EPFO extends deadline for payment of EPF dues till January 20

NEW DELHI: Retirement fund body EPFO has extended deadline for payment of EPF contributions by five days till January 20 in view of difficulties being faced by firms in filing EFF returns online due to technical issues.

"EPF statutory dues for the month of December can now be paid by January 20, 2017," an Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) statement said today.

A unified portal for employers with UAN (universal account number) based simplified electronic challan cum return filing system was launched by the EPFO on December 23, 2016. The portal helps in submission of UAN-based returns and challans.

It has been noticed that due to increased traffic on the portal, many employers have faced some difficulty in upfront allotment of UAN, connectivity/login issues, website slowing down and also unfamiliarity of the new processes, it said.

The statutory dues are to be paid by 15th of every month. Considering the issues arising out of stabilisation of the portal, it has been decided to allow a grace period of five days for the month of December 2016 remittance which can be paid by January 20, 2017.

EPFO has a subscribers base of over four crore and handles over six lakh employers.