PF Challan Payment: Due Date, How to Pay and 7Q/14B Penalty

The PF challan is the last step of the monthly PF cycle: the return says what is due, and the challan is how it is paid. This guide covers what a PF challan is, the due date and the months ahead, how to generate and pay a challan on the revamped portal, how to read each account on it (including A/c 2 and "C-10"), how to check, download or cancel a challan, and exactly what late payment costs under sections 7Q and 14B, with a worked example. Preparing and uploading the return itself is covered in our PF ECR filing guide.

What is a PF challan?

A PF challan (also called an EPFO challan or ECR challan) is the payment document for an establishment's provident fund dues. It is not filled in by hand any more. Since EPFO's revamped system took effect from the wage month of September 2025, the return and the payment are separate steps: you upload and approve the ECR return first, and only then does the portal let you generate a challan from it (EPFO: Revamped ECR).

Each challan has a TRRN, the Temporary Return Reference Number, which links the payment to the return. The challan shows the amount due under each EPFO account, and once paid, the receipt is your proof of payment for audits, inspections and the income-tax deduction.

What is the PF due date?

The employer must pay both the employee's and the employer's contributions, with administration charges, within 15 days of the close of each month, which in practice means by the 15th. That rule continues in the EPF Scheme, 2026, which replaced the 1952 Scheme from 29 June 2026. The monthly return is due on the same date, and the 2026 Scheme adds a late fee of ₹500 a day for any return filed late (Khaitan & Co ERGO, July 2026); commentators note the fee is subject to a cap prescribed in the Scheme.

Three points catch employers out:

• No grace period. The Scheme gives none, and a due date on a Sunday or holiday does not move automatically. Online payment works on holidays, so pay by the 15th; EPFO occasionally extends a particular month by circular (it moved the September 2026 due date to 31 October, for that month only), but plan around the 15th until a circular is issued.
• Payment date, not challan date, counts. A challan generated on the 14th but paid on the 16th is a late payment.
• Wage month, not payment month. March wages are due by 15 April even if salaries were paid on 1 April. ESI contributions share the same 15th date (see our ESI guide), and the full calendar is in our payroll compliance checklist.

How to get a PF challan on the EPFO portal

You cannot generate a challan without an approved return for the wage month. Once the ECR is approved, the revamped portal shows a Due Deposit Balance Summary with the return, an account-wise summary and a 7Q/14B summary of any interest and damages, as set out in EPFO's revamped ECR user manual. From there:

1. Log in to the EPFO unified employer portal with the establishment's credentials and open the return filing section for the wage month.
2. Choose the payment type: Full Payment for the whole approved return; Part Payment if you are paying selected members through a contribution file; or separate options to pay only administration or inspection charges, or only 7Q/14B charges.
3. Check the account-wise amounts (dues, already paid and balance) against your payroll register.
4. Prepare and finalise the challan. The portal generates it with a unique TRRN and lists it under In Process Challans.
5. Pay or cancel. Each in-process challan has a Pay and a Cancel option. Choose Pay to move to the payment page.

Challans generated under the old system but never paid are not valid under the revamped system; generate them again through the new workflow.

How to do PF challan payment online

On the challan payment page, select your bank from the list, tick interest (7Q) and damages (14B) if they apply, and click Make Payment. You are taken to the bank's internet banking to authorise the debit, then returned to the portal with a payment confirmation. Online payment has been compulsory for all establishments since 2015.

EPFO has had 32 empanelled banks since April 2025, including SBI, PNB, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank. Paying through one of them credits EPFO directly. If your bank is not empanelled, you can still pay through the aggregator route, but the money takes about two working days (T+2) to reach EPFO, so pay a couple of days before the 15th.

Before you pay, check two things. First, several challans can exist for one month (for example for a regular and a supplementary return), so make sure you are not paying the same members twice. Second, pay from the establishment's own bank account, so the payment matches the company's books and the tax deduction is easy to support.

How to read a PF challan

A challan splits the amount into EPFO's accounts. Here is the challan for the three-employee October 2026 example in our ECR guide (total PF wages ₹65,000, all members in EPS, ₹25,000 wage ceiling):

A/c 2 (administration charges) is 0.50% of the total wages on which contributions are payable, from 1 June 2018, with a minimum of ₹500 a month per establishment, or ₹75 for an establishment with no contributing members, as currently published by EPFO (EPFO contribution rates). Here 0.50% of ₹65,000 is ₹325, so the ₹500 minimum applies. Administration charges, EDLI and the employer's share are employer costs and must never be deducted from wages.

"C-10" is not a label EPFO uses; it almost always means A/c 10, the pension column. A/c 10 is empty for members who are not in the pension scheme, in which case the employer's full share goes to A/c 1. The challan also shows the TRRN, the establishment code and name, the wage month and the number of members, and, after payment, the bank's transaction reference and date.

How to check PF challan status and download a copy

• Employer: the View/Pay Challan option on the portal lists in-process and recent challans, and the payment history shows each challan by TRRN with its status and receipt. Download and file the receipt with the month's payroll.
• If the bank debited but the portal shows unpaid: keep the bank reference and check again after the settlement time; aggregator payments take longer. Raise it with your bank and the EPFO regional office before the due date if possible.
• Employee: your passbook on the EPFO member portal or the UMANG app shows each month's contribution once EPFO posts it. A missing month usually means the employer has not filed or paid for it.

The EPF interest rate was 8.25% for both 2024-25 and 2025-26; the government ratified the 2025-26 rate in June 2026, after which EPFO starts crediting it to members' accounts. Annual interest is credited by EPFO; it does not depend on the employer's monthly challan, except that months the employer never paid earn nothing until the arrears are deposited.

How to cancel a PF challan

An unpaid challan can be cancelled from the In Process Challans list and a new one generated, which is the right course if the amount, members or return type is wrong. A paid challan cannot be cancelled. Mistakes after payment are fixed through the return: a supplementary return for members left out, or a revised return to correct wages and contributions (an upward revision is generally allowed after payment; a downward one only if that member's payment has not been made). Anything else, such as a payment credited to the wrong establishment, goes to your EPFO regional office. The ECR guide explains the three return types.

What happens if PF is paid after the due date (7Q and 14B)

A late PF payment costs two separate amounts on top of the contributions. Many people call both of them "penalty", but the law treats them differently.

Interest: section 7Q, now section 127

Section 7Q of the old EPF Act is now section 127 of the Code on Social Security, 2020. The Labour Ministry has fixed the rate at 12% a year, simple, from the date the amount became due to the date of actual payment (S.O. 2698(E), 29 May 2026). Interest is compensation to the fund, not a penalty, and it is generally not waived: even EPFO's VISHWAS settlement scheme requires interest to be cleared first.

Damages: section 14B, now section 128

Section 14B is now section 128 of the Code. Damages are a penalty, may not exceed the amount of the arrears, and can be levied only after the employer has had an opportunity to be heard (Code on Social Security, 2020). The rate depends on when the default happened:

The 2026 rates are reported by law firms reviewing the new Scheme, and the Scheme itself sets the VISHWAS rate by reference to its paragraph 23(1). In practice, the revamped portal shows interest and damages in the 7Q/14B summary after the return is approved, and you can pay them through a separate challan.

Worked example: what a late PF payment costs

Take the ₹16,425 October 2026 challan above, due on 15 November 2026. Interest is calculated on the days of delay; damages use the monthly rate for the length of the delay. These are illustrative figures; EPFO's computation on the portal is final.

The pattern matters more than the rupees: damages jump from 0.25% to 0.50% a month at two months, and to 1% a month at four, and, on the reading used here, the 1% rate applies to every month of a long delay. A default that runs for a year costs roughly 12% of the arrears in damages plus 12% interest.

VISHWAS, 2026 for old damages disputes

For delays in payment before 14 June 2024 where damages are pending before a court or tribunal, ordered but not fully recovered, at notice stage, or recorded but not yet noticed, EPFO's one-time VISHWAS, 2026 scheme recalculates damages at 0.25%, 0.50% or 1% a month. Interest must be cleared first, and pending proceedings and appeals on those damages close once the settlement is paid. It runs from 29 June 2026 until 28 December 2026, and the Labour Ministry has said it will not be extended (TeamLease RegTech summary of the EPFO notice).

Prosecution when the employee's share is withheld

Not paying contributions is also an offence under section 133 of the Code. Where the employer has deducted the employee's share from wages and not deposited it, the punishment is imprisonment of one to three years and a fine of ₹1 lakh, and repeat offences carry heavier penalties. Deducting the employer's share from an employee's wages is a separate offence.

Income-tax effect of late PF payment

Under the Income-tax Act, 2025, the employer's contribution is deductible in the year it accrues if it is paid by the due date of the return of income, and otherwise only in the year of payment (section 37, earlier 43B). The employees' contributions deducted from salary are allowed from tax year 2026-27 if they are credited by the return due date (section 29(1)(e)). Interest and damages are shown separately in the books; see our payroll accounting guide for the entries, and take advice on whether damages are deductible in your case.

Monthly PF challan checklist

• Close payroll and reconcile PF wages with the register before the 10th.
• File and approve the ECR, then generate the challan with its TRRN.
• Check the account totals: A/c 1, 2, 10, 21 and 22, and the ₹500 administration minimum.
• Pay from the establishment's account by the 15th, two days earlier if your bank uses the aggregator route.
• Download the receipt and file it with the payroll records and the accounting entry.
• If a payment is late, pay the interest and damages promptly through the 7Q/14B option rather than waiting for a notice.

Related reading: EPF in payroll · PF ECR filing · ₹25,000 PF wage ceiling · PF deduction from salary · PF calculator

Frequently asked questions

What is a PF challan?

A PF challan is the payment slip for an employer's monthly provident fund dues. On EPFO's employer portal it is generated from an approved ECR return, carries a TRRN (Temporary Return Reference Number), and shows the amount due under each PF account: EPF, pension, EDLI and administration charges. The employer pays it online, and the payment receipt is the proof that the dues reached EPFO.

How do I cancel a PF challan?

An unpaid challan appears in the In Process Challans list on the employer portal with two options, Pay and Cancel; choose Cancel and generate a fresh challan if needed. A challan that has already been paid cannot be cancelled. If the amount paid was wrong, the correction is made through a revised return, and any other problem with a paid challan is taken up with your EPFO regional office.

What is AC 2 in a PF challan?

A/c 2 is EPFO's administration charges account. The employer pays 0.50% of the total wages on which PF contributions are payable, subject to a minimum of ₹500 a month per establishment, or ₹75 a month for an establishment with no contributing members. It is an employer cost and is never deducted from employees.

What is C-10 in a PF challan?

EPFO's own screens do not use a field called C-10. The term usually refers to A/c 10, the pension (EPS) account, which receives 8.33% of each eligible member's pension wages out of the employer's 12% share. Members who are not in the pension scheme have nothing in A/c 10, and the employer's full share goes to A/c 1 instead.

What happens if PF is paid after the due date?

Two separate amounts become payable. Interest under section 127 of the Code on Social Security, earlier section 7Q, is 12% a year simple from the due date to the date of payment. Damages under section 128, earlier section 14B, are a penalty: under the EPF Scheme, 2026 they are 0.25% of the arrears a month for a delay under two months, 0.50% a month for two to under four months, and 1% a month for four months or more. If the employee's share was deducted from wages and not deposited, prosecution is also possible.

Is there a grace period if the 15th is a holiday?

No grace period is written into the EPF Scheme, and EPFO does not automatically move the due date to the next working day. Online payment works on holidays, so pay by the 15th, or earlier if your bank pays through the aggregator route, which can take two days to reach EPFO. EPFO sometimes extends a particular month's due date by circular; rely on that only once the circular is issued.

Position as of 14 November 2026. Based on the EPF Scheme, 2026 (in force 29 June 2026) as summarised by Khaitan & Co and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, the Code on Social Security, 2020 (sections 127, 128 and 133), S.O. 2698(E) of 29 May 2026 on interest, EPFO's revamped ECR page and user manual, EPFO contribution rates, and VISHWAS, 2026 as reported from EPFO's notice. Portal menus change from time to time. General information, not legal or tax advice.