An e-nomination filed with the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) ensures that your next of kin can access your PF savings, pension rights and insurance benefits if the unexpected happens. Despite being both simple and essential, the step is often ignored by employees.
The absence of a nominee can complicate and significantly prolong the claims process. On the positive side, the facility is entirely online and requires only a few minutes via the EPFO portal using your UAN.
EPF rules stipulate that individuals who have a family must designate one or more family members as nominees. In cases where no family exists, the member is free to nominate any person. However, such nominations are automatically nullified if the member later has a family.
Filing an e-nomination with EPFO can be done in minutes by following these steps:
Visit the EPFO portal.
Go to ‘Services' and click on ‘For Employees'.
Open the ‘Member UAN/Online Service' page.
Log in with your UAN credentials.
Select ‘E-Nomination' from the ‘Manage' tab.
Fill in the required details and save them under ‘Provide Details'.
Declare whether you have a family.
Enter nominee information.
Allocate shares to each nominee, ensuring the combined total is 100%.
Save the EPF nomination.
Finalise the submission via ‘E-sign' by entering the OTP sent to your Aadhaar-linked number.
The Provident Fund is built through monthly deposits made by both the employee and the employer, with the balance earning interest at government-notified rates. Part of these contributions is channelled into the Employees' Pension Scheme, ensuring a steady income stream after the age of 58.
Designating nominees ensures that your dependents can access the accumulated corpus and interest in your PF account, as well as any insurance cover linked to it. Given that e-nomination is now compulsory under EPFO rules, completing this step promptly has become essential.
Ensuring a nomination is recorded is key to passing on your hard-earned wealth to family members without administrative hurdles. The EPF system has simplified this with an easy digital process. Without such a designation, legal heirs often encounter significant delays and procedural challenges in claiming assets, making nomination an essential safeguard.
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