 "Tomar launches online PF code allotment system")
Union labour minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Monday launched the facility for online registration of establishments in retirement body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
Through this portal, firms can register and retrieve the Provident Fund Code Number, allotted to establishments after registration, within a day.
"Earlier, it used to take 20-25 days for registrations of firm in EPFO but through this service, a firm can be registered in a day's time and is an important step in the direction of e-governance," Tomar said.
The present system will allow the firms to register themselves online through a link on the EPFO's website. After filling up the form and verification of the Permanent Account Number (PAN) of the applicant, the PF code number will be allotted within a day, according to the ministry.
Also, the status of the application can also be tracked on the dashboard provided by the EPFO on the website.
"It was observed that earlier establishments which had to take a PF code number were required to make a physical application and submit the same at the PF office concerned. This sometimes led to avoidable delays in getting the code number," the labour ministry noted.
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K K Jalan, Central Provident Fund Commission, EPFO, said that the process will increase the organisation's efficiency.
"This will help in better compliance with no manual interference.
We will put all the old data into the electronic mode. We will soon launch universal account number as well," Jalan said.
Labour ministry officials said that this is a step towards improving India's rank in the 'ease of doing business' ratings by the World Bank. "India ranks 134 in the ease of doing business index of World Bank.
Hopefully, this will improve the ranking," said Gauri Kumar, Labour Secretary present at the event.