Soon, you won't have to transfer EPF account on job change; here's how

This will ensure that employees no longer have to transfer the money in their provident funds when they change jobs

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has approved the development of an IT-enabled system that will allow an employee’s PF account number to remain the same when they change their jobs.

This means that after the change, PF account holders will no longer need to transfer money from their accounts. Currently, as per the EPF rules, once a member changes his/her job, a new EPF account is opened with the new company. The employee is required to transfer the money held in the EPF account with the previous employer to his/her new employer. This can be done online on the Member Sewa portal, provided Universal Account Number (UAN) is linked with Aadhaar. If UAN is not linked with Aadhaar, then the employee will have to do this offline by submitting a form to the new employer.

“Post this, the field functionalities will move on a central database in a phased manner enabling smoother operations and enhanced service delivery,” the retirement fund body said in a statement. “The centralised system will facilitate the de-duplication and merger of all PF accounts of any member. It will remove the requirement of transfer of account on change of job,” it added in the press release issued by the Ministry of Labour and Employment on November 20.

The decision was taken at the 229th meeting of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), the apex decision-making body of EPFO.