EPFO MANDATES ELECTRONIC FILING OF FORM-5A BY ALL ESTABLISHMENT'S

The Employees’ Provident Fund Scheme,1952 requires employers of establishments covered under the Employees’ Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (“the Act”) to file a return of ownership in Form 5A.

Form 5A captures details of all the branches and departments, owners, occupiers, directors, partners, managers or any other persons who control the affairs of such covered establishments. They require this form to be filed once the employer becomes a covered establishment or within 15 days where there is a change in details furnished. Hitherto, the employers were filing Form 5A manually.

Changes:

Mandatory electronic filing of Form 5A is EPFO’s next step towards e-governance. It gives employers an opportunity to correct/update their details with the PF authorities and ensures that the PF database captures the details correctly. Compliance with this requirement would also enable employers to avoid any penal consequences on this front.

Online process

After registration and allotment of PF code, employers can submit online Form 5A through their establishment login->Establishment->Form 5A, duly attested by their DSC/E-Sign.

One must remember to update their Form 5A Return whenever

          1) There is a change in ownership

          2) There is a change in the establishment’s name or its Address

          3) There is a change in its Bank Account, Mobile Number, E-mail, etc.

If there are several units (Branches), it may furnish the same in Form 5A.