The Universal Account Number is a unique 12-digit number allotted to every member of the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). This number is directly issued by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Government of India and is constant for every individual employee until his/her retirement.
In our previous articles on Employee Provident Fund (EPF), we have briefly mentioned the Universal Account Number(UAN), a number allotted by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to all the registered salaried employees linked to the EPF account of the employee.
However, we will be covering the Universal Account Number in more depth, with details pertaining to its registration, its activation, and its benefits in this article.
What is the Universal Account Number?
The Universal Account Number is a unique 12-digit number allotted to every member of the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). This number is directly issued by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Government of India, and is constant for every individual employee until his/her retirement, even if the employee changes companies.
Therefore, the UAN will help account for your total EPF contributions under all your past employers under one umbrella, making it extremely accessible and convenient for many employees across the country. You can even transfer or withdraw funds from your account comfortably, just by linking all your PFs (Employee Provident Fund, Voluntary Provident Fund, Public Provident Fund, etc) through a single account. Although it used to be difficult to keep track of all your PF-related activities (like withdrawals, contributions, payout issues, etc), the Universal Account Number has made it a more streamlined process for employees by assembling all the provident fund accounts in one place, to easily access, withdraw and transfer funds from a single platform.
How do I get my Universal Account Number?
Broadly speaking, there are two methods to receive your Universal Account Number. You can either do this by contacting your employer or through the UAN portal.
a. By contacting your employer
All employees from the Employee Provident Fund Organisation are allotted this Universal Account Number by their employer, some of them even mentioning this number in salary slips. If you are still unaware of the number, ask your employer directly for your UAN.
b. Through the UAN Portal
If you are unable to receive your Universal Account Number from your employer, you can also get it through the UAN portal specifically designed for this purpose. For that, follow the given steps:-
Step 1: Check out the UAN Portal. Proceed to click the ‘Know your UAN Status’ tab that is highlighted on the bottom right corner.
Step 2: From the dropdown menu, select your state along with the respective EPFO office and proceed to enter your PF number or member ID. You’ll also be required to enter your name, date of birth, mobile number, and the given captcha.
Step 3: Enter the ‘Get Authorization Pin’ tab.
Step 4: You will receive a PIN on your registered mobile number, which you are required to enter in the website and then select the ‘Validate OTP and get UAN’ button.
Step 5: You will receive your Universal Account Number on your registered mobile number.
How do I activate my Universal Account Number?
In order to activate your Universal Account Number, ensure that you have received your Universal Account Number from the given steps, as well as your PF member ID.
You can use the given below steps to activate your Universal Account Number and login to the EPFO portal using it.
Step 1: Visit the EPFO homepage.
Step 2: Click on the ‘Member UAN/Online services (OCS/OTCP)’ under the Services tab.
Step 3: Enter your Universal Account Number, your PF member ID, and the provided captcha characters. Once that is done, click on the ‘Get authorization PIN’ option, upon which you’ll receive a PIN on your registered mobile number.
Step 4: Once you’ve entered the PIN, click on ‘I Agree’ under the disclaimer and then on ‘Validate OTP and Activate UAN’. Upon the activation of your Universal Account Number, you will receive a password to access your account from your registered mobile number.
What are the benefits of the Universal Account Number
The Universal Account Number of your EPF is extremely useful to check on your PF-related activities. However, not only does the UAN system benefits employees, but it benefits employers as well since it assists them in performing all the related updates and essential tasks to your PF accounts.
Some other benefits of the UAN include:-
- tracking the employee’s change in workplaces.
- easy online accessibility. The e-Sewa portal provides many facilities that make it easier to perform PF-related activities.
- ensuring validity and genuineness in the PF-related accounts.
How can I manage my Employee Provident Fund accounts through my Universal Account Number?
- Your UAN will end up very useful throughout the course of your career as an employee as all your old PF-related accounts are linked to a single number. All you have to do is share your UAN and PF details with your employer and you’ll be in a comfortable position.
- You can also download your UAN card through the e- Sewa member portal of the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). You can also complete your KYC verification by uploading your scanned KYC documents on the portal.
- The UAN can also assist you in monitoring the process status for claim transfer on the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) portal.
- You can also use UAN to check your PF balance very conveniently. All you need to do is to download the passbook from the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) portal.
Points to be Noted
- If your KYC documents are verified, your employer can authenticate your details by access to your UAN.
- Your employer cannot deduct any funds that are meant to go into your Employee Provident Fund account legally as the entire process is online and the UAN contributes to tracking all these activities.