These EPFO subscribers exempted from Aadhaar seeding for claim settlement | Details

Certain employees do not need to seed Aadhaar to settle their physical claims, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has announced.

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For the settlement of claims, EPFO subscribers are required to seed their UAN (Universal Account Number) to Aadhaar. However, through a recent notification, the pension body incorporated a few changes to the procedure, Livemint reported.

The following categories of workers are excluded:

(1.) International workers who have left India after completing their assignment but without obtaining Aadhaar.

(2.) An Indian who did not have Aadhaar, migrated to a foreign country and took its citizenship.

(3.) Citizens of Nepal and subjects of Bhutan who qualify as an “employee” and work for and are on the rolls of an establishment which is covered under the EPF&MP Act. These members do not reside in India and therefore, do not possess Aadhaar.

(4.) In the absence of Aadhaar, alternative documents such as passports should be used to verify nationalities of international workers or citizenship identification certificate/document for those from Bhutan and Nepal.

What else did EPFO circular say?

The EPFO, in its circular, also highlighted that “due diligence” should be exercised in cases of those claiming exemption. Their details should be duly recorded for verification; approval to process such cases may be obtained from the office in-charge (OIC) and an e-office file should be maintained for this purpose.

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For "due diligence," officials can verify bank accounts in all such cases and a confirmation could be sought from the employer if the balance exceeds ₹5 lakh. For settlement, the mode of credit would be NEFT, according to the EPFO circular.