PIB News Update: The Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG) has been a big hit among EPF subscribers enabling them to access services during COVID-19 pandemic from the comfort of their homes in a hassle free manner. Adding to the 16 services already on the Umang App, EPFO has now started another facility enablinng EPS members to apply for Scheme Certificate under Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995.
Scheme certificate is issued to members who withdraw their EPF contribution but wish to retain their membership with EPFO, to avail pension benefits on attainment of retirement age. A member becomes eligible for pension only if he has been, cumulately, a member of the Employees’ Pension Scheme,1995 for at least 10 years. Upon joining a new job, Scheme Certificate ensures that previous pensionable service is added to pensionable service rendered with the new employer thereby, increasing the amount of pension benefits. Further, Scheme Certificate is also useful for family members to avail family pension, in case of untimely death of the eligible member.
The ease of applying for Scheme Certificate through UMANG App will now help members avoid unnecessary hardship of physically applying for it, especially during pandemic times and will also eliminate unnecessary paperwork. The facility shall benefit over 5.89 crore subscribers. For availing the service on Umang App, an active Universal Account Number (UAN) and a mobile number registered with the EPFO is required.
By successfully bringing state-of-the-art technology to the doorstep of its subscribers, EPFO has remained to be most popular service provider on UMANG App. Out of the 47.3 crore hits clocked by the app since August 2019, 41.6 crore or 88% of them were meant for EPFO services. With India witnessing massive growth in digital connectivity through mobile phones, EPFO is making more and more services digitally accessible to members even in remotest locations through UMANG App.
*About UMANG* :
UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) is developed by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and National e-Governance Division (NeGD) to drive Mobile Governance in India.
UMANG provides a single platform for all Indian Citizens to access pan India e-Gov services ranging from Central to Local Government bodies and other citizen centric services.