Who is Eligible for EPF?
If you are a salaried person, without a doubt, you know there is part of your salary that is being deducted from the Employee Provident Fund. It is a fund that helps save money for the employees’ retirement. It is not just you who is paying for the fund – it is you and your employer who is doing it. It is also one of the largest and most popular schemes in the country. Let us look at it in-depth, and if you are a salaried employee not under it, let us find out why.
What is EPF?
Employees’ Provident Fund is an abbreviation for Employees’ Provident Fund. It is a retirement benefits plan in which both the company and the employee contribute equally. Both must contribute approximately 12% of their basic salary to this fund. When the employee retires, he or she receives a lump payment plus interest.
Employees and employers both contribute to the Employees’ Provident Fund. The contribution is equal to 12% of the basic wage, with dearness allowance deducted if paid. However, an employer’s contribution does not always go to the EPF. An employer contributes approximately 3.67% of 12% to this fund. The remaining 8.33 % is allocated to the Employees’ Pension Scheme.
Are you wondering if you are participating in this scheme? Don’t wonder more – let us know the criteria for an employee who wants to benefit from the scheme needs to fit into the parameters mentioned below.
- Any company with more than 20 employees is required to register with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation of India.
- Companies with less than 20 employees can also voluntarily join the Employees’ Provident Fund.
- EPF is available to all salaried employees.
- Furthermore, any employees earning less than ₹15,000 must register for the EPF.
- Employees earning more than ₹15,000 per year, on the other hand, have the option to remain in the EPF plan freely.
Also, it is not just you who should be eligible for the scheme – shouldn’t it also be for your employer? So, what bracket does your employer have to fit in? We will know now.
Eligibility Criteria for the Employer
If an employer employs fewer than 20 people, he or she is excused from registering for an EPF scheme. An employer can also obtain an exemption if the majority of employees agree to the exemption. However, the latter situation is subject to certain circumstances and necessitates a number of formalities. However, if the total number of employees exceeds 20, the employer is required to register for the EFF plan.
The Interest Rate of the Scheme
The interest rates of the scheme can vary at times, with the government policy changes and market conditions. But the good part is, you get a great percent of interest. According to EPFO (Employee Provident Fund Organisation) guidelines, the EPF interest rate for 2020-21 is 8.5%. Despite the financial losses caused by COVID-19, the current EPF interest rate is set at 8.50%.
Well, if you are already participating in the fund, there are easier ways to know more about your EPF online.
How to Log in to the EPF Online Portal?
Find the EPF India portal, and log in to it with the UAN – the 12 digits unique number that you and your employer are assigned.
- The EPFO’s majority of services are easily accessible online via the EPFO member e-Sewa site. These services include examining and downloading EPF passbooks, withdrawing monies, transferring PF accounts, and so forth.
- By enrolling and logging in to the EPFO portal, you may conveniently access these services. The employee and employer login portals are the same.
- The EPFO’s majority of services are easily accessible online via the EPFO member e-Sewa site. These services include examining and downloading EPF passbooks, withdrawing monies, transferring PF accounts, and so forth.
But, when you have been contributing for quite some time, you would mostly want to know how much you have saved up for retirement, don’t you? Making an EPF balance check isn’t hard after all.
How to Check the EPF Balance?
You may quickly check your EPFO balance by reading or by downloading the EPFO passbook. Here are the other two ways to check your EPFO balance if your number is registered with UAN.
SMS is a method.
You may simply obtain your account balance via SMS by sending an SMS from your registered cell number to 7738299899. The SMS format is as follows:
“UAN ENG EPFOHO”
In this case, ENG reflects the message’s preferred language. UAN notifications are accessible in ten different languages. English (default), Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, and Bengali are the available languages. You can change the language by entering the first three letters of the language you want to use. As an example, If you want to receive notifications in Hindi, send an SMS with the text EPFHO UAN HIN.
Method of missed call
If you wish to discover your account balance and other details, simply dial 011-22901406 from your registered cellphone number.
UAN should be linked with KYC, such as a bank account number, Aadhar number, and PAN for both of these techniques.
Conclusion
Although EPF takes away your high in-hand wage, its benefits outweigh the so-called drawback. It is a useful low-risk investment that should only be used in extreme circumstances. So, you do not have to worry – because you are being set for the future.
