Sh. Apurva Chandra joined as Secretary to the Ministry of Labour & Employment on 1st October, 2020. He took note of major initiatives undertaken by EPFO to ensure Nirbadh.
He launched a new facility of bulk transfer of funds and data from exempted trusts to EPFO through a single payment. This will enhance ease of doing business by increasing the speed of funds transfer for exempted establishments.
Exempted establishments are those establishments which have been granted exemption under Section 17 of EPF & MP Act, 1952 and manage the provident fund of members themselves under over all supervision of EPFO. On change of employment for a member from exempted to unexempted establishment, his past accumulations are transferred to EPFO.
Till now exempted establishments had to approve and transfer the funds one-by-one for each member. Larger establishments had to transfer the funds of many employees each day and found the process very cumbersome and time taking. Under the new facility, exempted establishments can bulk upload data and transfer the funds for large number of members, through a single payment. This initiative is expected to benefit around 1500 exempted establishments of EPFO.
All transaction between EPFO and exempted establishments have already been made electronic, thereby eliminating issues regarding delay and reconciliation of funds transferred. This has enabled faster crediting of funds in the account of the member maintained by exempted establishment.
Further, exempted establishments have already been provided the facility to file their monthly returns and Electronic Challan-cum-Return (ECRs) for remittance of Pension Fund contribution electronically, thereby facilitating compliance in a hassle free manner.
Another initiative launched by Sh. Apurva Chandra during his visit to EPFO headquarters, will enable its members to apply for obtaining Scheme Certificate under Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995 through ‘Umang’ App. Scheme Certificate is issued to members who withdraw their EPF contributions but wish to retain their membership with EPFO, to avail pension benefits on attainment of retirement age.
The ease of applying for Scheme Certificate through UMANG App will now help members to avoid unnecessary hardship of physically applying for it, especially during COVID-19 pandemic times. The facility shall benefit over 5.89 crore subscribers.
For more information on recent advancements in EPFO click here