Is your employer depositing your PF every month? Here’s how to check your EPF passbook

New business data points to the fact that Most salaried employees see a provident fund deduction on their salary slip and do not think much around it. But the deduction only reveals that your employer has taken the money from your salary. It does not confirm that the contribution has actually been deposited with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).

That is why it is worth checking your EPF passbook every few months. It reveals the contributions credited under your Universal Account Number (UAN), including your contribution, the employer’s contribution and, where applicable, the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) contribution.

What should you check in the passbook?

Start by comparing your EPF passbook with your salary slips. The passbook gives you a month-by-month record, making it relatively easy to spot a missing contribution.

If PF was deducted from your April salary, for example, check whether the corresponding contribution appears in your passbook. Do the same for the following months.

EPFO says members with an activated UAN can use the e-passbook to check whether their monthly contributions have been deposited. You may additionally receive an SMS when a contribution is credited.

Do not check only your own contribution. Look at the employer and EPS entries too. A mistake here can become a problem later when you transfer your PF, withdraw money or claim pension benefits. When should the money appear?

Employers have to deposit both the PF deducted from employees and their own contribution with EPFO. Contributions are generally required to be deposited within 15 days of the close of the month.

So do not panic if the money does not appear in your passbook immediately after payday. There can additionally be delays in the passbook being updated because of processing or technical issues.

But if a contribution stays missing even as entries for later months start appearing, it is worth checking with your employer.

How can you check your EPF passbook?

You can log in to the official EPFO Member Passbook service using your UAN credentials. Select the relevant Member ID to see the contributions made during that employment.

EPFO additionally offers Passbook Lite, which gives members a simpler view of contributions, withdrawals and their balance. You can additionally access EPFO services through the UMANG app.

If you have changed jobs several times, you may see different Member IDs linked to the same UAN. Make sure you are looking at the Member ID for the employer and period you want to check.

What happens when you change jobs?

Your UAN should normally stay the same when you change employers. Your new employer creates or links a new Member ID under that UAN.

This means you can have different Member IDs for different jobs while continuing with the same UAN.

When joining a new firm, provide your existing UAN instead of creating another one. It is additionally worth checking that your name, date of birth and Aadhaar details match across your EPF records. Your old EPF balance can then be transferred to the new account where required.

What if a contribution is missing?

First, check your salary slip and allow for the normal processing period. If the contribution still does not appear, speak to your employer’s payroll or HR department.

If PF has been deducted from your salary but not deposited, the employer is responsible for fixing the problem. EPFO can take action against employers that fail to deposit contributions.

The important thing is to catch the problem early. Checking your passbook for a few minutes every few months is far easier than discovering several missing contributions when you are changing jobs, withdrawing your PF or approaching retirement.