Few weeks’ back, our eminent Finance Minister gave a statement on how the use of PAN card has become popular during these days. He is right. Now one needs PAN for almost every financial transaction – from opening a bank account to depositing amount to buy mutual funds. This is another attempt, after introduction of DEMAT account, to curb the un-accounted transactions, which is otherwise known as “Black Money”.
Looking back, there were apprehensions in common people’s mind. It was more related to the hassles in implementation and fear of not meeting stipulated deadline set by government. It was nothing related to the “Black” thing. Common people never had those worries. I clearly remember the procedure I had to go thru’ those days and the long tense wait. When I had to get one for my wife, it was a pleasant surprise. Out sourcing the process has definitely made the whole thing user friendly.
Now, I would like to remind the minister about one more number – SSN. Somehow, I get a feeling that government has forgotten about this. For the benefit of those who are reading these three digits for the first time, it means – Social Security Number. As per the government web site, http://epfindia.nic.in/, this 14-digit number is primarily for tracking one’s Provident Fund.
As I recall, the process started sometime last year. Filling up the form was easy. But no one knew the target date of completion of the process. I felt the need during the whole of last month.
In my professional career spanning over 15years, my current job is the fourth and I did the last switch about a year back. Since then, despite my sincere persuasion, I could not make out whether the PF amount accumulated so far is transferred to the mew a/c. In this matter, all my employers lifted their hand. Upon enquiring with my friends and colleagues regarding the procedure for finding this piece of information, to my surprise, I found most of them are absolute unclear about their own fate. I started getting more involved in the search and found out the above mentioned website. It is quite informative with the contact details of the regional PF offices. But my happiness was short-lived when I realized that the e-mail ID s are orphans. I went back to fail-safe methods – fax and telephone calls. I got reply from one of the offices. The other office (which is in another state) choose to remain silent.
Then came the climax – I came to know that the PF accumulated during my first job (which was spanning over 12 years) is still not transferred to any of the subsequent accounts. But I clearly remember filling up the transfer forms at each of the job switches. As usual, none of the employers’ representative took the blame. For a middle age, middle class person like me, one can imagine the impact of loosing 12 year's PF. Needless to say, for us, the salaried class, this is the only means to survive the retired life. With increased life expectancy and ever growing inflation, I can imagine that the coming years are getting tougher. Now I am in the process of getting all my PF account transferred to my current one. At this moment, only GOD knows what is the chance of my success.
My point is simple – Government and the minister were interested in implementing PAN because it helps them to collect more income tax. But SSN is more important to the individuals. If Government is “for the people”, Pay Back time has come. Please stand up and get this implemented. Let the whole thing become transparent. This amount is lifesaver for many. And very few have any clue about the proceedings.
Looking back, there were apprehensions in common people’s mind. It was more related to the hassles in implementation and fear of not meeting stipulated deadline set by government. It was nothing related to the “Black” thing. Common people never had those worries. I clearly remember the procedure I had to go thru’ those days and the long tense wait. When I had to get one for my wife, it was a pleasant surprise. Out sourcing the process has definitely made the whole thing user friendly.
Now, I would like to remind the minister about one more number – SSN. Somehow, I get a feeling that government has forgotten about this. For the benefit of those who are reading these three digits for the first time, it means – Social Security Number. As per the government web site, http://epfindia.nic.in/, this 14-digit number is primarily for tracking one’s Provident Fund.
As I recall, the process started sometime last year. Filling up the form was easy. But no one knew the target date of completion of the process. I felt the need during the whole of last month.
In my professional career spanning over 15years, my current job is the fourth and I did the last switch about a year back. Since then, despite my sincere persuasion, I could not make out whether the PF amount accumulated so far is transferred to the mew a/c. In this matter, all my employers lifted their hand. Upon enquiring with my friends and colleagues regarding the procedure for finding this piece of information, to my surprise, I found most of them are absolute unclear about their own fate. I started getting more involved in the search and found out the above mentioned website. It is quite informative with the contact details of the regional PF offices. But my happiness was short-lived when I realized that the e-mail ID s are orphans. I went back to fail-safe methods – fax and telephone calls. I got reply from one of the offices. The other office (which is in another state) choose to remain silent.
Then came the climax – I came to know that the PF accumulated during my first job (which was spanning over 12 years) is still not transferred to any of the subsequent accounts. But I clearly remember filling up the transfer forms at each of the job switches. As usual, none of the employers’ representative took the blame. For a middle age, middle class person like me, one can imagine the impact of loosing 12 year's PF. Needless to say, for us, the salaried class, this is the only means to survive the retired life. With increased life expectancy and ever growing inflation, I can imagine that the coming years are getting tougher. Now I am in the process of getting all my PF account transferred to my current one. At this moment, only GOD knows what is the chance of my success.
My point is simple – Government and the minister were interested in implementing PAN because it helps them to collect more income tax. But SSN is more important to the individuals. If Government is “for the people”, Pay Back time has come. Please stand up and get this implemented. Let the whole thing become transparent. This amount is lifesaver for many. And very few have any clue about the proceedings.
PS: The first SSN was allotted to former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam on Tuesday , February 25, 2003 (Source - The Financial Express, New Delhi)
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