EPF New Rules: Steps On How To Freeze, Defreeze UAN

New EPFO Rules: The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) outlining a limited time frame for freezing individual or establishment accounts for verification purposes.

To identify potential cases of suspicious accounts or transactions that could involve impersonation or fraudulent withdrawals, the EPFO will conduct multiple stages of verification for MIDs, UANs, and institutions as part of the SOP. To safeguard the funds in these accounts, the EPFO has set a maximum freezing period of 30 days for verification, which can be extended by up to 14 additional days.

Here is an overview of the EPFO's latest SOP on freezing and unfreezing UANs of EPF subscribers, issued on July 4, 2024.

Understanding Freezing Of EPF Account

"Freezing" refers to the disabling of the following operations for the specified categories

1. Login into the Unified Portal (Member/Employer)
2. Generation of a new UAN or linking of MID to a pre-existing UAN
3. Any addition or change in member profile & KYC/Employer DSC.
4. Any deposits through Appendix-E, VDR Special, VDR Transfer-in etc., in a MID
5. Any settlements of claims/transfer of funds or withdrawals
6. Registration of New establishment based on the same PAN/GSTN etc. including the usage of Aadhar/PAN/DSC of Employer/Authorised signatory.

What is De-Freezing?

"De-freezing" refers to the restoration of previously frozen operations once they are verified as genuine within the specified time frame and authorized by the relevant authority.

EPFO stated that "Categories" denote the classification of individuals or groups of MIDs/UANs/Establishments requiring verification to secure the accumulations of genuine members:

• Category A: MIDs/UANs/Establishments identified and communicated by the Head Office periodically.
• Category B: MIDs/UANs/Establishments where there is an attempt or actual fraudulent withdrawal, either in the form of transfer or settlement to anyone other than the genuine member, including changes to member profiles and KYC details.
• Category C: MIDs/UANs with deposits through Appendix-E, VDR Special, Special 10D, VDR Transfer-in, etc., without approval from the Competent Authority and/or without adhering to issued instructions.

Understanding cases for freezing

When a suspicious activity or transaction in an MID/UAN/Establishment is reported or detected, falling into Category B or C, it must be immediately reported to the OIC by the concerned official(s) with supporting documents and justifications in an e-file. Similarly, the ACC of the Zone, upon receiving credible information on suspicious transactions/MIDs/UANs/Establishments, will send written directions to the OIC to take necessary actions and execute the freeze through the Authorized Officer in the Zonal Office.

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Upon receiving such information, the OIC should quickly assess and immediately get the MID/UAN/Establishment frozen through the Authorized Officer. The OIC will also notify the RFRMC within three days. The RFRMC will preliminarily examine and confirm the necessity of the freezing. If a clear modus operandi or pattern emerges, the OIC should promptly inform the Zonal ACC and ACC Finance & Accounts, Head Office.

Cases in Category A will be communicated by the RPFC (Vertical 9-FIA) of the Finance & Accounts Division directly to the IS Division to execute the freeze in the Application Software and place it before the Fraud Risk Mitigation Committee for review.

Executing the Freezing

1. Freezing in the application software will be carried out by the Nodal Officer of Vertical - 6 of the IS Division at NDC.

2. The Authorized Officer will inform the Nodal Officer of ISD for freezing MIDs/UANs/Establishments through an Issue Tracker under categories A, B, & C. The nodal officer will execute the freeze on the same day of receiving the communication.
3. The freezing request in the Issue Tracker will be based on a Request Template finalized by the ACC IS Division in consultation with the ACC Finance & Accounts Division of the Head Office.
4. The IS Division will ensure the Issue Tracker includes a provision for tracking freezing, de-freezing, and information sharing on MIS 3.0 due to such interventions.
5. If the UAN linked with the frozen MID contains other MIDs, the OIC should inform all respective OICs where such other MIDs are located via email, with a copy to the concerned ACC(s) of the Zone(s).

Intimation of Freezing to Stakeholders

1. When an MID/UAN/Establishment is frozen, the information must be shared with the concerned member and employer as applicable.

2. Information to the member will be provided through two modes: an SMS and a message on the Unified Portal when the member accesses the login. The IS Division will ensure both interventions are in place, and the OIC will verify that the information has been shared.
3. Information to the employer will also be provided through two modes: an email and a message in the Employer Login of the Unified Portal when the employer accesses the login. The IS Division will ensure both interventions are in place, and the OIC will verify that the information has been shared.

What is the duration of freezing

As per reports, the duration of the freeze should not exceed 30 days from the date of freezing, except in cases where there is a confirmation of fraud