Dear Mr Basavaraj,
Thank you for this informative article. May I trouble you with a query?
My husband resigned from his job as Professor in 2006. He had started job in 1991. After resigning, he has been working freelance, not taking up another full-time job. The Provident Fund amount (which in his case was administered by a trust) has accordingly been withdrawn.
However he did not apply for the pension from EPS 1995 since we were advised that applying for it before attaining age 58 would reduce the benefit. And since he works freelance, we did not require the pension for our living expenses.
Now I have read in the news that the Central government is seizing dormant EPF accounts to fund some welfare scheme. Would this EPC 1995 account also fall in this “dormant” category – there would have been no payments into it since 2006. Would you advise that he applies for the pension right away – he is 56 years old now.
The relevant EPFO is in Bhubaneswar Orissa, we live now in Puducherry – can this be done over mail or is a physical visit necessary. I may be going to Bhubaneswar next month, and could start the process if that is what is best…
Looking forward to your early answer
Many thanks,
SR Chakrabarti