The Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has extended the deadline to seed the Aadhaar number with the universal account number (UAN) for filing electronic challan-cum-returns (ECR) till September 1, 2021, due to the problems subscribers are facing on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to an official circular released by the EPFO on Tuesday the last date to seed the Aadhaar number with UAN is extended from June 1, 2021, to September 1, 2021, for all EPFO beneficiaries and those who need to file the electronic challan-cum-returns.

According to the retirement fund authority, it is mandatory to seed the Aadhaar number with the UAN while filing ECR's. As per the details of the circular, the competent authority approved that the electronic challan-cum-returns will be allowed to be filed only for those members whose Aadhaar numbers are seeded and verified with the UAN's with effect from June 1, 2021. Accordingly, this means that members will be allowed to file the ECR's only for the UAN's that are seeded with Aadhaar numbers, from June 1.

The UAN is a 12-digit account number allotted by the Employee Provident Fund Organisation to every employee with a PF account tofacilitate operating the account.

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation is also expected to credit an 8.5 per cent interest on provident fund (PF) deposits for the financial year ended on March 31, 2021 in the accounts of its subscribers by next month.