Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) members can nominate one or more beneficiaries for their provident fund accounts either online or offline, ensuring that accumulated savings are transferred smoothly to family members in the event of the subscriber's death.

Managed by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), EPF and voluntary provident fund (VPF) contributions currently earn an interest rate of 8.25%. While many subscribers focus on building their retirement corpus, experts say keeping nomination details updated is equally important to avoid complications during claim settlement.

What is EPFO e-Nomination?

EPFO e-Nomination is a mandatory digital facility that allows Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) members to register or update their nominees online. It ensures that in the event of an unfortunate demise, accumulated funds—including Provident Fund (PF), Pension (EPS), and Insurance (EDLI)—are seamlessly transferred to the designated family members without legal complications.

How to add an EPF nominee

EPF members can submit nominations through the e-nomination facility available on the EPFO portal. However, this service is available only to Aadhaar-verified Universal Account Number (UAN) holders.

To complete the process online, members need to log in to the EPFO member portal and provide details such as the nominee's Aadhaar number, name, gender, date of birth, relationship, address and photograph. Bank account details are optional, while guardian details are mandatory if the nominee is a minor.

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Subscribers can nominate more than one person, but the combined share allotted to all nominees must add up to 100%.

After entering the details, members must complete the e-sign process using either their Aadhaar number or a Virtual ID (VID). An OTP sent to the Aadhaar-linked mobile number is required to authenticate the nomination.

Those who prefer the offline route can submit Form No. 2 to EPFO. The form captures family and nomination details for EPF, the Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) and the Employees' Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) scheme.

How to generate Aadhaar Virtual ID

Members who do not wish to use their Aadhaar number directly can use the 16-digit Virtual ID generated through the UIDAI website.

To generate a VID, users need to visit uidai.gov.in and select the 'Virtual ID Generator' option under Aadhaar services. After entering the Aadhaar number and OTP received on the registered mobile number, members can generate a new VID or retrieve an existing one.

If a new VID is generated, the previous one becomes invalid.

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Can anyone be nominated?

The nomination rules differ depending on the subscriber's family status.

Under EPF rules, spouse and children are considered family. Therefore, married subscribers are required to nominate their spouse, even if they do not wish to provide benefits under the pension scheme.

Only unmarried members who do not have a spouse or children can nominate any other person, regardless of the relationship.

Male subscribers can nominate their spouse, children, dependent parents, and the widow and children of a deceased son. Female subscribers have a wider list of eligible family members, including their spouse, children, dependent parents, dependent parents-in-law, and the widow and children of a deceased son.

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Why updating nomination is important

EPFO advises members to review and update nomination details whenever there is a change in family circumstances, such as marriage, childbirth or the death of an existing nominee.

Keeping nominations up to date helps ensure that EPF, EPS and EDLI benefits are distributed correctly and reduces the chances of disputes or delays for surviving family members.

With EPF balances growing over time, maintaining accurate nomination details has become an important part of retirement planning for millions of salaried employees.

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Published on: Jun 19, 2026 1:20 PM IST