Labour Minister launches e-passbook facility for EPFO subscribers

Union Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Tuesday launched an e-passbook facility for the EPFO subscribers.

Now, members will be able to view more details of their accounts in graphical representations, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) said in a statement.

According to official data, EPFO added 14.86 lakh subscribers in January 2023.

Yadav, also the Chairman of Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of EPFO, inaugurated creche facilities in 63 regional offices of EPFO where there are 100 or more employees.

Besides, the minister laid the foundation stone of the building of regional office at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.

During the meeting of 233rd CBT on Tuesday, the minister approved the revised estimates for the year 2022-23 and budget estimates for the year 2023-24 for schemes administered by EPFO.

Among others, the board approved the five-year prospective plan for enhancement of physical infrastructure of EPFO. This includes purchase of land, building construction and special repairs involving a cost of Rs 2,200 crore.

The board also approved the proposal for conversion of status of EPFO from Associate Member to Affiliate Member in International Social Security Association (ISSA) that was in line with the EPFO@2047 vision document. This would enable the EPFO to play a bigger role in the international social security platform of ISSA.

As per the statement, the board gave its nod for the umbrella MoU signed between the EPFO and NTA (National Testing Agency) for conduct of various examinations.

Further, the board cleared the constitution of the committee for recommending amendments in the Employees' Provident Fund (Officers and Employees Conditions of Service) Regulations, 2008.

According to the statement, the board also approved the proposal for extension of AMC of portfolio managers and a proposal for investing the proceeds of ETF investments in any of the permissible categories of investments subject to the limit prescribed for that category.

"The board was also apprised of the actions taken towards compliance of the Supreme Court judgment regarding pension on higher wages and measures taken to facilitate filing of options etc," it said.