The much-awaited notification for the 10 basis points hike in the interest rate on employees’ provident fund for 2018-19 has finally come through. In February, the Central Board of Trustees, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO) apex decision-making body, had approved 8.65 per cent interest rate for FY19, up from a five-year low rate of 8.55 per cent. But since the labour ministry was yet to notify it, the higher amount could not be credited into the accounts of the over six crore EPFO members. The retirement body will soon credit the interest amount in the EPF accounts of over 6 crore of its subscribers.
“Ministry of Labour and Employment has notified 8.65 per cent rate of interest on EPF deposits for its subscribers. Now, the interest would be credited into accounts of subscribers and claims would be settled at this rate,” the source privy to development told PTI. Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar recently promised the amounts would be credited into members’ accounts ahead of the festive season. Regarding the delay in the notification, he explained that it was on account of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman being “busy these days”.
Want to check PF balance online? Here are four easy ways to do it, provided you have an active Universal Account Number (UAN):
EPFO website
The easiest and most common way to check your EPF balance is the EPFO website. After logging in on the EPFO website (www.epfindia.gov.in) using your UAN number and password, click on ‘For Employees’ option and select ‘Our Services’ before clicking on ‘Member Passbook’ option. Enter your UAN and password details on the new page, and your provident fund details will be reflected. You can even save a PDF copy of the EPF details. It is mandatory for members to seed their Aadhaar numbers against activated UANs in order to view their e-passbooks.
For the uninitiated, UAN is a unique 12-digit number allotted to each EPFO subscriber. To get your UAN, you need to either check your monthly salary slip or contact the human resource department at your place of employment. Alternatively, you can also obtain your UAN on the EPFO portal. Just visit unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/ and at the bottom right of the page, you will find the ‘Know Your UAN status’ link under the ‘Important Links’ section. Once you click on it, you will be redirected to a page that will ask for details such as an EPF member ID or linked Aadhaar/PAN number and your date of birth. Once you fill in all the details, it asks for an OTP, which is sent on your mobile, and once validated, you will receive your UAN by SMS.
Remember, if you haven’t activated your UAN, you won’t be able to access the online facility of managing your EPF accounts. To activate it, you need to go to the link https://unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/ and then click on the ‘Activate UAN’ link at the bottom right of the page. After you fill in the relevant KYC details, you will have to wait for six hours for the newly-activated account to be accessible.
UMANG mobile app
UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) provides a single platform to access pan India e-governance services, including EPF details. You can download this app from the play/app stores, from the website web.umang.gov.in/web/#/, or by giving a missed call on 9718397183.
Once downloaded, click on ‘Employee Centric Services’ and then click on ‘View Passbook’ to check your EPF balance. Once you submit all the details like mobile number, Aadhaar, etc, you can also claim EPF money through the app and track claim processing.
SMS service
You can also send an SMS to mobile number 7738299899. The message you have to type out is EPFOHO UAN ENG, if English is your preferred language. If you want to receive the message updates in Hindi, type in EPFOHO UAN HIN. Similarly, you can select eight other languages – Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Punjabi, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, and Telugu. However, ensure your UAN is connected before you send the SMS.
Missed call
Give a missed call on the number 011-22901406 from your registered mobile number, and you can get details about your PF balance. Again, this facility requires your UAN number to be activated and integrated with your KYC details, say, Aadhaar or PAN or bank account details.
