Everything you need to know about EPFO e-Sewa Portal

Employee protection is of prime importance for the welfare of the individual and the overall mindset of the workforce. An individual who works with a free headspace works well and contributes to the progress of the organisation. The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization or EPFO is a statutory body established by the government of India, which mainly encourages employees to save for retirement.

EPFO essentially comes under the Ministry of Labour and Employment and was established way back in 1951.

With changing times, the EPFO service has also undergone change and has now shrouded the digital garb around it – the EPFO e-Sewa – an online portal designed for easy access.

Functions of EPFO

The Employee’s Provident Fund Organization or EPFO helps the Central Board of Trustees (EPF) in the administration of a provident fund scheme, pension scheme and an insurance scheme for the registered establishments in India and includes employees of such establishments and international workers who are covered.

Some of EPFO’s functioning includes:

1. Maintenance of Individual accounts
2. Settlement of claims
3. Updating records
4. Enforcement of the Act across the county, except for Jammu and Kashmir
5. Ensuring prompt pension payment

Objectives of the EPFO

Some of the main objectives of the EPFO are given below:

1. Compliance must be facilitated with ease
2. To ensure every employee has only one EPF account
3. Encouragement and promotion of voluntary compliance
4. For all member accounts to be accessible online easily
5. Make sure organisations follow all the guidelines and regulations set up by the EPFO on the regular basis
6. Claim settlements to be reduced from 20 days to 3 days

The advantages of using the e-Sewa portal?

The main e-Sewa benefits include:

• The employers have the option of no paper return that needs preparation and submission to the EPFO
• There is no requirement for submitting other returns like Form 5/10/12A, 3A and 6A
• Once the payment is made, the employers will be notified of the confirmation of the payment via SMS
• The EPF contribution would be credited to all member’s accounts in a month-wise form
• A request can be sent by the employers for annual slips through the portal for availing account slips prior to 2011.

Schemes under the EPFO

Below is a list of schemes offered under the EPFO:

1. Employees’ Pension Scheme 1995
2. Employees’ Provident Funds Scheme 1952
3. Employees Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme 19776

Summing it up

Through the e-Sewa portal, employees can now breathe easily. Usually, EPFO processes tend to get tedious with the copious amounts of paperwork involved. With the whole process being paperless now, things can get a lot more accessible for people and they can now avail EPFO benefits, make claims, keep tabs through the dashboard and do much more.