EPF Form 5

Introduction

The Indian government uses the Employment Provident Fund Scheme to offer trusted retirement and savings options for salaried employees.  As part of this scheme, employers and employees contribute a specific (12%) percentage of their basic salary and dearness allowance to their EPF accounts. Every business entity with twenty or more employees must register on the EPFO platform. After the entity's registration, the employer has to provide details about the employees and acquire the Universal Account Number (UAN) from the organisation. 

The employer provides information about the new employees to the EPFO every month. They need to fill in the details in the EPF Form 5 and submit it to the regional office of the EPF Commissioner. 
 

What is Form 5?

EPF Form 5 is a statutory document that contains information about the new joiners of a firm registered with the EPFO. The guidelines for EPF Form 5 are in Para 36(2) of the Employees’ Provident Fund Scheme, 1952. In this form, the employer files the return of employees eligible for the EPF scheme, Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS), and Employees’ Deposit Link Insurance Fund (EDLIF) for the first time during a particular month. 

Filled every month by business employers, the EPF Form 5 helps the EPFO ensure that all the employees are covered under the umbrella of the EPF scheme by their employer without prejudice. Once the employer fulfils the set criteria, the EPFO generates the UAN, i.e. Universal Account Number for the enrolled employees. 

After receiving the UAN, employee and employer contributions can make the necessary deposits in the EPF accounts per the statutory guidelines. 
 

Components of Form 5

The primary elements of the PF Form 5 to fill by the employers are:

●    Year and month of form submission
●    Registered name and address of the firm
●    Official code number of the business firm
●    Employer signature or any other authorised person of the entity
●    Official stamp of the business entity
●    Date of EPF Form 5 filling
●    Employee details like
○    Employee name
○    Father/Husband Name
○    DOB
○    Gender
○    Account number
○    Date of joining the EPF
○    Serial Number  
 

Where To Submit the EPF Form 5?

Employers must submit the EPF form 5 to the EPF Commissioner of the region under which they have registered on the portal. They fill out and submit the form monthly to inform EPFO about new joiners. Presently, there are around 135 EPFO offices in India. 

Employers should submit the EPF Form 5 to the EPF Commissioner’s Office before the 25th of the following month. For instance, XYZ Corporation hired an employee in October 2022. Then, the XYZ employer must submit Form 5 to the Commissioner before 25 November 2022. 
 

What is EPF Form 5A?

The EPF Form 5A is the Ownership return submitted to the EPFO when a company registers itself under the EPF schemes for the first time. The company provides information about its owners, partners, and Directors. 

In Form 5A EPF, only the information about the company's owners is provided to the EPFO. Based on the details in Form 5A, EPFO authorities can impose charges on employers who fail to pay EPF contributions. In addition, the employer has to furnish a new Form 5A PF whenever there is a change in the Board of Directors or owners. 
 

How to make corrections in PF Form 5?

In case of any wrong entry in the PF Form 5, the employees need to contact their employer for corrections. The PF Form 5 provides a simple mechanism to rectify wrong entries such as faults in employee name, address, DOB, etc. The employee can go through the following steps to apply for correction in their Form 5 details:

●    First, download and print the rectification form available online on the website. 
●    Fill in the required details in the rectification form. 
●    Add your signature and the employer's signature or authorised stamp.
●    Attach self-attested copies of required documents like school certificates, voter ID cards, PAN cards, Aadhar cards, driving licenses, passports, etc.  
●    The employer must submit the rectified form to the regional EPFO Commissioner's Office. 
●    They also have to apply to EPGO offices to request changes.