EPFO: A very important news related to Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has come to light for the employed people. It has often been seen that people struggle to withdraw PF money or transfer it from one account to another. Sometimes there is a mistake in the form, sometimes there is a problem with KYC. But now you will not need to get entangled in these government processes. The government is soon going to appoint ‘licensed agents’ for EPFO on the lines of Income Tax and GST experts. Let us understand in detail how much this change is going to make the life of the common man easier.
Government’s new ‘Service Agent’ plan
The Union Labor Ministry has realized that despite online facilities, a large section still faces difficulty in processes like PF withdrawal, transfer or merging old services. Many times claims are rejected due to lack of information. To eliminate this problem from its roots, a proposal has been prepared for the deployment of ‘Service Agents’.
Union Labor and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has given his approval to this proposal. Now the next meeting of the Board of Trustees of EPFO, which is to be held in February, is expected to give final approval to this proposal. This simply means that just as you take the help of a CA or a lawyer to pay taxes, now official agents will be available for PF work.
This is how these agents will work
This question must be in your mind whether these agents can be trusted? For this, the ministry has prepared a strict outline. No person will be able to become an agent directly. First they will be selected and then they will be given complete training on the rules and procedures of EPFO. They will be issued license only after completion of training.
As far as expenses are concerned, these agents will not get any salary from EPFO. In return, the government will fix a nominal ‘service fee’ on the basis of services. By paying this fixed fee, account holders will be able to get their work done without any hassle. This system will be no less than a boon for those people who are not comfortable with the online system or who do not have time to go to the office again and again.
Facilities like UPI, ATM will be available till March
EPFO is now leaving the old pattern and moving rapidly towards ‘EPFO 2.0’. Apart from appointing agents, major changes are also being made on the technology front. Labor Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has already announced that the work of linking EPF accounts with UPI will be completed by March this year.
Its advantage will be that account holders will be able to withdraw their deposited amount immediately through UPI. There is also a plan to provide withdrawal facility through ATM in future.