Universal Account Number (UAN)

EPFO has started UAN keeping following objectives in mind:

• The foremost objective is to centralise all the employee data
• UAN is also aimed to reduce the dependency on the employer for employee verification.
• Till date, the EPFO verifies the identity of the employee as per the data received by the employer.
• With UAN, bank details and KYC details of the member gets linked such that the employee’s details can be created and verified easily.

Here are some of the benefits of UAN for both employees and employers: 

• The UAN helps the EPFO in tracking the change in job of the employee.
• When the employee changes his job, he has to link the new PF account to the UAN and hence the EPFO will update the same in its records.
• UAN facilities can be accessed online making withdrawals and transfers easy when one changes his job.
  UAN also ensures that all PF accounts of the employee are genuine.

• Employees get to collate all PF accounts in a single unified account through a UAN
• Through UAN, employees can withdraw their PFs online.
• The UAN has made transferring funds from previous organisation to a new one easier.
• The UAN provides an online portal to employees for checking their PF anytime.
• EPF passbook can also be accessed by sending an SMS EPFOHO UAN ENG to 7738299899 from the mobile number registered with the EPFO.
• The UAN is a unique number given to all employees that is independent of employers.
• The employer can authenticate an employee through his UAN if KYC and Aadhaar documents are verified.
• As the UAN provides online facility to the employee, the employer will not be able to deduct or hold back his PF.
• The employee can check the deposit of the PF by the employer every month by registering on the EPF Member Portal using his UAN.

• Less Employer Involvement in withdrawals of PF: Previously, for any withdrawal of PF, the employer had to sign the form and then hand it over to the EPFO. With UAN, the employer involvement has been reduced as the PF of old organization will be transferred to the new PF account after KYC verification is complete.
• Fund Transfer Not Required: The transfer of funds from one employer to another was very tedious and lengthy task prior introduction of UAN. But now, the employee needs to give his UAN details and KYC to the new employer and the old PF is transferred to the new PF account once the verification is done.
• Easily Managed by SMS alerts: Employees receive SMS whenever a contribution is made by the employer/employee on registering at the UAN portal. One can also download the EPF passbook from the EPF portal and get the total balance in his account.
• Increased Effectiveness of Pension Scheme for Employees: Earlier, employees preferred withdrawing their PF while switching jobs as withdrawal was much easier than transfer. But if the PF was withdrawn, the EPS amount was also withdrawn thus affecting the amount of total pension one would receive at retirement. But with UAN, the PF and thereby EPS (Employee Pension Scheme) will also get transferred and lead to accumulation of more pension for the employee at the time of retirement.

EPF is the specific amount that is deducted from one’s salary and deposited in the PF account on one’s behalf every month. In the private sector, the same amount is paid by the organization as deducted from employees’ salary. And at the time of leaving the organization, the PF money can be withdrawn or transferred. Thus PF is like a monthly savings which when the employee retires, gets it as a lump sum amount. Given below are some special advantages of PF:

• EPS – Provident funds comprise of two elements – the EPF (Employee Provided Fund) and EPS (Employee Pension Scheme). EPS was added in 1995 after which a member is also entitled for pensions.
• Special needs taken care of by EPF – In case of special needs or emergency, one can withdraw some amount from the corpus but there is limit associated to it. This is beneficial durinr g times of need.
• Medical Urgency – In case of a medical urgency, one can withdraw the amount from the PF account and take care of the huge medical expenses.
• Personal Requirements – If you have personal needs such as education or marriage in family, then you can withdraw 50% of your EPF corpus.
• If there is no group insurance in the company where you work, then the insurance of the employee will be taken care of under Employee Deposit Link Insurance (EDLI).

When the employee switches his company, he can either withdraw or transfer his funds. But since the whole process was so tedious, usually people didn’t utilise their PF. After the launch of UAN, the task has been made easier in the following ways:-

• You can link your all PF accounts together with your UAN.
• You need to give your UAN to the employer and you can manage your account online after the KYC verification.

• You get a monthly update on your mobile on deposits made by the employer in the PF account.
• Employer’s intervention is less if PF account is linked to UAN.
• As UAN eases the linking of all PF accounts so the withdrawal is less.

The UAN can be very helpful in many ways in managing your PF account. Below are the benefits of the UAN:-

• The UAN is handy or portable throughout an employee’s career. By just giving your UAN and PF account details to various employers, you are good to go, as all old accounts are linked to single UAN.
• You can download UAN card by registering at the EPFO member portal.
• The scanned KYC documents can be uploaded by Employee on the portal and the employer can verify it.
• The UAN also helps in monitoring the claim transfer on EPFO portal.
• Using UAN, one can check the PF balance by downloading the passbook from EPFO member portal.
• The UAN provides hassle-free maintenance of PF account as withdrawal is not required due to universal linking of PF accounts.

Few simple steps are to be followed for getting the UAN which includes:-

a) A unique PF number will be provided to the employer by the EPFO.
b) The employee who contributes PF will have to be included in UAN by the employer with new member ID.
c) Employees are expected to submit their KYC documents such as address proof and id proof.  These documents include:

Proof of address– Aadhaar, Driving License, Passport, Voter ID card or Ration card.
Proof of identify– Aadhaar, Passport, PAN Card or any other government approved ID.
Details of the bank – Account number and IFSC code.

d) The employer has to take the responsibility of the KYC documents to be verified after which the new ID will be linked with the employee’s UAN.
e) After the new id is linked to the UAN, the employee has to register on the EPF Member Portal. Mentioned below are mandatory details required to activate the UAN:

• Contact number
• New member ID given by the new employer.
• The UAN given by the new employer will act as the user id for all future logins on the web portal.f) After completing and filling all the details, OTP (One Time Password) will be sent to the registered mobile number.
  g) After entering the OTP other details like DOB (Date of Birth) and Husband’s/Father’s name have to be submitted.
  h) Create a new password to complete the registration process.

Online UAN Allotment Process

Here are some important things to keep in mind while looking for EPF online using UAN:

• The UAN is given to all the PF account holders by the EPFO
• The details of UAN have to be downloaded and given to the employer
• This UAN is further passed on to the concerned employee of the organization.
• The EPFO web portals help in checking the UAN allotment.

Registering the UAN

Few simple steps have to be followed while registering for UAN:

1. After the employee receives the UAN, he needs to visit the EPF Member Portal.
2. Activate the UAN by clicking “Activate UAN”
3. Provide information about your UAN, member id, mobile number, Aadhaar, PAN, name, date of birth and e-mail id
4. Click on “Get Authorization PIN”
5. After the details are submitted, the PIN is sent on the mobile number
6. Enter this PIN to verify your request.
7. Create login id and password for the UAN portal.
8. The username is UAN whereas one can set his own password.

The EPF Member Portal

After logging in using the UAN and password, one can do the following things:-

–Download passbook and UAN card.
–See the member’s ids and PF linking status.
-View status of transferred claim; file claim and check system generated transfer claims.
–Edit your email ids and mobile number.
–Update the KYC documents and also upload them.
–View the helpdesk contact numbers.

Transferring PF accounts online-

Previously, on changing the job, the transfer of EPF account and amount was a confusing and tiresome process. It used to take more than a month to do so in most cases. And for doing this, the employer had to verify the account of the employee which gave the employer an upper hand on the employee. With the introduction of UAN, the employee can easily link all EPF accounts at the EPFO portal.

In order to link all the EPF accounts, following things need to be done:

• The employer need to get the digital signature certificate registered on EPFO of the employees
• These signatures are required for processing and transferring claim online
• All the present and old EPF member ids should be available with the EPFO databas

The transfer of PF account using the UAN is mentioned below:

• Check the PF eligibility and ensure all the present and previous employers’ records are present online at EPFO
• Upload the digital signature online
• In order to file a transfer online, you have to register yourself on the EPFO portal.
• After logging into the EPF member portal, select the option to transfer your account.
• The second part of the form contains the details of the current PF account in which the previous account has to be transferred.
• This part is auto-filled as the first part of the form
• The third part of the form contains the details of the previous account
• Select the attesting authority and member ID/UAN
• Now click on the “Get OTP” button
• An OTP will be sent to your registered mobile number
• Enter this OTP to continue
• Your form will be submitted and you will get a tracking ID to track the status of account transfer
• You can take the print out of the transfer form or form 13 and submit it to the current employer.
• The rest of the process can be checked online through the portal.

1. What will happen to UAN in case of change in job?

When you change the job, you need to give the UAN to the new employer. The employer links the new PF account to it. The UAN remains same throughout employee’s career.

2. What information does the UAN card hold?

The UAN card contains the information about the universal account number and the KYC details (if verified by employer) on the front. The back side of the card has the recent five digit member id and EPFO helpdesk contact numbers.

3. How to transfer old EPF accounts and connect them to UAN?

Once the current EPF account is linked then you can link all the old EPF accounts online and check status of transfer requests as well.

4. If two UANs’ get allotted?

In this case, the employee has to inform the EPFO helpdesk immediately. After all the necessary verifications, the old UAN gets blocked.

5. What can be done if wrong information is mentioned on your EPF card?

If you want to change your father’s name, your name or DOB, it can be done by presenting valid documents to the current employer. Also, the same can be communicated to the EPFO helpdesk to get necessary changes done on the UAN card.