Employees Provident Fund Organisation, Structure, Schemes, Function

Employees Provident Fund Organisation

An act of the Indian Parliament established the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to offer social security to Indian workers. This law was enacted by the Employee Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provision Act of 1952. The Ministry of Labour and Employment of the Indian government is responsible for running EPFO. In terms of customers and financial activities, it is one of the biggest social security agencies in the world.

Employees Provident Fund Organisation Overview

After the Employees’ Provident Funds Ordinance was passed on November 15, 1951, the Employees’ Provident Fund was created. It was replaced by the Employees’ Provident Funds Act of 1952. The Central Board of Trustees, Employees’ Provident Fund, a tripartite board composed of representatives from the federal, state, and local governments, employers, and employees, is responsible for overseeing the administration of the Employees’ Provident Fund Act and Schemes.

EPFO Organisational Structure

An overall board of trustees is in charge of administering the EPFO. The Central Board and Executive Committee are members of the Trustees Board

• Both the Central Board and the Executive Committee are comprised of a chairperson. The Executive Committee has a central PF commissioner, and the central board has a vice-chairman.
• They are all represented by the federal government, the states, the unions, and the employers.
• Each zone in the regulatory structure of EPFO is headed by an Additional Central Provident Fund Commissioner.
• Currently, there are ten Zones spread out over the nation.
• One or more regional offices are overseen by Regional Provident Fund Commissioners in each state (Grade I).
• Each region’s Sub-Regions are overseen by Regional Provident Fund Commissioners (Grade II).
• Every district has a separate office.

EPFO Schemes

There are 3 major schemes that is being that is being administered by EPFO are

EPF Scheme 1952

Under this scheme employee has to pay a certain amount from his/her salary and equal contribution has to be paid by the employer. At the time of retirement, the employee will receive a sum of his/her contribution and employers’ contribution with interest.

Employee drawing less then Rs. 15000 have to be the member of this scheme, whereas the employee with salary more than Rs. 15000 can become the member with the permission of APFC

Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS)

Benefits for children, survivors, widows, disabled people, and retirees each month. the minimum disability pension. Members of the former Family Pension Scheme, 1971, get benefits for prior service.

Insurance Scheme 1976 (EDLI)

A payout equal to 20 times the employee’s salary is given in the event of the death of an employee who was a member of the plan at the time of death. Six lakhs is the maximum profit.

Benefits of EPFO

• For those who earn a salary, it is one of the most popular investing options. While bank interest rates are gradually declining, the employees’ provident fund pays an interest rate of 8.65%.
• Additionally, future provident fund returns could be higher. EPFO puts between 5 and 15 percent of investable deposits into ETFs.
• Given the sound management of the assets and the size of the corpus, a higher rate of interest is generated.
• Trade organisations, employee organisations, or unions constantly watch out for the interests of their members.
• Another advantage is that even though interest is tax-free, an employee’s contribution to an EPF account is still deductible under section 80 C of the tax code.

EPFO UAN (Universal Account Number)

Each employee at a company is given a 12-digit number. In the event that a person has multiple member IDs from other organisations, all of those IDs will be aggregated into a single UAN number that will not change during their entire lives. This number does not change even if an employee change employer.

Many benefits are attributable to UAN.

• Creates less confusion by using a single UAN number instead of many IDs.
• Transfers and withdrawals of claims are easy.
• Online passbook SMS services
• Online KYC update
• Download the UAN EPF book and view your online EPF balance

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