Provident Fund New Rule: EPFO Alert! Subscribers won't receive Provident fund money if they fail to follow THIS rule

EPFO Alert: Government or private sector employees, who are Employees Provident Fund (EPF) subscribers, there is an important update for you. Employees Provident Fund (EPF) subscribers will have time till September to link their Aadhaar card with the Provident Fund (PF) accounts.

As per report, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has made it mandatory for its subscribers to link Aadhaar Card with PF UAN (universal account number) to continue receiving funds in their PF accounts from the employers and other benefits.

As per the order issued by the EPFO, the last date to link Aadhar with PF UAN is September 1, 2021. The deadline has been extended from June 1, 2021, which was earlier set by the EPFO.

“The ECR shall be allowed to be filed only for those members, whose Aadhaar numbers are seeded and verified with the UANs, Ensure the Aadhaar seeding in respect of all the contributory members to enable them to avail uninterrupted services of the EPFO and to avoid any inconvenience,” EPFO earlier mentioned in a circular.

The labour ministry amended Section 142 of the Code of Social Security 2020 to implement this new rule. Section 142 provides for establishing the identity of an employee or an unorganised worker or any other person through Aadhaar number for seeking benefits and availing services under the Code.

“The linking of PAN and Aadhar Card is a basic Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement of all banks, PPF accounts and EPF accounts. If this is not done then as an enforcement measure interest credit by employers and withdrawal claims from you PF acocunts will face issues such as rejection. This is a basic enforcement measure," said Vidisha Krishan, partner at law firm MV Kini.

If your Aadhaar details are not linked with PF UAN than you will not receive funds in your PF account and also you will lose out on other EPF benefits too. This includes taking COVID-19 advances announced last month and insurance benefits linked to PF accounts.