Provident fund subscribers must link their Aadhaar to avail benefits, deadline ending on Sept 1

Those who do not link their 12-digit Aadhaar number with their Provident fund accounts will also lose out on services like availing Covid-19 advances and insurance benefits

The subscribers of Employees Provident Fund (EPF) will have to link their Aadhaar number with the Provident Fund (PF) accounts before September 1. The deadline to complete the process was earlier set for June 1, which was later extended to September 1. The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has made it mandatory to link Aadhaar Card with PF UAN (universal account number) to get PF contributions from the employers and other benefits.

The retirement body has made it clear that employers can only file ECR for those employees who have linked their Aadhaar to their PF accounts (Mint file photo)

The Union ministry of labour amended Section 142 of the Code of Social Security 2020 to implement this new rule. Section 142 provides for establishing the identity of an employee or an unorganised worker or any other person through Aadhaar number for availing benefits and other services under the Code. The retirement body has made it clear that employers can only file ECR for those employees who have linked their Aadhaar to their PF accounts. “Employers can file separate ECR for non-Aadhaar seeded UAN after completion of Aadhaar seeding process," it added.