COVID-19: Provident Fund Office closed for public

Drop Box kept at office gate for people to drop applications; public asked to opt for online transactions

Mysore/Mysuru: The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), Regional Office at Gayathripuram in city has been closed to public due to COVID-19 pandemic. As hundreds of people visit the office daily, notices have been pasted outside the gate on whom to contact for what sort of service. 

The gate has been locked and entry is restricted only for EPFO employees since the last one week. To prevent inconvenience, a drop box has been placed at the entrance for the people to insert their application forms. 

People can drop applications like joint declaration, physical life certificate, EPF claims, and name and address corrections, partial or full withdrawal or Aadhaar- PAN number link to the Universal Account Number, etc. People can attach relevant documents along with the application forms and drop them into the box after attaching them. 

All the transactions can also be done online within the comforts of one’s homes as the EPFO has informed its members to avoid physical visits to offices in view of the pandemic. Notices have been pasted on the gate of the office with relevant website addresses, process of withdrawals and phone numbers of officers concerned. 

This apart, Common Service Centres have been opened across Mysuru District and city for people to submit applications and avail of the services. EPFO officials said that over 200 people visit the Service Centres daily to submit applications and the office handles 600 to 700 calls from PF account holders per day. 

 In view of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Centre allowed EPF members to withdraw funds from their EPF accounts to meet Coronavirus-related financial exigencies. EPF members can withdraw an amount equal to three months of basic salary plus dearness allowance or 75 per cent of the credit balance of the account, whichever is lower. 

According to EPFO, it settles these pandemic-related claims within three days instead of the usual 10 days. Officials said that the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has played a big role in allowing it to settle COVID-related advances in three days. 

The amount credited to an individual’s bank account is non-refundable, that is, he/she is not required to refund such an advance to the EPFO. To enable a withdrawal claim online, there are certain criteria that must be satisfied. These are: Individual’s EPF account must be KYC-compliant, Universal Account Number (UAN) must be active and linked to Aadhaar, and the bank account and IFSC Code in the EPFO records must be correct.