• Source:JND
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Provident Fund New Rules:  The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) made significant changes to the rules governing Provident Fund (PF) claims. Now employees will no longer need Aadhaar in order to complete their PF claims. For some employment groups, the need to link the Universal Account Number (UAN) with Aadhaar has been removed, providing relief to individuals for whom acquiring Aadhaar was difficult.

Workers can still submit claims under EPFO even if they do not have Aadhaar. Alternative identity documents, such as passports, citizenship certificates, or other official identity cards, will be used for verification in these situations. Documents like PAN cards, bank account information, and other requirements will also be part of the verification process. The employer will confirm the member's legitimacy for claims over Rs 5 lakh.

In order to settle PF claims, employees had to previously link their UAN with Aadhaar. However, EPFO has now removed this requirement for some employee groups. These are:

  • International employees who returned home after working in India but were unable to obtain Aadhaar.
  • Indian citizens with foreign citizenship who were unable to obtain Aadhaar.
  • Citizens of Nepal and Bhutan, who do not require Aadhaar.
  • Former Indian citizens who have permanently relocated abroad.

EPFO has instructed authorities to thoroughly review all claims prior to approval; the approval officer-in-charge (OIC) will handle this procedure via the e-office file system. To help accelerate and streamline the claim procedure, employees have been urged to keep the same UAN or move their prior service records to the same UAN.