Provident Fund alert! You may lose 8.65% interest on EPF if you don't do this

Provident Fund alert: The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) announced a big bonanza for around 6 crore employees. Union Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar announced the decision which said EPFO would now provide an 8.65 per cent interest rate on employees provident fund (EPF) for 2018-19 before Diwali festival.

However, subscribers who have done the EPFO UAN activation can avail the benefit - means those employees who have got the UAN (Universal Account Number) from their recruiter/employer.

If you haven't received the UAN, still you have time left. Subscriber can ask for the UAN from their recruiter and do the EPFO UAN activation online.

The EPFO has been settling EPF withdrawal claims at 8.55 per cent interest rate, approved for 2017-18. Now, the EPFO will settle accounts at a higher rate of 8.65 per cent for 2018-19.

"It is mandatory for all those employers who have more than 20 employees working for them to register with the EPFO. If the employer is registered with the EPFO, all employees who are working in that organisation with a basic wage of up to Rs 15,000 must join the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) as well."

"UAN is generated for each PF account holders by the Employee Provident Fund Organization and made available to employers on the Online Transfer Claim Portal (OTCP). Individuals will need to activate or register their Universal Account Number in order to access various facilities mentioned on the EPFO website epfindia.gov.in," SEBI registered tax and investment expert Manikaran Singh told ZeeBusiness.

For EPFO UAN activation, it is mandatory for individuals to know its UAN number, Member ID, Aadhaar number, or PAN. Once you are done with it, you can do the EPF balance check by sending SMS at 7738299899.

Whose UAN is activated, they can check his/her PF balance online, using the unique Universal Account Number (UAN) issued by the EPFO. For this, they have to visit the EPFO website -- epfindia.gov.in.

How to check PF money balance if EPF interest has been credited:

Steps to check on EPFO website:
Log-in to the EPFO website (www.epfindia.gov.in).
From the 'Our Services' tab on the left corner, click on the 'For Employees' option.
Now click on the Member Passbook.
Log-in with your UAN number and password.
After logging-in, you can access your PF account and check your available balance.