EPFO: Recent Initiatives for Excellence in Governance

EPFO: Recent Initiatives for Excellence in Governance

Question: EPFO is on its way to become a centre of excellence in governance. Elaborate.

- EPFO is transitioning into a centre of excellence in governance

- It has recently been modified through a revamped website

- Many initiatives have been proposed by EPFO for excellence in governing which are as follows.

- Universal Account Number: The launch of this has enabled PF members to access a plethora of services such as updated PF passbook, updated UAN card , facility to link previous member ID with current ID and more

- Around 4.64 crore UAN have been appointed and 58 lakh members have activated their UAN

- EPFO captured 99 lakh PAN card details, 2.42 crore bank account details and 58 lakh Adhaar /NPR numbers of PF members

- The EPFO website is enhanced with an Account Helpdesk for tracing old, dormant, inoperative account of PF members

- Currently, 42,500 cases have been registered and disposed by the helpdesk.

- Centralised software for generation of certification of coverage for global workers,to issue certificates of coverage to members migrating for employment with countries having social security with India

- Online Transfer Claim Portal has made it possible to transfer PF accumulations from one account to another rapidly

- Members can file their requests online and paperless movement between concerned offices of the organisation has been facilitated

- Electronic return for exempted establishment has made the process of submitting monthly return by exempted establishments easier and hassle free; 1600 exempted establishments have made use of this facility

- Centralised Monitoring of Compliance Related Functions has enabled online monitoring through field offices and head office; this provides data on defaults by establishments covered under the act permitting the organisation to track the status of assessments including levy of damages and status of recovery and legal cases

- Online registration of establishments/OLRE has made registration of establishment with EPFO web based. PF code allotment letter has also been made available online

- Mobile platform based Short Code SMS service has also been launched; this can be accessed by PF members who have activated their UAN

- SMS alerts are sent for remittance, withdrawals, interest credits etc. SMS is also sent to employers for non deposit of dues

- System of dashboards has been introduced by the central MIS portal to ensure data consistency and uniformity resulting in greater efficiency in monitoring

- Auto updation of accounts also makes for a perfect governance model as far as the EPFO is concerned

Facts and Stats

- EPFO has lined up numerous digital initiatives such as the following:

- Introduction of centralised pension system,

- Integration with external entities such as UIDAI,

- Steps to ensure direct extension of services to members,

- Initiation of Big Data analytics

- Progressive introduction of service delivery measures through hand held devices.