gov.in/e KYC
2. Click on “Linkhttps://iwu.epfindia.gov.in/Ekyc UAN Aadhar”
3. Enter UAN and registered mobile number
4. Click at ‘Generate OTP’ option;
5. Enter OTP and select gender;
6. Enter your Aadhar card number and select the ‘Aadhar Verification’ method;
7. Select ‘Use Mobile or E-mail based verification’ option;
8. Another OTP will come to your mobile number;
9. Enter that OTP; and
10. Complete your EPF, UAN Aadhar seeding process.

1.  The screen given below will appear after visiting “https://unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/ “ to opt for activation of their UAN No as well as login to this Portal.

2.  Once member click on “Activate UAN” following screen will appear. Member has to feed his/her UAN No. or Member ID or Aadhaar No. or PAN No., Name, Date of Birth, Mobile No., Email Id, Captcha. After feeding the characters shown there on the screen, member has to press the button “Get Authorization Pin”. Within 5 minutes, pin will come on his/her mobile no.

3.  Using that pin, he/she has to Click on “I Agree” checkbox and has to Enter OTP in respective textbox. After that he/she has to press “Validate OTP and Activate UAN” button.

4.  After pressing “Validate OTP and Activate UAN” button following screen will come and message will go to the member’s phone for disseminating his/her password to access UAN Member E-Seva portal. Member must record this username and password to use it further.

5.  Once member has activated his/her UAN number, he/she can any time login to the portal
“https://unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/“ by using his/her username (i.e. UAN No.) and
password created by himself/herself.

6.  Sign in with correct username and password will enable the user to switch to next screen which will appear
as below:-

7.  By pressing “View” button member can download Service History, UAN Card and Passbook.

8.  When member select an option “Passbook” following screen will appear showing the link from where he/she can download the Passbook. Below is the link to download the EPF Passbook
https://passbook.epfindia.gov.in/MemberPassBook/Login.jsp

9.  By Clicking the link https://passbook.epfindia.gov.in/MemberPassBook/Login.jsp below screen will appear. Login details are same which he/she use at Step 5.

10.  After login on Passbook link on EPFO portal below screen will appear. On LHS of screen Member ID will display which are map with UAN number. To download the EPF passbook he/she has to click at respective EPF account number.

11.  The pdf of passbook will appear as below:-

12.   Member can update his/her KYC from this portal only. He/she will have to select an option “KYC” from the Manage Menu. Then he/she has to select “Document Type” as shown below in the screen, feed the Document No., Name As Per Document etc. If member is sure about his/her details, then he/she has to click on Save Button after that it will be forwarded to employer for approval with Digital Signature Certificate. It will remain pending till the time employer does not approve it.