When employees change jobs and move their EPF account with the previous employer to the new employer, they were not sure if they could transfer the EPF account to the private trust of the new employer. Now, subscribers of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) can now transfer their EPF account from the old employer to the private provident fund trust of the new employer as an option. The EPFO rules state that an individual can easily transfer their EPF account held with old employer to new employer irrespective whether the previous or new account was/is held with trust or EPFO.
An EPF member not only transfers money from an old EPF account to a new EPF account, he/she also transfers details related to Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) account to new employer. the money deposited by the employer (old and new) in the EPS account is deposited to the EPFO and at the time of transfer, this lies with the EPFO and pension is paid to the individual when they become eligible. Transfer of EPF account can be done online provided both the employers (old and new) are able to initiate transfers though unified portal. HoEPF account transfer from EPFO to employer’s EPF trust.
If the details of a particular company or trust is not available on the Member Sewa portal, then employee has to fill Form 13 manually and submit the same to his/her HR department. An individual must check that their EPF account is KYC compliant, Universal Account Number (UAN) is linked to Aadhaar number and mobile number linked with EPF account must be linked with Aadhaar number, before starting the transfer process.
Steps to Transfer EPFO Account to Employer’s Trust & Vice-Versa
- Login to your member account on the EPFO Member Seva portal by entering UAN & password
- After logging in, select ‘Online Services’ & select ‘One Member-One EPF Account (Transfer Request)’ option
- A new tab will be displayed where the fields of details for the new EPF Account to transfer funds will be shown. Enter your new EPF A/c no. which is generally displayed on salary slip or EPF statement from employer.
- Option for attestation of online transfer to be done by current or previous employer will be displayed, check with new employer if you can choose them for attestation of EPF account transfer and select current employer for attestation.
- Enter Member ID/Previous EPF A/c no. or UAN if both old & new employer are same or UAN of old employer if new employer is different. Click on ‘get details’ & details of EPF account will be displayed and select the account from which money has to be transferred to new account.
- Click on ‘Get OTP’ for OTP confirmation process & enter the OTP received on your Aadhaar linked mobile number, click submit after entering correct OTP and the transfer request will be submitted.
Generally, EPF transfer takes 30 to 45 days to complete. Once the EPF transfer is successfully completed, old EPF account employer (EPFO/Trust) will issue Annexure K in two copies – One copy will be given to the employee and another copy will be given to the new employer (trust/EPFO).