A small mistake in EPFO records can cost you dearly in future. Wrong joining date or exit date can have a big impact on your savings, PF withdrawal process and even your pension. The reason for this is that both EPF and EPS (Pension Scheme) completely depend on the duration of your job. If the date is entered incorrectly, your entire record may get messed up.
Actually, every month’s contribution to EPFO and the interest received on it is based on the duration of your job. If your joining date is entered incorrectly, the system may show you as working less time. This means that your PF balance will appear less and the interest you will receive will also be less. At the same time, if the exit date is wrong, it can create even more problems. Interest continues to be received in EPF as long as the account remains active. But if the exit date is set earlier, further company contributions may stop or there may be a glitch in the system.
Big threat to pension
Apart from EPF, this mistake can be even more serious in EPS. To get pension here, minimum 10 years of service is required. If your joining or exit date is incorrect, your service period may appear shorter or longer. If you are close to 10 years old and make a small mistake, you may not get pension for life.
Delay in PF transfer and withdrawal of money
Often people come to know about this mistake when they try to transfer or withdraw their PF. EPFO’s system processes claims on the basis of joining and exit date only. If the date does not match, your claim may get stuck. Suppose you left one company on 31st March and joined another company in April. If the first company does not update your exit date, then PF transfer will not be possible online.
Problem of gap and overlap in records
Incorrect dates may also result in gap or overlap (appearance of two jobs together) in your EPF records. Due to this, your entire job history gets messed up and there is problem in calculating pension also. The biggest reason for these mistakes is the negligence of the company, which includes wrong data entry, not updating the exit date and mistakes in payroll upload. Apart from this, employees also do not check their EPF records from time to time, due to which the mistake remains undetected for a long time.
How to correct the mistake?
The good thing is that now EPFO has made this process easier. Now in many cases, employees can update the joining and exit date themselves through the UAN portal. If the UAN is linked to Aadhaar, update is possible through OTP. After this, exit date can be entered from Manage > Mark Exit option. However, in old cases, company approval may still be required. If documents are needed, these are useful. Therefore, you should have documents like appointment letter, salary slip and relieving letter.
Why is timely improvement important?
According to EPFO rules, exit date can be updated only after 2 months of leaving the job and PF claim is also made after that. If you do not correct the mistake on time, it can cause big problems in withdrawing or transferring PF later. Ignoring EPF records can prove costly. Even a small date mistake can cause huge financial loss in the future. Therefore, check your PF records from time to time and get the mistakes corrected immediately.
