Provident fund number portability on the anvil

Workers in the organised sector might soon find it easier to maintain their provident fund savings despite switching jobs, as the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) says it is close to finalising a plan to provide portable account numbers.

A certain sum is automatically deducted from employees' salaries under the PF rules, with the employer having to contribute a similar amount towards the workers' retirement funds.

Currently, most people switching jobs prefer to withdraw the sum due to them under PF even if they lose some interest, as transferring accounts from the earlier employer to the current one is a cumbersome process. The introduction of PF number portability should change this, to the benefit of the subscriber.

The EPFO has dumped its earlier plan of providing a separate unique number to each of its 48 million subscribers. It will instead allow them to tag the provident fund accounts with their existing permanent account number, unique identification number or national population register number.

A high-powered committee headed by central provident fund commissioner R C Mishra and comprising senior officials from the Unique Identification Authority of India and the ministries of information technology and labour is in the process of shortlisting a consultant to implement the initiative, according to reports.

The portable number will not just help employees retain their accounts when they change jobs but also serve as the reference number for claiming pension and other related benefits.