EPFO Membership: Will EPF accounts earn interest if contribution is not made: 5 lesser known facts

EPFO Membership:  An employee not getting membership with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) must approach the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner of the nearest Provident Fund (PF) Office. If the employee is working in more than one establishment his membership is regulated separately for each establishment by this retirement fund body.

The membership will be considered under separate EPF accounts or member Ids.

This information is available on the EPFO website.

EPFO Membership: 5 things to know:

1) If a person is working in a establishment without receiving any wages, he is not entitled for a PF membership. Membership is allowed only where the employee receives wages from the establishment.

2) An EPF member cannot discontinue his membership while still being in employment.

3) There is no restriction of period on membership. Even after leaving the establishment a person can continue his membership.

4) If no contribution is received in the PF account of a member for three consecutive years, then the account shall not earn interest after three years of stopping of the contribution.

5) In the event of a closure, lock-out or strike in an establishment, the membership will continue. However, there will be no recovery of contribution.

Also Read: Can your EPF be attached to recover liabilities against you? 3 lesser-known facts about EPFO account

A member contributes 12 per cent of his basic salary towards his EPF and an equal amount is deposited by the employer. The contributions are made upfront by the employer.

EPFO is one of the World's largest Social Security Organisations in terms of clientele and the volume of financial transactions undertaken according to claims made by the website. At present it maintains 24.77 crore accounts (Annual Report 2019-20) pertaining to its members.

The annual Provident Fund (PF) statement of Account/Member Passbook will indicate the amount paid by the employer. By looking at the Passbook, you can determine the periods of default from the employer.

If the member has activated his/her UAN (Universal Account Number), the payment or non-payment of contributions can be verified every month through e-passbook.