EPFO Full Form

When we study various governing and public service bodies that function under the supervision of the government of India we come across numerous departments working for a large number of beneficial schemes for the citizens of India. One of such well-known schemes offered by the government of India is the pension scheme that is applied directly for the government employees who are functioning under central as well as state government in various zones and departments. The other one is the Provident Fund that is designed to benefit the employees of the private sector as well to support financially after retirement where every employee has to contribute a part of his/her income mandatorily to the PF and an equal contribution is paid by the employer. This lump sum contribution of the employee and the employer made throughout the servicing years of the employee plus the interest added proves to be a great retirement plan for all the employees working under firms in India. All these schemes are handled by a government body which is called EPFO. It is a very common acronym known to many people, especially those who deal with the PF, the employees of private or public sectors as well as people who are on retirement plans. But very few of us know what is the full form of EPFO and what is its importance in the governing body and for common people. This article deals with the full form of EPFO, its relevance, history, schemes under it and the structure of the schemes offered.

What is the Full Form of EPFO?

EPFO stands for employee provident fund organization which is a statutory body that was founded in 1952 by the Indian government under the provident fund and miscellaneous provisions act, 1952 in order to assist the central board trustees (CBT).  It is a social security body that functions under the administrative control of the ministry of labour and employment, government of India and is responsible for running and supervising the largest state pension scheme for the people of India which is also mandatory to benefit the employees in India. Employee provident fund organization which is the full form of EPFO has about 122 offices across the country located at various locations and primarily assists the central board in regulating the compulsory provident fund with insurance and pension scheme for the entire workforce that is engaged in this country. With the Indian workforce, these schemes also cover the international workforce in our country with the provision of a bilateral agreement that is needed to be signed to enjoy the benefits of all these schemes. As of May 2021, eighteen of such bilateral agreements are operational under employee provident fund organization (EPFO full form). The organization also has training programmes under which it organizes seminars and training for the employees of EPFO and representatives of the employer and the employees. As per the information update from the organization till 2018, it had a whopping amount of 11 lakh crore under its management. As per its number of beneficiaries registered and the transaction volume per year it is one of the largest social security bodies in existence. This body came into existence in 1951 through the employees’ provident fund ordinance but later was replaced by the employees’ provident fund act, 1952 which is now known as the employee provident fund organization. On October 1, 2014 government under EPFO launched a universal account number for employees to enable provident fund number portability. 

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Origin of the Scheme

For the longest time, the government of India had concerns for the secure economical future of the workforce of the country post-retirement along with their dependencies or in case of death of any worker or employee, as there was no definite act or scheme regarding the same till 1952.  Though the first provident fund act was passed in 1925 for regulation of provident funds of few concern private firms and its scope was very specific and limited. Thus in 1929, the royal commission stressed on the need to reform the provident fund act so that it covers the entire workforce of the country.  Years later in 1948, the Indian labour conference was held to discuss the need to regulate a provident fund scheme for the workers of India. Later in the Indian labour conference, it was agreed that a statutory provident can be regulated for the workers. To study the functionality and relevance of the scheme, it was tested in a restricted field and therefore it was introduced for the coal mine workers later in 1948. The instant success of the scheme raised the demand to expand it to the other segments of the working. Thus in 1950 for the first time, a non-justiciable directive was introduced in the constitution of India that directed the state government to make effective provision securing the rights of the working force, to education and financial public assistance in case of old age, unemployment, sickness and disability as well as to secure unserved needs, within the economical access limits of the government. In late 1951, the employees’ provident fund was raised which was then changed to employees, provident fund act in 1952 and applied to the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir. It came into force entirely on 1st November 1952 and was framed under the administration of the central board of trustees that consisted of representatives of central and state government, employers and employees of various working divisions and categories. The board was chaired by the union labour minister of India.  

Structure of the Scheme

The employee provident fund organization (EPFO full form) has a dual role as a service provider to all the beneficiaries who fall under the provident fund as well as pension schemes and also as an enforcement agency to vigilantly implement the EPF and MP act. EPFO is a statutory body that is constructed by the central government of India under section 5A of the act and is administered by the central board trustees. The central board of trustees that is informally known as CBT consists of a chairman, 5 central government representatives, 15 state government representatives, 10 employees’ representatives, 10 employers’ representatives with the central provident fund commissioner and the secretary of the board. The executive committee of the CBT is formed by the chosen existing members of the CBT to assist the central board in its functions related to its administrative matters. The officials of this organization who belong to the category of commissioner are appointed by the central government of India under section 5D and are responsible for the efficient functioning of the act and the schemes covered by EPF. These commissioners appointed by the central board are offered with vest power under the status of quasi-judicial authority. They are responsible for the assessment of the liability of the employer, levy of damages, search and seizure of records, prosecution, arrest and detention of the defaulter in civil jail followed by the attachment and auctioning of the defaulter’s property.

The organization is divided into numerous zones that are administered by the additional central provident fund commissioner in each state of India. Each state mandatorily has one state office that is headed by the regional provident fund commissioner of grade 1. This hierarchy is further subdivided into sub-regions that are headed by the regional provident fund commissioner of grade 2. All of the above categories are collectively assisted by the assistant provident commissioners. EPFO was also successful in establishing district offices in each region that are supervised by the enforcement officer who is responsible for the monitoring of the local establishments and resolving grievances of the beneficiaries at district levels. The total manpower of EPFO at present is about 2000 including all divisions and subdivisions of the organization. A total of 815 commissioners are recruited directly from the ranking of the competitive examination of the union public service commission of India as well as promotion from the lower ranks of the commissioner charade. Subordinate officers who are also known as enforcement officers are also recruited directly in addition to the promotion of the staff charade belonging to the social security assistance.

Services and Recent Developments

The Services Provided by the Employee Provident Fund Organization (EPFO Full Form) Are Different for Employers and Employees. Thus the Services Provided to the Employers Are:

• Online registration in the organization database for the benefits of the schemes.

• Provides the universal account number also known as (UAN) to the employer.

• Online payment facility for the EPF subscription.

• ECR or challan online submission facility.

• Efficient management of the EPFO grievance management system.

• Availability of the portal to facilitate online transfer claims.

• Establishment and management of UAN helpdesk for the employers.

Services Provided by the Employee Provident Fund Organization (EPFO Long Form) Are:-

• Providing UAN membership and facilitating e-Seva for the employees.

• Providing UAN status online for the employees.

• To submit the transfer claim online, establishment and management of online transfer claim portal.

• Availability of the COA application form to save the data of the EPFO online portal.

• Online portal handles to get all the pension-related information and details for the pensioners. 

• Helpdesk to manage all the inoperative accounts.

On 5th March 2020, EPFO lowered the interest rate on the provident fund of the employers to 8.50% which was at 8.65% until the earlier fiscal year. EPFO has retained the interest rate of year 2020 which was 8.50% on the PF of the employees even for the financial year 2020-21.

Universal Account Number

The universal account number or as it is famously known as UAN is a twelve digit account number that is provided to every PF beneficiary throughout the country who are contributing to EPF. It is generated by the EPFO for all the individual PF members. The UAN actually acts as a shield for all the account numbers allotted to every individual employee by various organizations and establishments and the account number remains the same for every employee throughout their lifetime. The main objective of EPFO was to connect all the multiple members identification numbers or members Id that is allotted by unique single UAN to individual employees that do not change even if the employee changes his/her jobs. This helps the members to see all the details of all the member identification numbers linked to it.the main benefit of UAN includes the tagging of the multiple provident fund account number of all the members with a unique single number that reduces the confusion while accessing the information of individual PF account number by individual member registered under EPFO. Thus the UAN makes easy transfers and claims of the PF amount online or offline. UAN also enables the access of the e-pass books along with SMS services each time a deposit of the contribution is made and also updation of KYC online can be done via UAN number. One can transfer the PF amount from one PF account to his/her PF account with the help of the UAN. With the establishment of the new UAN portal to check PF information, nowadays, there are other services like updation and download of online pass book, checking UAN status, checking PF balance with provident fund claims and many more such services are made available by online UAN portal. Under one of the initiative programs that was launched in the 2016-17, EPFO has started to provide the refund of the administrative charges in case the KYC is updated of all the employees.

Schemes Implemented by EPFO

There are Presently Three Schemes Running Under EPFO and Those Are:-

• Employee provident fund scheme.

• Employee pension scheme.

• Employee deposit linked insurance scheme.