EPF Payment Online on Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) Portal

What is EPF?

EPF is considered to be one of the most ideal retirement funds introduced by the Ministry of Labour wherein both the employer and employee contribute 12% of the employees salary (Basic wages + DA + Retaining allowance) equally. Only the registered employees and employers can contribute to this fund. The interest received on the total accumulated amount (after 5 Year) is tax free. According to the Provident Fund act, every organisation which has employed 20 or more individuals (both permanent or contractual) are required to register under the PF Act mandatorily.

How to make EPF Payment Online?

The government of India has made it mandatory for all the companies and organisations to make the payment of provident fund online. The online payment can be made through the EPFO website or through any of the bank’s website which is authorised and the employer should also have an account or net banking service of the same bank.

• State Bank of India
• Punjab National Bank
• Indian Bank
• Allahabad Bank
• Union Bank of India
• Bank of Baroda
• HDFC Bank
• ICICI Bank
• Axis Bank
• Kotak Mahindra Bank

What steps should be followed to make EPF Payment Online and generate online receipt?

• Login to the EPFO portal, using the Electronic Challan cum Return (ECR) credentials. [https://unifiedportal-emp.epfindia.gov.in/epfo/]
• Review the details like the Establishment ID, Exemption status, Name, Address, Status etc are correct.
• Click on the ‘Payment’ option from the dropdown menu and choose the ‘ECR Upload’ option.
• Upload the ECR text file post selecting the ‘Wage Month’, ‘Salary Disbursal Rate’ and ‘Rate of Contribution’.
• If all the predefined conditions are met, then the uploaded ECR will get validated.
• If there is a validation error, then the individual will be asked to correct their ECR text file and they will have to upload it again.
• The TRRN will be displayed on the screen, the individual needs to click on the ‘Verify option’.
• Click on the ‘Prepare Challan’ option and generate the ECR summary sheet.
• Click on ‘Generate Challan’, post entering the admin charges.
• Click on the ‘Finalize’ tab post verifying the challan amount.
• Against the relevant TRRN, click on ‘Pay’ option.
• Choose the ‘Online’ mode of payment and choose the bank from the dropdown menu from which you wish to pay.
• On the successful payment you will receive your transaction ID and electronic payment slip.
• The final transaction status will be updated on the EPFO page and the individual will receive a confirmation against the payment made.

Which rules have been amended in EPF amidst Covid-19 crises?

Following are some of the amendments made by the finance ministry to ease the adverse effect of covid-19 lockdown in the country.

EPF rules have been changed for getting non refundable advances, as a result the employee will be able to withdraw 75% of their PF balance or three months of their salary, whichever is lower, to resolve his liquidity issues which was allowed earlier only in case when a person ceased to be employed in a factory or establishment for a continuous period of at least one month. The FM also announced that the government of India will pay the EPF contribution on behalf of both the employer and employee i.e 24% of the employees salary (Basic wages + DA + Retaining allowance), for the next 3 months. However, this will be applicable only for those organizations who have less than 100 employees and 90% of them earn less than 15,000 a month.