UID must for all new PF accounts

Deadline for other members to provide UID would also be issued soon

The Employees Provident Fund has followed up on  its attack on bulk payments of provident fund by companies  by demanding UID details for all new PF accounts.

An order issued by the new Central PF commissioner Anil Swaroop has made it compulsory for all new members opening a PF account to provide Aadhaar details as their identification criterion.
The circular says that a deadline for other members to provide their UID details would also be issued soon.

"UID linkage would ensure that money meant for workers actually reaches the worker, even if he is a casual worker who has worked in a place only for a few days," Swaroop said.

The previous Commissioner R C Mishra had before his retirement issued a circular to end payment of PF funds in an arbitrary manner by employers.

In a circular in November last year, the EPFO had openly admitted that the organisation has been accepting bulk PF payments of workers from companies, that is payments of workers that were bundled together and hence not specifically linked to a particular worker. These funds were decided arbitrarily on the basis of negotiations between the EPFO officials and employers, according to top EPFO officials.

The order had condemned this practice and had asked for making payments against specific individual accounts only.

Swaroop's order takes this one step forward by asking for UID linkage to each account.

The circular has asked  all the new members of the  EPFO  to provide their Aadhaar details. The employer will be responsible for providing Aadhar card details of new members. Aadhar would now function as the main identification criterion for workers, the circular indicated.

The circular directs all the regional offices to contact their local UIDAI officials to request for setting up of Aadhaar enrollment camps.   According to the circular, members joining the EPFO on or after 1st March 2013 will be required to provide their Aadhaar number.

The circular also directs that Aadhaar details of the present members should be collected by 30th June 2013. The central government has already taken the decision to link provident fund, pension scheme and other benefits covered by EPFO with the direct cash transfer scheme.

Under this Aadhaar number will be necessary to take out PF and pension money. The Aadhaar number has been made optional for the present members but can later be made mandatory in future, the circular said.