If you have been giving contribution in EPFO for more than 10 years and have become entitled to pension, then you must know about the scheme certificate. You may need it while claiming pension.
If you work in an organized sector, then you must be making EPF contribution every month. 12% of your basic salary and DA goes to EPF and the same amount is also contributed by the company. But the employer’s amount is divided into two parts. 8.33% goes to the Employee Pension Scheme (EPS) and the remaining 3.67% goes to the EPF account. If you are contributing to EPFO for 10 years or more, then the EPS money is given to you as pension at the age of retirement. If you have contributed for less than 10 years, you can withdraw your pension money at the time of full and final settlement.
This is the matter of your EPF contribution, but now the question arises that where is the need for scheme certificate in all this? As per the rules of EPF, if you have contributed to EPFO for more than 10 years, then you have to give the scheme certificate to the subscribers to get the pension at the age of retirement. Let us tell you everything in details.
What is scheme certificate
The scheme certificate is like a policy for pension, because with its help you get the facility to transfer pension when you change jobs. To claim pension, you must have this certificate. However, if you have contributed to PF for less than 10 years, you can still take the scheme certificate to continue the pension service, but it is not mandatory.
When is the scheme certificate useful?
The rule states that whenever a PF subscriber switches his job, he should get the PF transferred to the new company on the EPFO portal. But suppose after switching jobs, his new company is not under the purview of EPF, then he can present the record of the period of service through scheme certificate to get pension later. On the other hand, those who have contributed to EPF for 10 years and no longer intend to work further, they can also take scheme certificate to get pension at the age of 50-58 years. This will serve as proof in your pension claim.
How to get scheme certificate
To get the scheme certificate, you need to fill Form 10C. You can download this form from EPFO’s website and fill it and submit it to the nearest EPFO Office. Along with this, you will need some documents like date of birth certificate, canceled cheque, name and details of employee’s children, death certificate in case of death of the employee, succession certificate if the successor is submitting the form and a stamp stamp of one rupee value. etc. may have to be deposited.
