Provident fund subscribers must link their Aadhaar to avail benefits, deadline ending on Sept 1

The subscribers of Employees Provident Fund (EPF) will have to link their Aadhaar number with the Provident Fund (PF) accounts before September 1. The deadline to complete the process was earlier set for June 1, which was later extended to September 1. The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has made it mandatory to link Aadhaar Card with PF UAN (universal account number) to get PF contributions from the employers and other benefits.

The Union ministry of labour 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 availing benefits and other services under the Code. The retirement body has made it clear that employers can only file ECR for those employees who have linked their Aadhaar to their PF accounts. “Employers can file separate ECR for non-Aadhaar seeded UAN after completion of Aadhaar seeding process," it added.

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Those who do not link their 12-digit Aadhaar number with their PF accounts will also lose out on services like availing Covid-19 advances and insurance benefits linked to PF accounts. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic the retirement fund had allowed over five crore subscribers to avail the second Covid-19 advance. In a similar move last year subscribers were allowed to withdraw Covid-19 advance to meet any needs rising due to the pandemic. Members can withdraw three months basic wages (basic pay dearness allowance) or up to 75 per cent of the amount standing to their credit in their provident fund accounts, whichever is less.