Every employee who gets retirement on successful completion of his services, is provided with monetary benefits such as gratuity, superannuation fund, pension and provident fund, which is a way to thank him for his tireless and honest services in the whole lifetime of his job/profession. In the same manner, provident fund is a way to encourage savings from early on years in the life of such employee under the statutory provisions of the legislation namely Provident Funds (PF Registration) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 under the strict observance and monitoring of the Employees Provident Fund Organization popularly known as EPFO.

Under the PF scheme, a certain percentage of the monthly income of the employee and the same percentage is contributed by the employer in the fund created for the PF purpose. Such principal amount gets deposited in the account over time including the yearly interest generated on the same. The employee can withdraw whole amount on retirement.

The above-mentioned act mandates compulsory registration for an employer who has more than 20 employees working beneath him and for employees depending on their total salary bracket. However, in certain exceptional cases, employers are required to obtain PF registration even when there are less than 20 employees in the establishment/organization.

In its essence, PF is created for the ultimate benefit of the employee for supporting him in purposes such as medical assistance, higher children studies, insurance, housing etc.

Every working individual expects to earn better and more than earning he intends to save some amount for his use for the phase after retirement. For which, sometimes he buys fixed or recurring deposits with banks or invests his money in security market on investments.

However, to inculcate the habit of saving, especially for low-income groups, the Government of India introduced the Employee Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952 offering incentives for saving a portion up to a certain amount (% of income applicable).Under which an employee up to a certain income bracket has to submit his money in his bank account every month and further the principal as well as interest generated on such amount is kept on such account.

Let’s discuss the provisions in little detail below

How to get PF registration with Legalmart

PF Registration is one of the retirement benefits which offers multiple benefits like tax benefits, financial crisis management, insurance benefits, premature withdrawal option, and post-death assistance. Any individual intending to get PF registration may contact expert assistance through Legalmart, which has an expert team of experienced staff for undertaking from document preparation to successful completion of PF registration in a simple & hassle-free manner.

Benefits of PF Registration

The benefits of getting PF registration are manifold for an individual, out of which some are listed below-

Capital appreciation over time- As above-mentioned, the amount of PF gets deposited in the PF account of the employee maintained with the EPFO, along with the yearly interest that is generated overtime at a pre-fixed rate. Thus, an individual is in receipt of capital appreciation out of the funds contributed by him in his life-time.
Funds for Retirement– Retirement without proper planning could be hectic for any one. Thus, throughout the term of PF funds contribution, a corpus is created for concerned employee individual who is in receipt of such sum in lump sum at the time of retirement and assures the person of financial security and financial independence at the time of retirement.
Emergency Corpus– Life is uncertain. Any mishappening can happen at any time. Thus, it becomes pertinent to have some savings for such emergencies to avoid hassles at such time. PF being a saving account apart from your regular savings can help you to meet your fund requirements at such exigencies.
Tax-saving– To encourage PF registrations among working population, the Government of India offers tax benefits in the form of tax exemptions to individuals who make contributions in PF under section 80C of the Income Tax Act 1961, where the utmost limit of tax exemption is Rs. 1,50000.
Funds Crisis Management- When an individual has his savings in his bank account in the form of PF, it relies him as he can withdraw amounts up to certain limits in the times of crisis such as medical issues or any other.
Premature withdrawal benefit- This is another unique feature of the PF and probably the only type of savings account that allows you to make partial premature withdrawals i.e. before retirement when you need funds for purposes such as medical emergency, higher education of children, house construction or reconstruction, daughter’s marriage etc.
Post-death Benefits- PF registration allows the Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) scheme that is intended to provide an insurance cover to the family or the nominee of the PF holder so that the family of the EPF member is able to go on with their funds requirements after the life of such member.

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Eligibility Criteria of PF Registration

The Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952 provides provisions for registration by employee as well as the employer under different circumstances. Any employer having more than 20 employees in his workplace are required to mandatorily get PF registration for the same. However, for certain organizations, there are exceptions where the employer has to get himself registered irrespective of the number of employees.

For employees, there are two circumstances which makes PF registration mandatory or voluntary depending upon their total salary as provided below-

An employee earning less than Rupees 15000/- per month as total salary including other benefits has to mandatorily get himself registered under EPFO for PF registration.
Any employee earning more than rs.15000/- per month can get himself registered under EPFO for PF purposes on a voluntary basis.

Other than this, following are some important provisions-

Any individual intending to acquire PF registration must be above 18 years of age and should be a resident of India.
Such employee is eligible to get PF registration from the first day of his joining in the job.
On successful registration the employee becomes eligible for PF benefits including the Deposit Linked insurance scheme.
Both employer & the employee are required to contribute a minimum percentage of 12% of the employee’s salary and can contribute more than that limit.

Documents Required for PF Registration

For the purpose of PF registration following documents are required to be submitted at the time of registration–

Copy of Partnership deed/Certificate of Incorporation Re issued by Registrar in case the entity is a partnership firm/ company /society as applicable.
A copy of memorandum of association and articles of association in case of a company and a copy rules & regulations in case of a society.
Legal Documents applicable for registration under Income–tax.
Partition deed wherever applicable.
PAN details of the company.
Financial statements of the company.
Remuneration details of the employees.
Number of employees that have worked for the organisation for the month.
GST Certificate wherever applicable.
Cross cancelled cheque.
Bank details of the entity such as account number, branch name & IFSC code.

How to Register a PF Registartion Online

The process to effectuate PF registration has been converted into a complete online procedure for employees & employer for their convenience, time-saving and unnecessary hassle. PF registration is compulsory in case of employers with more than 20 employees in his organization and it is important for them as they also have to deduct TDS from the salaries of his employees.

EPF Registration Online Process

Registration process for Employee

Create user id & password on the EPFO portal of registration.
Click “Member Portal” under category created for Employees in the portal.
Enter requisite details along with identification details such as Aadhaar, PAN etc.
After successful submission the employee is registered with EPFO portal.

Registration Process for Employer

The process of registration could be online or offline depending upon the process chosen by the employer. For offline as well as online mode, the employer should submit the form download from EPFO portal and can submit it in the nearest office(only in offline mode) with below-mentioned details-

Details of organization.
Office details of the organization.
Date of incorporation/registration of company.
No. of employees in the organization.
Main business activity in which the entity is engaged i.e. production or services.
Legal status of the company.
Details of Directors/Partners/ members or functionaries of the organization including their designation.
Particulars associated with the wage component of employees and total wage disbursed every month.
Details of bank including the branch name & IFSC code where it is located.
PAN details of the organization.
Basic details of employee.
A pro-forma for coverage
- A form titled “Proforma for Coverage” to be downloaded, filled & submitted with above-mentioned details.

Process Of Online PF Registration

For the purpose of PF registration for the organization, the employer needs to log on to the EPFO portal through www. Epf.gov.in and create an user id & password.
After successful creation of user id& password, the employer needs to click “Establishment Registration” under option for employers.
After clicking ‘Establishment Registration’, you will be directed to the page for registration with link https://registration.shramsuvidha.gov.in/user/register to know the process of registration for a new user. Click on ‘Sign Up’ Button.
You will be directed to a new page starting ‘Registration for EPFO-ESIC’.
Next page will direct you towards ‘Apply for New Registration, click the same and you will be directed to ‘Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948’ and ‘Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provision Act, 1952’, click submit button.
In the next step, you will be directed to a page where you will be required to fill establishment details such as name of organization, contact persons, no. of employees, workers details, no.and particulars of branches, business activities etc. All mandatory details that must be filled are highlighted under each section with a red asterisk.
After filling all details, submit the registration followed by the Digital signature of the employer of the concerned organization. Where the employer doesn’t have a digital signature, he/she should acquire the same before registering the entity in case of a new entity.
On successful completion of the process, the employer shall receive an email on the registered email id evidencing the successful completion of the registration process.

Timeline To Get EPF Registration In INDIA

The whole process of PF registration may take from some hours to some days for the successful PF registration as compared to the offline process which takes up to 20-25 days to get the PF registration.

Meanwhile, any employer or employee can check the status of his/her PF account by following the below-mentioned steps-

Step 1: Log on to the EPFO portal and Click on ‘Our Services’ and ‘For Employees’ option next.
Step 2: Check & click “Know your claim”
Step 3: Next page will direct you towards a new page where you need to submit your universal account number allotted by EPFO for PF purposes.
Step 4: Enter the following details.
Step 5: Click ‘Submit’ button to check the status of your PF claim.

Why you Choose Legalmart

Thus, Provident Fund or PF is a beneficial aspect introduced by the legislature to encourage savings, capital appreciation benefits, crisis management and financial security at retirement for employees who put their hard work all through their lives for a comfortable retirement. However, for those unknown to the process of registration could feel confused due to delayed work due or lack of documentation requirement or any other problem. However, relying on expert services such as Legalmart , where we assist you from document preparation, acquiring digital signature to acquire registration at reasonable charges which can make your journey simple, quick & hassle-free!