What are e-nomination in EPF and its importance?

What are e-nomination and its importance?

Nomination is a process to select one or more nominees as beneficiaries to receive the proceeds from EPF, EPS & EDLI on the demise of the member. The nominees could be the spouse, parents, children, and in some cases distant relatives and friends as given below.

A male EPF member can nominate his spouse, children, step children, dependent parents and his deceased son’s widow and children.  In the case of a female member, the nominee can be her husband, children, (whether married or unmarried) her dependent parents, her husband’s dependent parents and her deceased son’s widow and children.  The member can nominate only one or more persons belonging to the family.

Nomination made in favour of a person outside of the family is treated as invalid.  In case the member does not have a family at the time of joining EPF, he can nominate any other person or persons as nominee.  However, if subsequently the member acquires a family after some time, then the earlier nomination will become invalid and he has to make a fresh nomination in favour of one or more persons within the family.

If a member who is married nominates his or her spouse as nominee and subsequently if they get divorced, then he or she has to change the nomination as the earlier nomination becomes invalid.

For the EPS scheme a married member can nominate only his or her spouse and children.  In case the member has no family and has not made any nomination then the claims will go to the legal heirs.

The EPFO has been providing guidelines on e-nomination and its importance in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic sweeping the country.  The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed dependents of EPF members into deep trouble as they could not claim settlement due to the non-filing of nominees in the concerned accounts.

Nominating a person to receive the proceeds from EPF, EPS, and EDLI is of utmost importance. Earlier members had to file Form-2 with the respective PF Office, but the Digital India programme has changed all that. A member can now sit in his home and update the nominee details in just a few minutes without any complications. With e-nomination, the members who have not submitted their nominee details can easily execute this important step. Under the present situation, this is a great boon to members and their dependents. This will surely go a long way in ensuring speedier settlement of claims in the event of the demise of a member.

How to file e-nomination?

Visit the EPFO website at www.epfindia.gov.in and select Services  >>  For Employees  – then click on “Member UAN/Online Services”.

• Login with your Aadhar linked UAN and password
• Select ‘e-nomination’ on opening the “Manage” tab
• Enter all the details in the ‘Provide details’ tab and click on ‘Save’ button
• To update family declaration click ‘Yes’
• Click on ‘Add Family Details’ and furnish the required details
• Click on ‘Nominee Details’ and provide the details and click on ‘Save EPF Nomination’
• Next click on ‘E-sign’ to generate OTP on your registered mobile phone
• Submit OTP sent to your mobile number (has to be linked with Aadhaar)
• On successful verification, your e-nomination will be registered with the EPFO.
• Documents required to be uploaded – Member Aadhaar with updated photograph and Nominee Photograph, Aadhaar and Bank details with IFSC code and address for both member and nominee.

Last date for filing nominee details

December 31, 2021 was reported to be the last date to update nominee details through the e-nomination portal. However, EPFO has clarified that one can update the nominee details even beyond December 31, 2021, and that no deadline has been set for the same as of now.

GetifyHR is fully geared to assist employers and through them the employees to update nominee details. Our Payroll Module has been fully updated to handle this issue in an easy and simplified manner. You can trust us to be with you always!