EPFO’s e-passbook facility still down as on January 13

A day after Moneycontrol reported that the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) e-passbook facility had not been working for the past few days, the facility still appears to be in limbo. The website continues to display the notice that says that 'e-passbook facility will be available today from 5 pm onwards.'

EPFO's website shows the same message about resumption of the e-passbook facility post 5 pm, on January 13, as it did a day earlier.

The Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) subscribers have been in a tizzy in the past few days as the passbook facility hasn’t been working of late. Subscribers have complained that they get an error message (‘EPFO services are not available on account of Technical Maintenance related issues. Inconvenience is regretted.’) when they try to access their passbook.

The passbook service has come to a halt, albeit temporarily, even on the UMANG mobile app. UMANG is a government of India’s digital initiative to access various government-based services. You can also check your EPF e-passbook on the UMANG app. “I have been trying to access it through the UMANG app for the past two odd days but I have not been able to access it. Hopefully the EPFO passbook facility is restored soon,” a Moneycontrol reader told us.

The error message on UMANG app when subscribers tried to access their e-passbooks of EPF accounts

However, since earlier January 12, the website says that ‘e-passbook facility will be available today from 5 pm onwards’.

On January 12, the notice on the EPFO website said that the e-passbook facility will resume post 5 pm.

Calls to the Additional Central P. F. Commissioner went unanswered. Moneycontrol has reached out to the labour ministry on January 12 and their comment is awaited.

EPFO passbook is a facility that shows you your EPF account balance, month on month. It shows you the employer’s share of monthly contribution, the employee’s share of monthly contribution. This is a popular facility used by many EPF subscribers to keep a track of their account balances.

Saraswathi Kasturirangan, Partner, Deloitte India says that many subscribers have been wanting to see their EPF passbooks to check the delay in interest being credited into their accounts. “Some clients have raised concerns that they have not been able to see the interest for the year 2021-22 credited in their account. That is the reason, many employees have been checking their passbooks regularly,” she says.

To be sure, the Ministry of Finance had clarified in October 2022 about concerns of the delay in interest credit. “The interest is being credited in the accounts of all EPF subscribers. However, that is not visible in the statements in view of a software upgrade being implemented by EPFO to account for change in the tax incidence. For all outgoing subscribers seeking settlement and for subscribers seeking withdrawal, the payments are being done inclusive of the interest,” it had said on Twitter in October 2022 .

Response from Ministry of Finance on Twitter

Preeti Chandrashekhar, India Business Leader, Health and Wealth, Mercer India says technical glitches for prolonged periods are not something one is used to in this day and age. “Yes, people do check their passbooks regularly to rest assured that the money is there. We do it all the time with our saving bank account passbooks as well. But when the downtime impacts our ability to do transactions, it bothers us. Here in EPFO also, if it is just looking at passbooks it is not a grave issue but if users are trying transfers etc it is an irritant” she says.