GOSF 2014: Analyzing Google Online Festival Challenge as it happens

Google Online Shopping Festival - India's very own online shopping festival on the lines of Black Friday Shopping festival in the US will be held from 10 to 12 Dec this year. More than 450 online partners are expected to share their best deals during the 3 day hoo-haa.

Multiple campaigns have been going on at www.gosf.in in the run up to the event and companies are rolling out exciting offers to lure the customers. There has been a series of 14 minutes of free shopping offer that started on 25 Nov 2014 and ran up to 08 Dec 2014 under which each day a new brand from the total list of 14 partner brands have been offering new ways for winning 14 min of free shopping to the lucky customers. Use of Twitter in most of these contest has been notable with more of less every single one of these brands asking the consumers to follow their Twitter page to enter into the contest and then asking the consumer to share their opinion/quotes etc. with relation to the products offered by the brand.

Today I received an email from eBay saying:

GOSF comes early on eBay.in | Flat Rs.100 Off Coupon inside | Shop Now!

Folks at eBay: Great that you are starting early but seriously do you really want to classify this as a GOSF offer? I mean my inbox is almost full with brands including yours offering better offers all these while when there was no GOSF buzz. Please reconsider your decision to participate or your offers, cause if this you are spending your marketing budget on GOSF with such offers you are better off continuing with your regular promotions.

Moving onto PREFERRED PARTNER Aditya Birla Money MyUniverse - Guys, the amount of spam that you generate every single week with your 70% off on 5 year plan and Sunday is a saving day on MyUniverse is equal to the spam generated by five online shopping sites put together. We have had enough of it. Please either drop the subscription price itself or open up some new features at the same price. And please, seriously please, do not come up with a new good looking banner Ad (like you always do) with the same old bogus offer during GOSF. Yours is a good product yaar. Spend some money on educating people how to make the most of it rather than just focusing on driving the subscriptions.

We will add more stuff as the GOSF rolls out tomorrow and in coming days. Follow this blog if you find the article interesting!

Update DDA Housing Scheme 2014 Refund/Money back

As per reports DDA is expected to return the deposit amount of Rs. 100,000/- (Rupees One Lakh) by end of this month i.e. 24 Dec, 2014. Though initially DDA has said that it will return the security deposit of Rs. 100,000/- (One Lakh rupees) of unsuccessful applications within three months of holding the draw of lots, it is now aiming at returning the amount by 24th Dec 2014.

As per the information available with us people who had filled their forms using SBI have started getting their money back. We have asked HDFC bank on the status of payments and as per their response demand drafts have been sent on the residential addresses of the applicants who filed their applications through HDFC Bank. Some online forums suggest that applicants who registered using SBH too have received refund payments.

DDA generates a significant amount of interest on the registration amount it collects from the applicants. This amount is used for DDA’s housing and other projects. As per news articles it is DDA vice-chairman Balvinder Kumar's decision that DDA is aiming to return the registration amount within a month.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had mentioned it in their brochure at annexure “B” that DDA will refund registration money through the nodal branches of bank at which applicants have submitted the form either online or offline mode

If you are one of the unsuccessful applicants, you don’t need to visit the bank branches for refund of registration money as the registration money will be credited back to your account automatically through the nodal branch of the bank through which you have submitted the application form.
However, if you do not received your money within 90 days then you are suggested to contact nodal officer of the bank as given in annexure B of the brochure. DDA or the bank will not entertain application for refund, loss/mutilation and non-encashment of refund cheque one year after the closure of this scheme.

This announcement comes as a relief for many applicants who have their money stuck with DDA as a non-performing asset cause DDA will not be paying any interest to the applicants for this period. However, there are rumors that DDA will be paying 8 percent interest if there is delay in repaying the money back to the applicants. For applicants who had availed financing schemes from participating banks it means that they will need to pay lesser interest to the bank if the terms and conditions of the concerned financing agreement allow so.

For more details you may refer:
http://profit.ndtv.com/news/your-money/article-dda-housing-scheme-unsuccessful-applicants-may-get-refund-by-december-24-714046

Online transfer claim of EPF by Employee's Provident Fund Organization (EPFO)

Good news for all the people who have been wanting to transfer their PF amount from previous employment accounts to the current one but couldn't do it due to the hassles of doing it manually and all kind of problematic experiences that you get to hear from your colleagues.

Employee's Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has launched a new system to facilitate online submission of transfer claims by members with an objective to make the transfer process transparent, efficient and comfortable.

The process is beneficial not just for the employees but also for the employers. Under the previous system the employers were supposed to send the physical papers of PF transfer claims raised by the employees to the EPFO office  with their recommendation. However, under the new online system employers can verify the details of the claims using the EPFO portal for employers.

The EPFO office also sends reminder SMSes to the employers regarding pending transfer requests from the employees. This will lead to quick action by the employers and make them more accountable. Employees too can track the status of their transfer application online and see who is responsible for the delay, if any.

Pre-requisites/Eligibility: Who can transfer PF online?

For transferring your EPF amount online from a previous employer to the current employer the following conditions need to be fulfilled:

• Both previous and present member IDs (PF Account No.) should be available in  EPFO database
• The employers should have registered the digital signature certificate of their authorized signatories with EPFO. This is mandatory for employers to be able to verify claim papers online by digitally signing it off

If both previous and current employers have not registered their digital signatures online the transfer process will need to be completed offline.

Employees can check their eligibility for claiming online EPF transfer here: http://memberclaims.epfoservices.in/check_eligibility.php

Information that you need for initiating the transfer:

• Your bank account no. along with IFSC code
• PF account numbers from both the employer. You would find this on your payslip. The format is like GN/GGN/0012345/000/XXXXX i.e. State Code/Regional PF Office Code/Establishment Code/Extension/Employee PF number. The Extension generally is 000 and can be left blank in most of the cases.
• Date of joining and leaving the previous establishment and date of joining of current establishment. It generally gets pre-filled on submitting the PF number however if doesn't you would need to provide the same
• Date of birth and name of spouse/father as mentioned in the company records

 
 Below are the steps for requesting a PF transfer as an Employee:

1. Log in to the online transfer claim portal here: http://memberclaims.epfoservices.in/
    Note: If this is the first time you are using online EPFO portal, you will need to register and create
    your profile here http://members.epfoservices.in/employee_reg_form.php

2. After succesful login you will see the following page

3. Fill in the Part A details i.e. Personal information as shown in the above picture

4. Fill in Part B details i.e. details of the previous account which is to be transferred. Once the details have been entered, click on the grey button labeled  "Click Here To Get Details"

On doing so the details of you EPF account will get auto-filled as per the details available with EPFO office. If you find any of the field to be blank, please manually submit the respective information.

If the information in the next five fields is non-blank but incorrect, you can approach your employer to correct this data. To do the correction, press the "Following information is incorrect" button. A request letter shall be generated for further submission to your employer (Important: This claim can not be submitted digitally).

5. Fill in Part C details i.e. details of the current account to which the amount is to be credited. Once the details have been entered, click on the grey button labeled  "Click Here To Get Details"

 If all the details are correct select the claim attestation option. You can select either the previous or the current employer for this attestation. In case of attestation by the previous employer, time taken in settlement will be relatively less.

Finally, you will be able to process the claim online only if the employers have registered their digital signatures online with the EPFO office. If both previous and current employers have not registered their digital signatures online the transfer process will need to be completed offline.

Once you have successfully submitted the EPF transfer claim, the application status can be tracked using the "View Status of Transfer Claim" link under the "Claim" head of the menu bar as shown below:

For more information visit: http://www.epfindia.com/employee_OTCP.html

Check DDA Housing scheme 2014 draw of lots and results online

DDA has successfully completed the draw of lots for one of its most ambitious housing scheme till date. The draw of lots that started this morning (25th Nov 2014, 9:00 AM) took around five hours to complete and was live-streamed at www.ddadrawlive.in.


The results are out. Check here: http://dda.org.in/tendernotices_docs/nov14/dda2014result.pdf

or here: http://dda.org.in/HousingScheme2014/DdaDrawResult14.aspx if you have the application number.

All the best!!

Follow the blog if you find this to be useful. 

Transfer money via email with Kotak Mahindra Bank

 In this age of innovation where everyday we are coming across new unique ways of transferring money, Kotak Mahindra has launched money transfer through email that too in an easy to use and complete secure manner.

The biggest benefit of using this medium is that you need not know the beneficiary's account details. Nor do you need to register the beneficiary.

All you need is a) Kotak Net Banking Account and b) beneficiary's email ID and mobile number.

Here is how you can use this service:

Image Source: http://www.kotak.com/personal-banking/convenience-banking/send-money-email.html#product_how_it_works

However there are some important points you should know if you plan to use this payment option:

1. Fund Transfer Limits: Rs. 10,000 per transaction and Rs. 50,000 per day
2. OTPs: are valid only for 7 days from the date of initiation of payment
3. The transfer request can be cancelled till the time the funds are debited from sender's account
4. The transfer time once the beneficiary has successfully submitted the request for money transfer is in accordance with the time limits of regular NEFT/RTGS transaction
5. Service is available for individual customers only
6. Transfers can be scheduled in advance for the next 7 days
7. Beneficiaries can choose to deposit the money in the accounts of their choice

For more details please Kotak Mahindra official website.

Buy medicines online - Review healthkartplus.com

Recently I bought a few medicines from HealthKartPlus.com and here is my review of their services based on my experience.

1. Product Availability:  The medicines I ordered were mostly over the counter drugs. At times I have had issues with finding them at a few medical stores but thankfully I was able to find all of them on HealthKartPlus. Hence 10 out of 10 to HKP as far as product availability is concerned.

2.. Service Availability:  Currently pharmacy coverage is available in Delhi/NCR, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Bhubaneshwar, Hyderabad, Pune. This mostly covers the top 8 cities barring Kolkata. In the absence of any substantial data about the online purchase behaviour of Indian consumers across cities, it is difficult to comment whether they should have gone for a higher coverage or not. That said, the more the better at least from a consumer standpoint. I would rate HKP 6 out of 10 given the fact that most of the new entrants in online retail do provide a better coverage than this. Even if you give consideration to the sector specific challenges, a quick comparison with sites like Aaramshop.com points to the fact that a higher coverage in terms of the number of cities covered should have been possible. More so because it is a pharmacy network and it should not be very difficult to find a couple better organized medical stores with educated owners who would be able to understand the concept and be a part of it in most of the cities.

3. Ease of Use: Unlike most of the online retail stores HealthKartPlus has a non-cluttered environment. There hardly were any brand specific promotions/banner Ads running on the homepage and that added to the simplicity.

On searching for a particular medicines you are shown multiple options to select for basis dosage amount, product substitutes, composition etc. On clicking a particular medicine you are shown the complete details under three sub-heads namely a) Salt Information b) Substitutes and c) Interactions. For Indian consumers not many of whom give enough consideration to the possible side effects, recommended dosages and drug interactions, buying medicines from HKP can be more informative than buying it from the corner medical stores. Product pictures are also available which does build the trust and aids identification. 10 out of 10 on this parameter too.

I would highly recommend consumers to use HealthKartPlus to get the information about various drugs if not for buying it online. On the first time purchase I even got a 15 percent discount which is never a bad thing to have.

4. Delivery: Lets talk about the positives first. The product came in good packaging, with a proper bill. COD (Cash on Delivery) option is available so the risk for the buyer is minimal.

The problem was the time taken in doing the delivery. Medicines esp. over the counter ones are mostly impulse or negative purchases. Nobody likes buying medicines. You purchase medicines because you need them. Hence it is very important that once the order has been placed there is minimal time taken to deliver the products which should not be a big challenge in a network based model. I did not receive any information other than a transaction code and a number that I could call in case of any issues. And I did have to call it when the medicines were not delivered even after 48 hours and after that I were told that it will be delivered in another 5-7 hours.

I am sure HealthKartPlus is a funded company and the only advice I have as a marketer and as a consumer for them is that they should improve upon the time of delivery. If mine was a one off case, you sure are doing good. But if that is the general amount of time taken to deliver the products, I think they better speed up else competition is always around the corner to take over!

Without card cash withdrawal at ATM with IMT (Instant Money Transfer)

Bank of India (BoI), in a first of its kind initiative has launched card-less cash withdrawal service at its IMT (Instant Money Transfer) enabled ATMs. The service allows Bank of India consumers to any person by using the receiver’s mobile number and a secret code via a text message.

The service can be availed either through Internet Banking or through IMT enabled ATMs.

It is a 24X7X365 facility and can be availed at any time of the day by both - sender and receiver.

The service can be of special use where the receiver needs emergency cash, doesn't hold a bank account or the bank account details are not available at the moment.

Process:

1. Receiver/Beneficiary Registration

It is mandatory to register the beneficiary/receiver before sending the money. Beneficiary registration by the sender, is a one-time activity. Registration can be done either through SMS or through BoI’s Retail Internet Banking. 

Registration over SMS:


Bank of India customers can send an SMS to +919223009988 from their registered mobile number in following format:

IMT <Receiver's Mobile Number>#<Receiver's name>#<Receiver's Address>#<Receiver's Address Pin Code>

 Registration through internet banking:

BoI customers can login to Bank’s Retail Internet Banking facility to easily register the receiver/ beneficiary by entering the receiver's name, mobile no., address and Pin code. It is a one-time procedure. If the sender wants he/she can subsequently delete these details.

2. Initiating the transaction

After successful registration of the receiver, customer's can initiate the transaction through Retail Banking facility or at an IMT enabled ATM.  The following details need to be provided to initiate the transaction:

1. Receiver's Mobile Number
2. IMT Amount
3. Secret Code (To be shared only and only with the receiver)


Once the IMT has been issued successfully, sender receives an SMS on his or her mobile number containing the following details:

• Receiver's mobile no.
• IMT amount
• IMT Validity Date (In case the receiver doesn't withdraw IMT by this date, IMT wibe cancelled by the system and amount shall be credited back to sender’s account. However, the charges for the IMT shall not be reversed. )
• IMT ID (a unique code which can be used to refer IMT transaction)

The receiver also gets an SMS containing following details:

• The IMT amount
• IMT ID (a unique code which can be used to refer IMT transaction)
• IMT Validity Date
• SMS Pin (System generated code, required for IMT withdrawal)

3. Money Withdrawal 

Once the above mentioned steps have been completed successfully the receiver can easily withdraw money from an IMT enabled ATM by providing following details:

• Mobile number on which receiver has received the IMT details
• The Secret Code (Communicated by Sender to Receiver)
• The SMS PIN (as received in the SMS post IMT initiation) 
• The IMT amount

Please note that partial withdrawal of IMT is not allowed. On successful withdrawal of money an SMS is sent to sender confirming the transaction.

Note: The above details have been provided on the basis of details available at Bank of India (BoI) website and a few other websites. The terms and condition of the service might be changed by the bank. For updated information please refer BoI website.

Lodge your complaint online regarding crime against women

While the general focus of this blog is to use internet for day to day tasks and make your life easy, it is important that we share information regarding portals that government provides to help citizens facing difficult situations in life.

Crime against women has been on rise in recent past and it seems only correct to spread information about National Commission for Women's (NCW's) online portal to file complaints regarding crime against women.

Online complaint registration against cases of domestic violence, harassment, dowry, torture, desertion, bigamy, rape, refusal to register FIR, cruelty by husband, deprivation, gender discrimination and sexual harassment at work place can all be done at the following link:

http://ncw.nic.in/onlinecomplaintsv2/frmHome.aspx

The form has detailed instructions in Hindi and English both for filing the complaint. the victim herself can also file the complaint. 

Once the complaint has been filed, the status update regarding the actions taken on the same can be seen at following link:

http://ncw.nic.in/onlinecomplaintsv2/frmPubLogin.aspx?ReturnUrl=frmComplaintStatus.aspx

For complete details we suggest you to refer following website: http://ncw.nic.in/

IMPS - Immediate Payment Service. The power of mobile banking

Launched in August 2010, IMPS i.e. Immediate Payment Service is one of the better initiatives by the government and banking institutions which despite being a useful service is yet to see the sort of success that it deserves.

IMPS is a 24X7 interbank electronic instant mobile money transfer service through mobile phones in India. The keywords here are instant and mobile.

Unlike NEFT transactions, payment transfers done through IMPS are instant which means the money is credited to the recipient's account within minutes of initiating the transfer. Moreover you need not have an internet connection to initiate IMPS transfer. The same can easily be done using SMS service of your mobile phone.

This takes us to the question - How to utilize this powerful service? Well its pretty easy. All you need to do is follow a few simple steps as below:

Steps for Sender:

• Register yourself for mobile banking service with your bank
• Get Mobile Money Identifier (MMID) and MPIN from the bank. For most of the private banks it can easily be generated through your online banking account. I have myself tried the same in HDFC and Citibank and the process is pretty smooth
• Use the SMS facility in your mobile if your bank provides IMPS on SMS or Download Software (Application) for mobile banking (ensure the compatibility of mobile with the application)

Steps for Beneficiary:

• Link your mobile number to the account in the respective bank.
• Get Mobile Money Identifier (MMID) from the bank

For Sender (To send money):

• Login to the application and select the IMPS menu from the IMPS or use the SMS facility in your mobile if your bank provides IMPS on SMS
• Get Beneficiary Mobile number and MMID
• Enter Beneficiary Mobile number, beneficiary MMID, Amount and your MPIN to send
• Await confirmation SMS for the debit in your account and credit in beneficiary account
• Note the transaction reference number for any future query

Some banks such as HDFC bank allow you to send money using IFSC code and account number of the receiver. The same is available through the online net banking account.

Finally, please note that maximum amount you can send to a particular bank account using IMPS service is Rs. 5000/- per day. 

For more details on IMPS please refer the website of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI): http://www.npci.org.in/aboutimps.aspx

 

Filing RTI Application Online - Part 2

In case you are looking for step-by-step procedure of filing online RTI application, please follow my earlier post at this link: http://bit.ly/1eBPTcQ

This post is to provide you further information on RTI applicable once you have successfully submitted an RTI application:

1. The application filed through this Web Portal would reach electronically to the "Nodal Officer" of concerned Ministry/Department, who would transmit the RTI application electronically to the concerned CPIO.  
   
   
   
   2.     In case additional fee is required representing the cost for providing information, the CPIO would intimate the applicant through this portal. This intimation can be seen by the applicant through Status Report or through his/her e-mail alert.
   
   
   3.     For making an appeal to the first Appellate Authority, the applicant has to click at "Submit First Appeal" and fill up the page that will appear.
   
   
   4.     The registration number of original application has to be used for reference.
   
   
   5.     As per RTI Act, no fee has to be paid for first appeal.
   
   
   6.     The applicant/the appellant should submit his/her mobile number to receive SMS alert.
   
   
   7.     Status of the RTI application/first appeal filed online can be seen by the applicant/appellant by clicking at View Status
   
   
   8.     All the requirements for filing an RTI application and first appeal as well as other provisions regarding time limit, exemptions etc., as provided in the RTI Act, 2005 will continue to apply
   
   
   
   
   Further, Indian Citizens can now buy postal orders online to file RTI applications after payment of fee through a postal department website.
   
   
   Reference: https://rtionline.gov.in/guidelines.php?request as on March 23, 2014

Filing RTI Application Online - Part 1

Applications for Right to Information act can be filed online using the web portal https://www.rtionline.gov.in/.

This portal as of today (i.e. 23rd March 2014) can be used to file Right to Information (RTI) applications online in all central government ministries and departments in the national capital.

It is not to be used for filing RTI applications for the public authorities under the State Governments, including Government of NCT Delhi. If filed, the application would be returned, without refund of amount.

Detailed step-by-step guide to filing online RTI application:

1. Open https://rtionline.gov.in in your web browser. There are two options available for filing RTI applications:
a) By registering yourself or
b) Submitting the request directly.

However, in both options, user will be asked to provide his/her email id.

2. Click on the Submit Request link as shown in the below picture:

3. On clicking 'Submit Request' you will be taken to a new page named 'GUIDELINES FOR USE OF RTI ONLINE PORTAL'. Read the instructions given on this page carefully. After that click on the check box that reads ' I have read and understood the above guidelines.' and click 'Submit'

4. This will take you to a new page as shown below. The applicant has to fill the required details on this page. The fields marked * are mandatory while the others are optional.

5. The text of the application may be written at the prescribed column. At present, the text of an application that can be uploaded at the prescribed column is confined to 3000 characters only.

 6.    In case an application contains more than 3000 characters, it can be uploaded as an attachment, by using column "Supporting document".

7.    After filling the first page, the applicant has to click on "Make Payment" to make payment of the prescribed fee.

8.    The applicant can pay the prescribed fee through the following modes:
(a) Internet banking through SBI and its associated banks;
(b) Using credit/debit card of Master/Visa.

9.    Fee for making an application is as prescribed in the RTI Rules, 2012.

10.    After making payment, an application can be submitted.

11.    No RTI fee is required to be paid by any citizen who is below poverty line as per RTI Rules, 2012. However, the applicant must attach a copy of the certificate issued by the appropriate government in this regard, alongwith the application.

12.    On submission of an application, a unique registration number would be issued, which may be referred by the applicant for any references in future.


For further query/feedback related to this portal, users may call 011-24622461, during office hours (9:00 AM to 5:30 PM, Monday to Friday except Public Holidays) or write an email to helprtionline-dopt@nic.in

Apply for Passport Online Uttarakhand Uttaranchal

As the number of international travelers is increasing more and more people are applying for passports. And like most other tasks mentioned in this blog, applying online for passport is very very easy. All you need to do is follow the steps mentioned below:

1. Your application process starts at the website:
http://passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/welcomeLink

2. Click on the New User "Register Now" button shown on the website and create your User Id. Email-Id is mandatory as the registration confirmation mail is sent to your email id.

3. Fill in the required details and click on register.

4.  You will get a confirmation mail in the inbox of your email id that you mentioned while registering. Once registration has been done successfully proceed to Login.

5. After successful Login, select the required service from the following screen:

6. You have two options at this stage. You can either

• Alternate 1: Download the e-form and upload it later
• Alternate 2: Fill the application form online

7.  Once you have submitted your form successfully you need to schedule your appointment using the option highlighted below.

8. Schedule your appointment.

• Schedule an appointment to visit the PSK. Simply select Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) location and proceed by pressing Next button.
• On the next screen verify your details i.e. appointment date and PSK location. If everything is correct Pay and Book Appointment.
• After successful payment, Print the Application Receipt that gets generated.
• Carefully read this receipt. It has some important instructions in it.

 9. Visit the Passport Seva Kendra as per the appointment schedule with necessary documents for further steps.


For more details refer:

• http://passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/welcomeLink
• http://slidesha.re/1dsV1fL

Buy National Savings Certificate (NSC) online using ICICI direct

You can now buy the National Saving Certificates (NSC) online using ICICIdirect.com.

You will need to avail the ICICI Direct Online Demat account facility first for which you need to have an ICICI Bank Savings account. Once you have ICICI Direct Online Demat account facility, you can purchase National Savings Certificates Online without any paperwork.

Step 1: Click on ''Modify Allocation'' after logging into ICICI Direct account 
Step 2: Place order to NSC Online 

You will receive a physical certificate at your home address via courier within a week of applying.
No need to visit the Post Office as the bank does the required work on your behalf.

Some basics information on NSC is as follows:

Investment amount : The minimum investment amount is Rs. 100, while there is no upper limit for investing in NSC
    
Returns & Tenure : National Savings Certificate (NSC) is another assured return scheme of 8% which is compounded half yearly. An investor is required to make a lumpsum investment that matures after 6 years
    
Deductions : The interest income from NSC is paid on maturity; the same is taxable. Interest accrued on NSC is considered to be reinvested; hence, it is eligible for reinvestment under Section 80C.

For more information refer: icicidirect.com

Pay your water bill online Uttaranchal

Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan has started online service for the payment of Electricity Bills.
Currently (as of March 12, 2014) only the residents of following three districts can avail this facility:

Dehradun, Haridwar and Pauri Districs Only

Also, only those who hold a Master Card or a Visa can can avail the service at present.

The payments can be made at following portal:

http://ujsbill.uk.gov.in/

For further steps, please follow the instructions given on the website.

If yours is a new connection and you wish to check the connection status, please use the following link: http://ujsbill.uk.gov.in/Online_Payment/Form_status.aspx

Uttaranchal Transport Corporation Online Bus Booking

Now many people know this but tickets for several long route buses of Uttarakhand Transport Corporation can now be booked in advance online. The facility can be availed at following link:

http://www.utconline.uk.gov.in/

One important catch is that you necessarily need to be a registered user for availing this facility.

Many users directly start searching for the buses and than keep wondering why there is no link for making the reservation.

The catch is that the link for payment and advance reservation is shown only when you are logged in as a registered user.

Wanna know your EPF balance? Now a few clicks away ...

Always wanted to know about your Employee Provident Fund (EPF) balance but didn't know where to check. Well as many other tasks listed on this blog, this information also is easily available on the internet. All you need to do is follow a few simple steps as below:

1. Click on the following link to know the balance in your EPF A/c up to the date:

http://epfoservices.in/epfo/member_balance/member_balance_office_select.php

2. Select your PF Office state from the drop down list e.g. If your office is in Karnataka please select Karnataka from the list

3. Select your EPO Office from the displayed options e.g. for Bangalore City you will Click on "BNG - Bangalore option"

4.  On following the above steps you will be taken to Member Balance Information Page as below:

Establishment code is part of your PF A/c number and it is a 5 digit code.  

e.g. If your PF Account number as per your payslip is KN/49878/997 then establishment code of your PF account is 49878. The establishment code is to be filled in third box i.e. the one after BNG in above picture. Here 997 is the account number which is to be filled in last box in first row. the middle row is to be filled with "EPFO  Extension - Maximum 3 Characters / Can be left blank in case no extension".

The mobile number is of 10 digits. Once you submit the information correctly and successfully the balance information is sent to you via SMS on the mobile number filled in the above form.

For more details refer http://www.epfindia.com/.

Online Money Transfer to PPF Account for Tax Saving

There is a good news for the consumers who don't like to visit their bank branches for small small things like money transfers and similar other services.

Until recently money transfers to PPF Accounts could only be done by physically visiting the bank branch and manually depositing the money at the cash counter. However, following banks have now opened up online money transfer service to PPF accounts: SBI, ICICI Bank and IDBI Bank

Hence, if you own a PPF account with any of SBI, ICICI Bank and IDBI Bank you can deposit money using internet banking service from any of your savings bank account. 

The service is not available, however, in case you have opened up your PPF account in Post Office. 

The procedure of transfer is simple. You can add your PPF account details as a beneficiary by mentioning the account type as 'Savings Account'. Once active, you can easily transfer money using NEFT service.

For claiming the tax you can take a printout of online transaction or else provide the bank statement of the PPF Account as a proof. However, the same may vary from company to company.