The Universal Account Number (UAN) is a unique 12-digit identification number that is provided to an employee and an employer through which Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributions can be made. The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) allots the UAN.
The UAN is different for the employer and the employee. Once the UAN is generated, it remains the same throughout the employee’s years of employment and the number of years the company is in business. If the employee changes jobs, the member identification number (ID) changes, but the UAN remains the same.
Various Provident Fund (PF) accounts can also be ported with the help of the UAN. UAN helps in secure deposits of PF and also helps in accessing your PF details easily. PF withdrawals and transfers can also be done easily without the help of the employer.
How to find out the UAN?
The UAN can either be found out by using the EPFO portal or through your employer.
1. EPFO portal: Below are the steps to follow in order to find out your UAN using the EPFO portal:
- You will need to visit the EPFO website
(https://unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/).
- You will need to click on ‘Know your UAN status’.
- Clicking on that will lead you to a page that requests details such as member ID, Aadhaar number, PAN number, name, date of birth, mobile number, email ID, and captcha.
- In case you do not know your member ID, you can enter your Aadhaar and PAN Card details.
- On filling these details, you must click on ‘Get Authorization Pin’.
- You will receive a PIN on your registered mobile number.
- You must click on ‘Validate OTP’ once
- you enter the PIN.
- Next step would be to click on the UAN button to receive your Universal Account Number by SMS to your registered mobile number.
2. Through your employer: The employer usually notifies the employee of the UAN if it’s his/her first job. The employee’s UAN is also mentioned on the salary slip. Most companies in India usually mention the UAN on the salary slip as it is easy for the employee to find.
Why is UAN necessary?
An organisation that has more than 20 employees are required to register for EPFO. An employer and employee contribute 12% each of the employee’s salary towards PF. Earlier an employee would be allotted a different member ID for every PF account. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought in a mandate in which all member IDs come under one account for convenient and easy access. Having all the accounts under one UAN not only makes it a convenient and easy process but also helps in saving the effort of maintaining several account details and passwords of multiple accounts.
Documents required to generate UAN
In case it is your first job, a few documents will have to be
submitted for the UAN to be generated. The process needs to be done only once, and on completion, the UAN remains the same even if you change jobs..
The list of documents that are needed to generate a UAN are:
- The account number, branch name, and IFSC code of your bank.
- Any ID proof such as driving license, Voter ID, SSLC book, Aadhaar Card, or passport needs to be submitted.
- An address proof with your current address mentioned on it must be submitted. It can be a rental agreement, ration card, or a utility bill with your name mentioned on it.
- ESIC Card can be submitted in case you have an existing account.
- Submission of Aadhaar Card and PAN Card is mandatory.
Facilities available on UAN portal:
A UAN member is provided with many facilities on the UAN portal.
- The UAN passbook and UAN Card can be downloaded.
- KYC details of the member can be updated at any instance using the portal.
- Personal details of the member can be altered.
- Partial withdrawals, full withdrawals, and transfer of PF can be done on the portal.
- The entire list of all your previous member IDs can be found on the portal.
- An eligibility check can be done online.
- Aadhaar and UAN linking can be done online.
Features of UAN:
- Since all the details of the employee are under one database, the employee verification process is very easy.
- Bank account details and KYC details of the employee can be seen by the EPFO without the help of the employer.
- If the employee has many job changes, it can be tracked by the EPFO.
- By providing bank account details and ID proof, activation of UAN is done.
Benefits of UAN:
- Your PF money can be withdrawn or transferred at any given time.
- By using the UAN portal, PF withdrawal requests can easily be endorsed by your employer. A record of your PF account can easily be managed by the employer and employee.
- Since all PF and KYC details are under one UAN, it can be accessed online.
- If you want to know your PF balance, it can be checked at any time.
- It can serve as an employee’s identification number.
- An employee can check whether the employer is crediting his/her contribution to the PF account on a regular basis.
The introduction of UAN helps in keeping an employee’s money safe throughout their career, till he/she wants to withdraw the money partially or fully. It also provides easy and convenient access to your account to supervise your money by embracing a digital route.
