What is Exempted Provident Fund Trust?
Some companies may form PF Trust by taking special permission from the Government/ EPFO followed by the rules and regulation specified by the EPF Act, 1952. The companies those have PF Trust can be considered as exempted organization.
In case on PF Trust, the PF contribution of employee and employer will be managed by the PF Trust whereas the pension contribution for both employee and employer managed by the EPFO itself.
All companies having PF Trust need to maintain the rules and regulation specified by the government and EPFO. Annual accounts maintenance report need to submit by the PF Trust to the EPFO on periodical basis.
Interest paid on the PF deposits of employees by EPFO is also need to maintain by the company having PF Trust. PF trust may frame their own rules and regulation to maintain the PF accounts of their employees but in accordance with the relevant PF rules.
How to check PF Balance in Provident Fund Trust?
As the organization having PF Trust considered as Exempted organization their employees cannot check the EPF balance via miss call, SMS, EPF portal or UMANG app.
To, check the PF balance the employee need to visit company’s Trust website or portal and need to log in via their user id and password (provided by the company at the time of joining) then they can access their PF Balance.
Some company’s also maintain web application to enable its employees to check and access own payroll data, leave, holiday list and also EPF trust data like EPF balance check or online application of Form 19 after leaving job and Form 31 (PF Advance) during the job tenure.
However, employee cannot check the total balance available in EPS (Employee pension Fund) in the PF Trust portal neither in EPFO portal. The main reason behind the same is that the pension fund is managed by EPFO but there is no platform introduced by the EPFO till date where employee’s of an exempted organization can check their EPS balance on the website.
Claim Procedure in Provident Fund Trust
An employee on an exempted organization having PF trust can apply for PF withdraw after leaving job against Form 19. The procedure of application in EPF Trust is manual almost in every PF Trust and the employee need to submit KYC documents like PAN, ADHAAR and Bank Account proof along with Form provided by the company as per the rule of PF Trust at their respective branch office and they will process the claim request and almost within a month employee will get their PF withdrawal amount in their bank account. If the employee join another organization after leaving the company having PF Trust or if same UAN number continued then the employee need to transfer his/her PF balance to new company’s EPF account.
Employee leaving job of an exempted organization having PF Trust can apply online against Form 10C (pension) from EPFO portal. The claim procedure is similar of an non- exempted organization.
Employee of an exempted organization having PF Trust need to apply against Form- 31 through PF Trust only whether it is manual or online via PF trust portal. Employee need to submit KYC documents at respective branch office of the company or submit via PF Trust portal and may apply as per the eligibility criteria.
Transfer claim process is completely online in case of PF Trust and employee can apply online for transfer in and transfer out from EPFO portal.
You may also read: How to Transfer PF from Non-Exempted to Exempted Company or PF Trust
Death claim under Provident Fund Trust
If an employee of an exempted organization having PF Trust lost his her life during the tenure of service then nominee of such deceased employee need to apply via PF Trust for PF, Pension and EDLI. Documentation procedure is almost similar as a non-exempted organization. But the major difference is the claim procedure is manual in PF trust whereas in case of non-exempted organization nominee can apply for death claim via EPFO portal online.
If you have any query regarding this article please do comment below.
