What is UAN?
The UAN or the Universal Account
number is a 12 digit unique number allotted to each member of Employee
Provident Fund (EPF) which helps him to control all his EPF accounts. The UAN
will be associated with an employee and will connect all his PF (Provident
Fund) accounts across organizations. This number is issued by the Ministry of
Labour and Employment, Government of India. If an individual changes his job,
he will get a new PF account with the organization. This way, multiple PF
account numbers will be allotted to an employee. Multiple PF account numbers is
an area of concern as many employees report grievances related to transfer and
withdrawal of PF amount. To counter this problem and to make the management of
provident fund accounts easier, the concept of UAN was introduced The UAN is a
single account number that will connect the multiple IDs associated with an
employer. With UAN, an employee can connect all his EPFO accounts to make the
process of PF withdrawal and transfer more easy.
Features and Benefits of UAN
The main objection of UAN is to
support the centralization of employee data and decreasing the dependency of
Employee Provident Fund Organization on employers for the purpose of employee
verification. At present, the identity of members is verified by the EPFO
through the data obtained by employers. With the introduction of UAN, the bank
account details of the member and KYC details are linked in a way that the
employee’s identity is verified and established.
The UAN will also assist EPFO in
tracking the job changes of every employee. If an individual changes his job,
he will have to give the UAN number to his employer to link the new PF account.
In this way, EPFO will have updated information on where a person is employed
at any time. Also, UAN will stop people from making unnecessary EPF withdrawals
when they switch jobs.
The main benefits of UAN is as
follows.
·
Employees can connect all their
PF accounts to one single unified account.
·
Employees can withdraw their PF
online by using the UAN.
·
Transferring the PF amount from
old account to a new account is also made easy with the UAN.
·
Employees can check their EPF
balance instantly using the UAN member portal online. Also, by sending an SMS
with UAN number, the employee can get to know the PF balance.
·
UAN is an identification number
that is independent of employers. There will be any need for the employer to
authenticate your profile if your UAN is Aadhaar and KYC verified.
·
UAN will help the employees to
manage their PF accounts online and this would mean that any employer will not
be able to hold back the PF amount of any employee.
·
Employees would be able to track
if the company is depositing the PF every month or if the company is delaying
the PF contribution just by registering on the UAN portal.
Advantages of UAN to Employees
Employees who have linked
together all their PF accounts with UAN will get the following benefits.
·
No Involvement of Employer in PF
Withdrawals
Currently,
any request for PF withdrawal has to pass through your previous employer, has
to be signed and then forwarded to the EPFO. With the UAN, the employer
intervention is reduced. The PF money in your previous account will be
automatically transferred to the new PF account after the KYC verification is
complete.
·
No need to Transfer Funds
Transferring
the PF amount from one employer account to other used to be a lengthy, tedious
process. With the advent of UAN, there will be no need to transfer funds at
all. To change the accounts, all you have to do is mention the KYC and UAN
details to the new employer. Once these details are verified by your new
employer, the PF amount from the old account will be transferred to the new
account automatically. For old PF accounts which were opened before the UAN
allotment, the transfer is still done through either digital or physical form.
·
SMS Alerts for Easy Management
By
registering on the EPF portal, employee’s will receive SMS alerts from the EPFO
when a contribution is made either by the employer or the employee. The alerts
will be very similar to those you get on your phone every time your bank
savings account is debited or credited. By downloading the PF passbook from the
EPF portal by mentioning the UAN, you can also check your total balance.
·
Enhanced Effectiveness of
Employee Pension Scheme
Many
employees preferred to withdraw their PF amount from one account while
switching jobs because withdrawal was easier than PF transfer. But, an
important point to remember is when the PF money is withdrawn, the fund
contributed towards Employee Pension Scheme is also withdrawn. This greatly
impacts the pension that you will receive after retirement. With UAN, the EPF
account and under that, the EPS is also transferred automatically. Instead of
withdrawing, transferring EPF money will directly result in greater pension
money after retirement.
What is PF and how will UAN benefit PF Account Holders?
The PF or Provident Fund is an
amount which is deducted from your salary each month and deposited in your PF
account on your behalf. For employees of private companies, the organization
will pay the same amount as it is debited from your salary. When you leave the
organization, you will be able to withdraw or transfer your PF account money.
In a way, PF is like a personal savings that you make every month. In case you
retire, you will be able to get a lump sum amount. Here are some of the special
benefits that come with Provident Fund.
·
Employee Pension Scheme
There
are basically two elements to your PF, EPF which is the Employee Provident Fund
and EPS which is the Employee Pension Scheme which was introduced first in
1995. Hence, your PF entitles for pension too.
·
EPF for help at Special Occasions
In
case of an emergency or special occasions where you are in need of some money.
you can withdraw the EPF corpus but with a certain limit and by satisfying some
specified conditions.
·
Medical Emergency
For
unexpected medical emergencies where a lump sum is required, PF amount can be
withdrawn and used for medical treatments like surgery, chemotherapy etc.
·
Personal Goals
If
you have to arrange funds for personal events like education for self of
children, marriage or education for siblings, you can withdraw up to 50% of
your contribution from the EPF corpus fund.
·
Insurance Benefits
In
any company where the group insurance scheme is not available to the employees,
insurance benefits will be provided through EDLI (Employee Deposit Linked
Insurance) scheme.
When you switch from one company
to the other, you can either choose to transfer your your PF account or
withdraw the money. But, because it is a tedious and time consuming process,
many employees leave their previous PF accounts untouched. This way, an
employee has to face the hassles of managing a number of PF accounts. With UAN,
this whole scenario changes. The following benefits that come with UAN will
help you in managing your PF accounts better.
·
With an UAN, you will be able to
link all your PF accounts together.
·
All you have to do to bring your
PF accounts together is give your UAN to current employer. After KYC verification,
you will be able to view and manage all accounts.
·
You will get notifications on
your mobile every time your employer makes a monthly deposit in your PF
account. This way you can ensure that there are no lags and delays in the PF
payment.
·
Your employer will have less
control over your PF accounts if you link it through the UAN.
·
You can easily transfer and
withdraw the PF amount online without any hassles.
·
Because employees can transfer PF
accounts without any problems, the closing of PF accounts in case of a job
change will reduce. This means all employees who still operate their old PF
accounts will get a lump sum on retirement when money is needed the most.
What can I do with an UAN Number?
With UAN number, you can do a
variety of things which will help you in managing your PF account better. Here
are some things that you can do with your UAN number.
·
The UAN number is portable
throughout your career. You just have to provide it to your new employer, in
case you shift jobs, to get your old PF accounts linked together with UAN.
·
You can download the UAN card by
providing your UAN number on the EPFO web portal.
·
The scanned copies of KYC
documents of the employee can be uploaded online and can be verified by the
employer.
·
You can check transfer claims on
EPFO web portal by mentioning your UAN.
·
With UAN number, all PF accounts
can check their balance instantly by downloading the EPF passbook provided
online.
·
All your previous PF member IDs
can be uploaded online using the UAN.
·
With UAN, transferring funds from
previous PF account to new account has been made completely hassle-free. After
KYC verification, the PF amount will be automatically given to the new
employer.
·
The easy process of transferring
PF accounts will encourage people to maintain their PF accounts and not
withdraw the money. This means the account holder will get higher pension after
retirement when the need for money arises.
How to get UAN?
At present, the UAN allotment is
done only for those employees in service from 1st January 2014 to 30th June
2014. In this process, 41.7 million subscribers have got their UAN number for
this period. Getting the UAN number is very simple, all you have to do is
follow the easy steps described below.
·
EPFO will provide unique PF
number to all employers.
·
The employer will have to include
the UAN for employees who contribute to PF with the new member ID.
·
Employees have to submit KYC
documents including ID proof and address proof. The following documents will
have to be provided.
·
Identity Proof - PAN card,
Aadhaar or Passport
·
Bank account details including
account number and the bank IFSC code
·
Address Proof - Ration Card,
Driving license, passport or voter ID
·
The employer will have to take up
the responsibility of verifying the KYC documents submitted by the employee.
The new member ID will then be linked to UAN by the employer.
·
After KYC verification is
complete, the employees will have to register themselves on the UAN website.
Activate UAN Based registration must be selected and the following mandatory
details have to be entered.
·
Mobile number
·
Member ID provided by the new
employer
·
UAN number offered by the
employer. The user ID will be your UAN for all future logins on the web
portals.
·
Once the mandatory details are all
submitted, an OTP PIN will be sent to your mobile.
·
After entering the OTP PIN, you
will have to enter the following details.
·
Date of birth
·
Father/husband name and other
details
·
You will be asked to submit a new
password. After this, the registration is complete and you will be able to view
your updated EPF passbook.
EPF Online Process
Here are some of the things that
you must know about viewing your EPF account online using the UAN.
How do I get my UAN?
UAN was provided to every PF
account member by EPFO after converting the existing PF account numbers of
individuals who have contributed through electronic challan cum return in EPFO
during the period of January 2014 to June 2014. The UAN details and allotted
number was offered to the employers which they have to download and convey to
the concerned employees of the organization. To check if an UAN is allotted to
you, you can visit the EPFO web portal.
EPFO Mobile App
You will have to activate your
UAN through the website or mobile app which was launched in mid 2015. The
mobile app will also give you the flexibility to manage your PF accounts from
handheld devices.
Registering UAN
Follow the steps given below to
easily register your UAN online.
·
After receiving the UAN from the
employer, log on to the official website of EPFO services where you can
activate your UAN. Select “Activate UAN based registration” and provide details
about your UAN, member ID and mobile number.
·
After you have submitted the
details, you will receive a PIN for authorization on your mobile. After you
have entered the PIN, the screen will allow you to create a login and a
password using which you can access the facilities in UAN portal.
·
The user name will always be your
UAN while you can select your password.
UAN Login
You can log on to the EPF
official website using your username as UAN and password. After logging in, you
will be able to do the following.
·
Download the UAN card and
passbook
·
View PF linking status and list
all member IDs
·
View transfer claim status, file
transfer claim and system generated transfer claim status
·
Edit personal details including
mobile number and email id
·
Update KYC information and upload
KYC documents
·
View helpdesk contacts
How to transfer PF accounts online with UAN on EPFO Portal?
Every PF account holder, on job
change, had to change their EPF account which was a very confusing and time
consuming process. The whole process of PF transfer involved transferring money
from old to new account and would take more than a month. The process also
involved verification of the account holder by the employer through EPF system
which gave the employer a considerable control over handling PF accounts of
employees.
After the introduction of UAN,
employees who have an allotted UAN can log on to the EPFO portal and transfer
the PF accounts easily. In order to transfer the EPF account online, you must
have the following.
·
The employers must have
registered the digital signature certificates of employees with EPFO since they
will have to verify the transfer claim papers online by signing it off
digitally.
·
The present and previous PF
account number, member IDs must be available in the EPFO database.
The process for filing PF account
transfer online using UAN is as described below.
·
Check your eligibility for filing
a PF account transfer online - your present and previous employers’ data must
be available in the EPFO database. Your employer must register for digital
signatures of EPFO.
·
To file a transfer of PF account,
you must have been registered on the EPFO portal.
·
Log on to OTCP website using same
details as EPF member portal. You will be asked to select the document type and
enter details like document number and mobile number.
·
In the menu bar, select Request
for claim under claims. Fill all necessary information in Part A - name, bank
account number, email id and IFSC code of the bank.
·
Fill the necessary details in
Part B regarding the PF account held with previous employer. You have to enter
details like the name and address of establishment, PF account held and after
that, the member’s name will appear on the screen if available in the EPFO
database.
·
The details available in the EPFO
database will be automatically filled up and you will not be able to edit the
information. If the details are not available, you will have to enter it
manually.
·
EPFO will check your date of
birth against the information in their database. If you have entered the wrong
date of birth, you will be blocked after three unsuccessful attempts. You will
then have to take the transfer process offline.
·
In part C of the form, you will
be required to fill in the details pertaining to your current employer. The
information entered will be cross checked against the EPFO database records.
·
Select the employer who will get
your claim attested. You can select either the previous employer or the present
employer.
·
You can view the application by
clicking on “Preview” and also change the data if you want to. You will have to
click on the “Get PIN” and agree to the declaration statements. The PIN will be
sent to your registered mobile number and you will have to enter it back.
·
A printable transfer claim form
will be downloaded. You can take a copy of the form 13 and present it to the
employer to complete the claim submission.
·
You will also be able to check
the status of transfer through member portal account.
FAQs
1. What Happens to UAN in case of Job Change?
If
UAN is already allotted to the employee and if the employee shifts to another
organization, all he has to do is just provide the UAN on joining and the
employer will mark the new member ID which can be linked to the already
allotted UAN. The UAN will remain same throughout a person’s career.
2. What is an UAN card and what information does it contain?
UAN
card contains information about UAN number and other necessary information. The
front side of the card displays photo and KYC (in case the KYC documents are
verified by the employer). The backside of the card has the latest five member
IDs along with contact details of EPF helpdesk.
3. How do I transfer the old PF accounts and connect it with my UAN?
After
your UAN is linked to the new EPF account, you will have to transfer the
previous accounts. You can transfer your PF accounts online and also check the
transfer status.
4. I have been allotted two UANs? How do I get a number validated?
In
some cases, you might be allotted two UANs because of confusions during UAN
submission to previous and current employer. If that happens, you will have to
contact the EPF helpdesk immediately and mention both your UANs and after due
verification, previous UAN will be blocked and the current UAN will be
activated.
5. What do I do if my date of birth has not been mentioned correctly in the EPF card?
In
case you wish to change your date of birth, father’s name or your name, you can
apply with supporting documents through your organization. Also, you can
contact the EPF helpdesk for more information regarding change of personal
details in the UAN card.
EmoticonEmoticon