UAN Registration & Activation – A Brief Overview

Ashish M. Shaji

07 May, 2021

Universal Account Number or UAN has become one of the important things as the whole process of Employee Provident Fund services are now operated online. With UAN, accessing your Provident Fund account services such as withdrawal, checking EPF balance, and PF loan application is easy. In this article, we shall discuss about UAN Registration and Activation.

What is UAN?

Universal Account Number is a 12 digit unique number. It is assigned to employees contributing to the Employee Provident Fund. It is allotted and generated by the Employee Provident Fund Organization and authenticated by the Labour and Employment Ministry, Government of India.

This number provided to employees remains the same throughout his life regardless of the number of jobs such person switches. When an employee changes his or her job, EPFO allots a new member identification number that is linked to the UAN.

As an employee, you may request a new member ID by providing the UAN to the new employer. When the member ID is created, it is then linked to the UAN of the employee thus, UAN acts as an umbrella for more than one member Ids allotted to the employee.

How can you know your UAN?

Usually, you are allotted a UAN by your employer. Some employers print this number in salary slips as well. In case you are unable to get your UAN from the employer, then don’t worry you can also get it through UAN portal.

Follow the steps below:

• Go to the portal of UAN- https://unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/
• Click on the option- Know your UAN status, and a page will appear;
• Choose your state and EPFO office from the dropdown menu. Enter your PF number along with other details like name, date of birth, phone number etc. Then select Get Authorization Pin;
• You would receive a PIN on your phone number. Enter that PIN and click on the option- Validate OTP and UAN;
• Your UAN would be sent to your mobile number.

How to activate and log in to EPFO website with UAN?

In order to activate UAN, you should have the UAN and PF member ID ready with you.

The following steps may be followed to activate UAN on the EPFO portal:

• Go to the homepage of EPFO and click For employees under our services on the dashboard;
• Click on the Member UAN/Online Services under the services section. You will enter into the UAN portal;
• Enter the Universal Account Number, mobile number and PF member ID. After that, click on the option- Get Authorization Pin. You will receive the PIN on the registered mobile number;
• Select the option I Agree under the disclaimer box and enter the OTP that you received and then click on the option- Validate OTP and activate UAN;
• On activation of UAN, you will get a password on the registered mobile number to access your account.

What are the benefits and features of UAN Registration?

The following points may be noted:

• UAN helps in centralizing the employee’s data in the country;
• This unique number brings down burden of employee verification from companies and employers;
• This has made it possible for EPFO to get the bank account details and KYC of the member and KYC without the assistance of employers;
• It helps EPFO to track multiple job changes of an employee;
• Instances of Untimely and premature EPF withdrawals have been reduced with the introduction of this UAN.

UAN Registration: Benefits to employees

There are certain benefits for employees as well with the use of UAN. They are:

• Easy to withdraw PF online with this number;
• Employees can transfer PF balances from old to new with this unique account number;
• Whenever you need a PF statement, you can instantly download it either by logging through member ID or UAN;
• New Employers don’t need to validate your profile if the UAN is already verified;
• With UAN, employers can’t access or hold PF money of their employees;
• It becomes easy for employees to ensure that their employer regularly deposits their contribution to the PF account.

Documents for UAN registration

These documents are needed to get your Unique Account Number:

• Details of bank account such as account number, IFSC code etc.
• ID proof like driving license, Adhaar Card etc;
• Address proof;
• Pan card;
• Aadhaar card;
• ESIC card.

UAN Helpdesk

A UAN helpdesk is available on the EPFO website, under which there are various sections. Two broad segments are- Help and Claim. Help caters to the queries of the employee and employer regarding the EPFO office locations, services etc. Claim caters to different claim forms available for users.

Members can access this UAN helpdesk at anytime to get clarity against queries and doubts.

Conclusion

UAN Registration and activation is done online, and there is no need to pay any fee for the same. Universal Account Number has become one of the important things as the whole process of Employee Provident Fund services are now operated online. In case you have any query regarding the same, reach out to UAN helpdesk.

Read our article: All about EPF (Employee Provident Fund)