After dealing with PF Office in Bangalore and having experienced their work culture and attitude, I would like to suggest the following:
• Always send any letter / correspondence thru registered post only or submit it in PF Inward Section and obtain acknowledgment.
• Maintain copies of all the papers and documents submitted in your own file.
• You can not expect any reply to letters written by you. You will have to visit the PF Office personally, many times, to resolve your problem. Please check visiting hours beforehand. PF Office follows visiting hours very strictly.
• One or two visits to PF Office will not solve your problem. You have to have qualities like persistence and patience in you. Also you need to convince your boss to get leaves to visit PF Office.
• At first instance, PF Staff will tell you the status of your claim by querying in their computer. System query will give you information like (i) claim is not received (ii) claim is returned to employer for some discrepancy (iii) claim is settled. But mind you information in the PF System is rarely updated hence mostly misleading. You will have to come to PF Office armed with all the information and homework, be persistent to ask more details and seek entry in the section where your case is dealt with.
• You may get very plain replies from PF Staff you will have to counter them by cross questioning and by seeking more details. E.g.(i)‘your case is being processed, you will get result soon’ counter it with ‘tell me exact date when I will get result, if not I will visit you again’. (ii) ‘Cheque is already dispatched’ counter it with ‘give me cheque no., amount, and dispatch date’ (iii) ‘we have not received your application, submit it again’ counter it by showing the acknowledgement and ask them to search the original in their office and refuse to resubmit the same.
• If you do not get satisfactory replies at section level approach higher ups do not hesitate to approach even PF Commissioner. Old pending cases can be solved by their intervention only.
• In case PF staff commits that, they will process the case say in a week, take specific date commitment and tell them you will be back on that particular date.
• Make use of RTI, PF Grievance Cell and PF Adalat to put pressure.
• If you demonstrate your resolve to get your own money from PF Office, then only your old pending claims may get settled.
