New Delhi: Most companies across the country deduct PF (Provident Fund) from their employees’ salaries. The objective behind this is to facilitate employee savings and ensure a secure financial future. Employees typically check their salary deposits in their bank accounts and carefully preserve their salary slips.
However, did you know that a salary slip alone does not provide definitive confirmation regarding your PF? While seeing a PF deduction on the slip might suggest that your retirement fund is being safely accumulated, there are crucial details to understand. The mere deduction of PF from your salary is not conclusive proof that the amount has actually been deposited into your EPFO account.
Where should you check your PF balance?
Companies are required to contribute an amount equal to the employee’s PF contribution. Therefore, instead of relying solely on the salary slip, employees should check the actual deposited amount in their EPFO passbook. To do this, you need to visit the official EPFO passbook portal.
There, after logging in with your UAN and password, you can select the member account linked to your current or previous employer to view the passbook. You can access this member passbook facility via the official EPFO website.
What to look for in the passbook
After opening the passbook, employees should not simply exit after viewing the total PF balance; it is essential to check the monthly deposit entries as well. The passbook provides details regarding the employee’s contribution, the company’s contribution, the pension scheme (EPS) component, the date or month of deposit, and interest-related entries. EPFO passbook records display the employee’s and the company’s contributions separately.
Identifying missing monthly entries
Employees are often satisfied with just checking the PF details for the most recent month, but this is not advisable. It is better to review entries from the past few months. Furthermore, if entries for one or more months are missing, you should keep a record of this discrepancy. You will need to keep documents such as salary slips and bank statements safe.
What to do if the PF amount is not deposited?
If the PF amount is being deducted from an employee’s salary but the contribution is not reflected in the EPFO passbook, the first step is to seek information from the company’s HR department. If the issue persists, the EPFO’s grievance redressal system can be utilised. Facilities related to grievances and assistance for members are available on the EPFO website.
