EPF Registration for Employer: Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is a scheme under Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952 for providing monetary benefit to all salaried employees after their retirement. It is a retirement benefit plan where both employer and employee contribute a certain percentage of the salary. In simple terms, a benefit received after retirement but earned during employment.
Applicability of EPF Registration for Employers
EPF Registration is mandatory for:
- Every factory engaged in an industry employing 20 or more employees.
- Every other establishment having 20 or more employees during previous year.
- Every employee who is getting less than INR 15000/- per month.
“Central Government may apply any establishment employing less than 20 employees after giving not less than two months’ notice for compulsory registration. All the employees will be eligible for a PF from the commencement of their employment and the responsibility of deduction & payment of PF lies with the employer.”
PF Contribution:
- The PF contribution paid by the employer is 12% of (basic salary + dearness allowance + retaining allowance). An equal contribution is payable by the employee.
- If the establishment has employed less than 20 employees, EPF deduction rate will be 10%.
Steps for Online EPF Registration for Employers
The employers can follow the below steps for EPF Registration online.
Step 1: Register the Organization with EPFO. Visit the EPFO Portal and click the option “Establishment Registration”.
Step 2: You will lead to the Signup Page (Shram Suvidha Portal). Where we can Download User Manual. The user manual must be read completely by a new user before registration.
Step 3: Registering the DSC. The above manual will clearly explain the steps for the EPF employer registration and also Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) Registration of the employer. If he is already registered then he can login with his UAN and Password.
Step 4: Tick “I have read the instruction manual”. Then click on “Register” button. It will take you to a page where you are required to fill the employer’s details.
Step 5: Fill the below details.
- First Name: First name, middle name & last name should be entered correctly as it was furnished to the Income-tax department. Any variation that occurred during verification leads to rejection.
- PAN of the Employer: After entering the employer’s PAN, a message will appear that shows employer is not registered previously. PAN will also be verified like name and an online application will be permitted.
- User Name: The user name should be selected and entered and the website will tell whether it is available or not.
- Hint Question & Answer: You can select the hint question and answer so that it will help you when you forget your password.
- Enter the Captcha and click on “Get PIN” button. You will get the PIN on your registered mobile number. Enter this and click “I agree to the above declaration”.
- An e-mail link will be sent to your mail-id. Click on the link to activate the registration application.
Documents Required for EPF Registration
The employers are required to furnish the following documents as per the requirement of the type of the entity for which he is going to register.
Society/Trust
- Certificate of Incorporation
- Memorandum of Association (MOA) and Bye-Laws
- PAN number
- Name, Address and ID proof of the president and members
Proprietorship Firms
- Name of the Applicant
- PAN number of the Applicant
- ID Proof- Driving License/Passport/Voter ID
- Address Proof for the Premises
- Proof for Residential Address and Telephone number
Partnership Firms
- Registration Certificate of the Firm
- Partnership Deed
- Id proof of partners – Driving license/Passport/Voter Card
- List of all partners with Address and ID Proof
Limited Liability Partnership / Company
- Certificate of Incorporation
- ID proof of Directors
- Digital certificate of directors
- List of all Directors with Address and ID Proof
- Memorandum and Articles of Association
For All Other Entities
- First sale and purchase bill of Raw material and machinery
- GST Registration certificate
- Bank details like Name, Branch, Address and IFSC
- Number of Employees through the month
- All Vouchers, All Balance Sheets and wages register from day 1 to current date of provisional coverage
- Salary and PF Statement
- Cross Canceled Cheque
Apart from the above, the following details of Employees should also be required.
- Name, Father’s Name and Date of Joining
- Date of Birth, Mobile Number and Postal Address
- Name of the Nominee, Grade, and Salary
- Designation, ID proof & Bank details
- Employee signature, details and Date of Agreement
Steps for Online PF Payment
The contribution to PF account is made by both employer and employee and that amount should be deposited to the PF account by the employer. PF payment can be made online by the employer through the EPFO portal or through authorized bank website. The bank-specific payments for few banks are SBI, PNB, ICICI, HDFC and Kotak Mahindra bank.
The following are the steps to make the PF payment Online.
- Login to the EPFO portal using Electronic Challan cum return (ECR) credential or click the link
- Ensure that all the PF details of your establishments are correct i.e. Name, Address, Exemption status etc.
- Click on the “Payment” option and from the drop-down select “ECR upload”
- Select ‘Wage Month’, ‘Salary Disbursal Date’, Rate of contribution and upload ECR text file
- Uploaded ECR file will be validated for predefined conditions and a screen will appear with a message ‘File Validation Successful’. If ECR file is not validated, error will throw up. Correct the ECR text file for the specified format and upload again till it is successfully validated
- TRRN generated will be displayed on the same page. Click on “Verify”.
- Click on “Prepare Challan” to generate ECR summary sheet
- Now enter Admin/Inspection Charges and click on ‘Generate Challan’ Button
- Click on ‘Finalize’ button after verifying the challan amount and Click on ‘Pay’ against the relevant TRRN
- Select the payment method as “Online” and select the bank and click on “Continue”.
- Then you will be taken to the internet banking site and enter login credentials and make the payment
- On making payment, transaction id will be generated and e-receipt for transaction confirmation will be generated.
- The transaction will be updated on EPFO portal and payment confirmation against TRRN will be provided by EPFO.
Individual persons are not allowed to deposit money into Provident Fund account only the employers are allowed to make. In case if you want to increase your contribution towards PF while working in an organization you can contact your HR or payroll processing team for adding voluntary contribution for the PF and mention the amount which you want to make.
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