Here is a small primer on how to check your EPF balance online. There have been some questions on how to do this and what the SMS from bz-epfo that comes to your mobiles mean. More on this in a bit.
The EPF (Employee Provident Fund) is a compulsory retirement fund account to be opened by an organization with 20 or more employees. The employer deducts 12% of employees’ basic salary and contributes the same percentage to employee’s provident fund account.
The balance of EPF account is not maintained by the organization, hence most of the times employees don’t know how much money is accumulated in their EPF account. The balance is known only when EPF slips are distributed, which usually has a lag of 3-4 years. This method has always been criticized due to such a huge delay as it never tells you how much money you have stacked up for retirement and how that impacts your current financial planning.
Thanks to computer and mobile technology, this time delay has been overcome now. The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) which manages EPF India launched a service on 1st July 2011 which let you know the latest EPF balance anytime you want. All you need to do is visit EPFO India website and follow simple steps and get the latest balance on your mobile. Here are the steps with screenshots.
Step by step guide on how to check EPF balance online
Step 1
Visit http://www.epfindia.com/MembBal.html
Step 2
Click on “Click Here to know the balance” towards the bottom of the page. You will be taken to the below screen.
Step 3
Select the state where your current EPF account is maintained by your organization. I am taking Karnataka as an example.
Step 4
After selecting the state you will get the list of EPF offices in the selected state. Select the EPF office from the list provided. This should generally be the city where you are working or your office is located. I am taking Bangalore as an example.
Note the right most column “Availability of Data” will tell you the date till when the EPF data (or balance) is available in that particular office. This is nothing but your “EPF Balance as of” date.
Step 5
In the next screen enter your details very carefully. All fields are mandatory.
1.) Employee PF account number: This can found on your PF slip. If you don’t have the PF slip you can get the EPF account number from your company.
To take an example, suppose the EPF account has a number KN/12345/678 in the EPF statement slip which your employer gives.
In that case 12345 will be the establishment code and 678 will be the account number .
You need to enter the establishment code in the third text field (shown as 00012345) and the account number in the last (shown as 0001234). The second blank text filed (shown as 000) is the sub code or extension of the establishment code.
2.) Name (as appears in EPF slip): As suggested enter your name as it appears on the EPF slip. Again you can confirm from your company if you have any doubt.
3.) Mobile: Enter the mobile number where you want to receive a SMS message on your latest EPF balance.
After filling all the personal details, select I Agree and click Submit. The SMS should come to your mobile number within 15 minutes. The SMS will come from sender BZEPFO and employers contribution (ER) and employees’ contribution (EE) is shown separately.
Important: Don’t play with fake numbers or try to access someone else’s details, it is illegal and the following warning message will be displayed on the screen as below : –
Thanks Vivek for contributing here. I am sure this will help a lot of investors who are not aware of how to check for the EPF balances.
The screenshots will help them as well. Thanks so much,
@TheWealthWisher, It’s my pleasure Radhey. I’d be glad if this is helpful for the readers.
Thanks for providing me a platform to write and publish this article, appreciate it.
@Vivek,
Great job, with screenshots its very easy to get this information.
Hopefully many people would benefit with it. Keep up the good work.
PPF authorities should updated the data faster, for most cities it is updated until 31/03/2011 which is almost one year back.
Surprising, none of the readers commented on this topic. I am sure this a very great feature to get your EPF balance which still most people are not aware off.
I had an EPF account of more than 10 years, when i checked the status of the account online it was in-operative. Does anyone know the process to make it operative. Not sure if the organization which i worked for still exists.
I think you will have to contact EPF department. You should be able to either withdraw the money or transfer the same to your active EPF account.
Try the same website for more details.
I did call EPF customer care and they said that i need to fill a couple of forms and a third form will have to be filled by my employer. I am not sure if my employer still exists and i have moved to a different city.
Wanted to know if any readers had any previous experience
That is strange, the employer needs to exists ? !! I would challenge that.
After you try this Rakesh, I would like to do an article on your experience on how you went about this task.
@TheWealthWisher,
Yes the employer too needs to fill a particular form and then we need to submit it to EPF authority. Will keep you updated on how it goes, it might take a very long time.
This is a shocker! So, if employer does not exist it means your EPF money is gone? This doesn’t sound right. I guess the fight is full on!
Please let us know how is it going?
great job …keep it up!
Glad you liked it Vipul
what is epf slip name
dear sir i have PF account last 6 years but unable to open the status of my account in online can you plz help me
dear sir i have PF account last 1 year but unable to open the status of my account in online can you plz help me
I Have Posted the Form10-c Before 1 Month When It Will Get Credit
Reply me soon………
Really its helpful…thanq for that.
I need to check my pf details..but I m not getting correct pf numbr from my previous workplace. Is it possible to check through my name.
No, you need to get the correct pf number from your employer.
The link it self is not working.. WTF…!!! 🙁
i tried to check my pf which is just 6 months old but it is saying “data is not available”.
What does it mean?
I entered correct details but don’t know what’s wrong.
Can u help?
I submitted the request but not getting SMS at my given number. Tried multiple times for Maharashtra Bandra Branch. Is there any other way to get the EPF balance info. Please suggest.
SR
i tried with my epf number, but i am facing issue like
“STATUS for Member ID: TB/TAM/00xxxxx/000/000xxxx
Data not available. For detail’s please contact respective EPF Office”. Please let me know what could be the problem.
is there any alternate website of http://www.epfindia.com/ClaimStatus_New.html , this web page is not working 🙁
Hi Team,
My mother’s pf no enter this does not show the test like in pf clip
ap/5205/a-33493,
am enter like 0005205 ,000,33493 please could you provide how to i get account information
thanks
Great Info.. Really helpful.. good job brother..
its is really very helpfull for me.thnx a ton
good job….
need to confirm my pf no. is it possible?