NEW DELHI: The Labour department has launched a major initiative for the public which permits access to the Provident Fund and all its key services through a single login.
The initiative is aimed at reducing grievances, improving transparency and enhancing member satisfaction, said an official release.
The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has introduced a new facility called ‘Passbook Lite’ within its member portal (https://unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/).
“This feature will enable members to easily check their passbook and related summarised view of the contributions, withdrawals and balance in a simple and convenient format through the member portal itself without having to go to the passbook portal,” the release said.
This initiative is expected to improve user experience by providing all key services, including passbook access through one login. However, for a comprehensive view of passbook details including graphical display, members can continue to access the existing Passbook Portal too, the release added.
Presently, employees have to login to the passbook portal of EPFO to check their Provident fund contributions and transactions involving advances or withdrawals.
Currently, when employees change jobs, their PF accounts are transferred to the new employer’s PF office through Form 13 online. After transfer, a Transfer Certificate (Annexure K) is generated by the previous PF office and sent to the new PF office. Until now, Annexure K was only shared between PF offices and was made available to members only on their request. “A reform has been introduced that now enables members to directly download Annexure K in PDF format from the Member Portal itself, “ it added.
This will bring the following benefits to members – ability to track status of transfer applications online, ensuring full transparency and allowing members to easily verify their PF transfers, confirmation that PF balance and service period are correctly updated in the new account, Maintenance of a permanent digital record for future reference, especially important for EPS benefit calculations and promoting ease of living, transparency, and trust in EPFO processes.