EPF Transfer Online - Online Transfer Claim Portal (OTCP)
Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) started the facility of online transfer of EPF balance in 2014. Online Transfer Claim Portal (OTCP) is the portal where you can apply for online transfer of EPF balance. EPFO has made the process pretty simple. Let us look into it.
Eligibility for Online PF Transfer OTCP
To avail this facility, there are only 2 prerequisite conditions -
-
At least one of your employers (current and previous) should have registered their digital signature with EPFO. Given the fact that EPFO is moving towards full digital operation for all services, there is a high chance that your employer had registered his digital signature with EPFO.
-
Both your previous and present P.F. Account No. should be available in the EPFO database. This will usually be the case unless either of your employers have not yet submitted the return (ECR) to EPFO.
Now, how to check whether you fulfil both these prerequisites.
Check Eligibility for Online Transfer Claim OTCP
-
Go to http://epfindia.gov.in/site_en/OTCP_ForEmployees.php and click on "Check Eligibility for filing online transfer claim"
-
Enter your old (previous employer) as well as new (current employer) PF account numbers. Please ensure to enter your PF number correctly.
The site results will tell you if any of your employer (current and previous) have registered their digital signature with EPFO. An example result is
Only the Present Employer has a valid registered Digital Signature Certificate with EPFO. Thus this claim can be submitted online through your present employer.
So if you are eligible to submit transfer claim online then go ahead. If not, you will have to go through the old and inefficient process of filing the claim offline.
PF Transfer Claim Online OTCP
-
Under "Claim" Tab click on "Request for Transfer of Account". It will display Form 13. Fill up the details. The Form is neat and self explanatory.
-
Choose whether you want to attest your forms through previous employer or present employer. Decide as below:
-
If only previous employer has a registered digital signature with EPFO then you have to attest your forms through previous employer.
-
If only present employer has a registered digital signature with EPFO then you have to attest your forms through present employer.
-
In case both previous and present employers have registered digital signatures with EPFO, you can attest your forms through either of the employers. But going through your previous employer would quicken the transfer process.
-
-
Preview the form and Submit.
-
Take a printout of the PDF file of Form 13, sign it and submit it within 15 days to the employer you have chosen for attestation.
This completes the process of claim submission from your side.
Check Status of Transfer Claims Online
Under "Claim" Tab click on “View the status of Transfer Claims” to view an updated status of your claim. One example status is "Your request is In Transit between EPFO Out and In Office." which means your claim is under process. You can also track the progress of transfer application even if you have applied it using the paper mode (offline route).
Time Taken for the Transfer to happen
As heard from 1-2 friends, it usually takes around 2-3 months in best cases. The old account will be closed after transfer and you will not be able to check your old balance. All you will get to know when viewing the status of old account after transfer is "Claim has been settled and credited to new account”. So make a note of your old balance before applying for transfer so that you can verify that the right amount has been transferred in the new account.
To read all articles related to EPF/PF go to EPF/PF - All Articles