Big news for government employees. In a major relief, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has announced that certain sections of employees do not need to link Aadhaar for settlement of their physical claims. Generally, EPFO subscribers have to link their UAN (universal account number) to Aadhaar for settlement of claims. Now, the EPFO has given a clarification. This will give relief to a lot of people.
They have been given relief from EPFO
International workers who have left India after completing their work but without obtaining Aadhaar.
An Indian worker who permanently moved to a foreign country and obtained citizenship without Aadhaar.
Citizens of Nepal and citizens of Bhutan who fall within the definition of employee and work for and are involved in an establishment that comes under the EPF & MP Act but do not reside in India and, as a result, do not have Aadhaar.
Therefore, material claims from these members should be accepted, and the process of confirming the genuineness of the member on the basis of alternative identity documents, such as a passport in the case of international workers or a citizenship identity certificate or document for Nepali and Bhutanese workers, should be adopted for final settlement. It is also important to look at PAN and bank accounts, etc., to check their eligibility for these benefits.
The EPFO in its circular also highlighted that due diligence should be taken in these cases, details of verification should be duly recorded, and approval for processing such cases may be taken from the OIC in the e-office file to be created for the purpose. As part of due diligence, officials can verify bank accounts in all cases and seek confirmation from the employer only if the balance exceeds Rs 5 lakh. For settlement, the mode of credit will be NEFT, further mentioned in the circular.
UAN has to be compulsorily generated
Meanwhile, the EPFO has clarified that if the members do not already have a UAN, they will have to generate one compulsorily. Only the requirement of linking Aadhaar with UAN has been done away with, as at present they are unable to obtain the unique identity card.
