EPFO's online PF withdrawal facility to take more time

Retirement fund body wants system to be foolproof, says Aadhaar number seeding with the PF account is a prerequisite

Over 50 million members of EPFO will have to wait for a few months to be able to use the online PF withdrawal facility as the retirement fund body wants the system to be "foolproof".

After the launch of this facility, subscribers will be able to apply online for withdrawal of the provident fund which will be transferred directly to their bank accounts.

At present, the subscribers who wish to settle their accounts with the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation are required to apply manually for withdrawing PF.

"We are working on it. But before launching it, we want it to be foolproof. We want a robust system as the funds would go out of EPFO hands unlike in online PF transfer claims where money is transferred from one account to another PF account," said a senior official.

He said: "For settling the PF account online, the accounts need to be verified online using Aadhaar database. Therefore, Aadhaar number seeding with the PF account is a prerequisite. All PF accounts are not seeded with Aadhaar so far."

According to the information available, EPFO has not only become the registrar of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for enrolment, but it is also an online authentication user agency of the authority.

That means that EPFO can verify the credentials of an applicant by using the Aadhaar database. But for that purpose seeding of Aadhaar number with the PF account is required.

EPFO had issued over four crore portable Universal Account Numbers (UANs) in July last year. EPFO has been seeding various KYC details with UANs like bank account and Aadhaar for improving the delivery of its services.

As per the data available on the EPFO website, the body has issued 43.7 million UANs and 5.23 million account holders have provided their Aadhaar numbers for seeding with their portable PF account.

The official said that it is not mandatory for subscribers to submit their Aadhaar number but it would be required for high value online transaction like withdrawals where money would go out of the EPFO.

He said that EPFO is creating awareness about the benefits of having Aadhaar number and providing assistance to its subscribers to enrol under the project by organisation camps from time to time.

At present, EPFO subscribers are using a host of online facilities like transfer of PF and accessing accounts.

However, the official said, it will take some time but online withdrawal facility would be a reality in near future.