UAN or the Universal Account Number is a 12-digit unique number which is allotted to each member of the Employee Provident Fund. In India, the Ministry of Labour and Employment issues the UAN number. Hence, the unique number is given to every employee who contributes to the EPF scheme. An important element of EPFO is having an active Universal Account Number. Irrespective of the number of employers, UAN enables one account number for one subscriber. Hence, UAN does not change with the change of job.
Accessing EPF money and transferring EPF was not an easy task till a few years back. Setbacks from employers and delay-delaying in the EPF regional offices were some mega deterrents. The centralisation of the data actively reduced the dependence on the employer and the offices.
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UAN is that unique key which connects all the EPF account of different jobs. The connection of multiple EPF accounts makes the EPF transfer quite easy. Not only this, the employee identification related tasks used to be performed by employers. UAN has empowered employees for self-authentication by uploading the KYC documents to the EPFO. This centralised management has also rendered facilitation in EPF withdrawal.
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Below are the benefits of UAN :
1) By providing UAN and the Aadhaar number, employees can withdraw their Provident Fund online.
2) UAN facilitates connection of all PF accounts to one single unified account. This unification helps in easy EPF transfer. Unlike past times, EPFO itself transfers EPF balance from one account to another automatically.
3) With the UAN number, members can check the EPF balance online or through apps. EPF balance can also be retrieved through a missed call and SMS. Moreover, there is a facility of SMS alert about the EPF contribution if a member is registered on the EPF member portal.
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4) The dependence and the role of an employer have been limited. One can withdraw the EPF without the employer signature if UAN is seeded with a bank account and Aadhaar and it is KYC verified. With UAN, employees can directly send their EPF withdrawal application to the EPFO.
5) EPF passbook can also be tracked through the UAN portal. The address of the portal is unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface. Apart from the passbook, a member can check withdrawals, EPF claim status check, verification of the personal details, checking the EPF contribution, updation or submission of KYC details, among others.