Know About EPF E-Sewa

With everything getting digitalized, the access to EPF or Employees’ Provident Fund should also be online. Owing to the challenges faced and the necessity of action, EPFO or Employees’ Provident Fund Organization provides EPF e-Sewa. Tasked with specifically caring for Indian citizens, EPFO is the world’s largest social security organization, considering the number of clients and financial transactions. Let us explore what facilities it has to offer through EPF e-Sewa.

What is EPF E-Sewa?

The EPF e-Sewa portal has been introduced to eliminate the requirement to visit the EPFO office. The online portal serves three main functions for the employees, which are:

• Facilitate claiming provident funds
• Effortlessly check the status of the processed claim
• Update KYC information

Employers can benefit from e-Sewa by updating the organization’s or employee’s information for EPF contribution. They can also upload and pay electronic returns, all online, without a physical visit and the requirement of hefty paperwork.

Registration on E-Sewa

The registration process for employers on e-Sewa should be done through the following steps:

1. Visit the official website of EPFO and head to the employer's portal
2. Register the organization on the website. The employers will receive a generated username and password on the registered mobile number. It is applicable for temporary use for the first-time login. During first-time login, the employers are required to create permanent login credentials, which include setting up a user ID and password.
3. Post creation of a permanent account, the employers are required to enter and submit the required fields and attach the verification of the organization’s existence. It includes the organization’s identity card, address proof and employee details.
4. The application will be processed within a short time, depending on the verification process.
5. After successful verification, users will be able to download the software ‘e-return tool’ and file returns. The portal provides all the instructions and helps manual users download and easily use the software.

Electronic Challan cum Return (ECR)

Employers do not directly submit all employees' EPF to EPFO. Rather, a systematic approach is taken using the ECR. Employers are required to submit electronic monthly returns each month constituting the complete memberwise details of new and existing members. It leads to the generation of challan, which has to be paid online within 12 days.

Procedure to Generate Challan on EPF E-Sewa

Before checking the procedure to generate challan, there are certain prerequisites to be fulfilled. These are:

• Employer must be already registered on Employer e-Sewa portal
• An employer should have already downloaded the ECr file format and prepared the ECR text file

Now, here is a stepwise procedure to generate challan on e-Sewa.

1. Log in to the official EPF e-Sewa website.
2. Click on the option ‘ECR upload’ present in the ‘ECR’ module to upload newly produced ECR. Validate the summary page by ensuring the upload has been done for the right month and year.
3. Employers can enter details on a summary page which includes ‘Total EDLI contribution’, ‘Total EPF Administrative/Inspection Charges’ and ‘Total EDLI Administration/Inspection Charges’ and ‘Contribution Rate’. The contribution rate is set to 12% by default.
4. Click on ‘submit’ to submit the ECR.
5. Employer will receive a digitally signed PDF file requiring validation of information. The employer needs to verify if the text matches with the ECR text file and approve its accuracy by clicking the ‘approve’ button. For files with more than 200 entries, users will receive an SMS alert to access the file.
6. After approval, a Temporary Return Reference Number or TRRN will be generated.
7. Employers can access and download the challan receipt file. Head on to ‘Challan Receipt File’ to download and print the challan with the TRRN number. Further, update the details in the section ‘For establishment use only’.
8. Next, pay the amount online by selecting the appropriate bank.

UAN Member E-Sewa

The EPF UAN member e-Sewa helpdesk is another feature available for download. It solves queries related to problems about the Universal Account Number. The application offers key features like:

• Instantly receive and activate the EPF UAN registration number online
• Check the status of UAN and perform KYC
• Download EPF e-passbook
• Check email address, claim status and mobile number
• Link all the provident fund accounts through the application 
• You can use the Online Claim Transfer Portal (OCTP)

Benefits of E-Sewa Portal for Employers

Here is detailed information on the benefits served by the E-Sewa portal for employers:

• No more requirements for documentation-based return filing to EPFO
• Immediate notification of payment confirmation
• No need to submit different returns like Form 5/10/12A, 3A and 6A.
• Effortless month-wise EPF contribution to all employees
• Can access annual account slips from the years 2011 to 2012 
• Further, more annual slips of more prior years can be accessed through a request