Coronvirus: EPFO to accept Aadhaar as birth proof online from subscribers

Retirement fund body EPFO will accept online its subscribers' Aadhaar card as valid proof to rectify their date of birth to ensure that the account is KYC compliant, the labour ministry said on Sunday.

"In a move to extend the availability and reach of online services in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EPFO (Employees' Provident Fund Organisation) has issued revised instructions to its field offices to facilitate PF members to rectify their date of birth in EPFO records, thus ensuring that their UAN is KYC compliant," a ministry statement said.

According to the statement, the date of birth recorded in Aadhaar will now be accepted as valid proof of date of birth for the purpose of rectification, provided that the difference in the two dates is less than 3 years.

The PF subscribers can submit the correction requests online.

It said that this will enable the EPFO to validate the birth date of members online with Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) instantaneously, thus authenticating and reducing the processing time of change requests.

The EPFO has instructed field offices to expedite disposal of online requests, enabling Provident Fund members in financial distress, to apply online for availing non-refundable advance from their PF accumulations to tide over COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier, the EPFO allowed its subscribers to withdraw three months basic pay and dearness allowance as non-refundable advance on the ground of COVID-19 lockdown from March 28, 2020.

However, the facility was available to those members whose KYC (Know You Customer ) compliance was complete.

Now, this decision would help the members to make their universal account numbers KYC compliant.