Unified Portal
Unified Portal
Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is a social security scheme for employees in India. Employers are required to comply with Employee Provident Fund (EPF) regulations and obtain PF registration on engaging 20 or more employees. To improve ease of doing business, all services relating to provident fund like PF registration, PF return filing and payment of PF contribution has been made available online through the Unified Portal. Further, all employee related services like account transfer, EPF account balance check and claims have been brought under UAN and the Unified Portal. In this article, we look at the procedure for enrolment of an employee on the Unified Portal of the Employees Provident Fund.
Universal Account Number (UAN)
The Employee Provident Fund has launched the Unified Portal to streamline and simplify all aspects of provident fund for both employers and employees. Employees who have the newly allotted UAN can use the Unified Portal for various services.
For an employee to access the Unified Portal, a Universal Account Number (UAN) will be required. Previously, each of the establishment having PF registration used to issue an unique id to the employee for PF purposes leading to many employees having multiple PF. With UAN an employee will have a single identification under provident fund across employers. Hence, if a employee who is already allotted Universal Account Number (UAN) joins a new establishment, he/she must use the same UAN to enable the employer to in-turn mark the new allotted Member Identification Number (Member Id) to the already allotted Universal Identification Number (UAN). Further, the employee KYC details will be mapped against the allotted UAN rather the member id thereby eliminating the redundancy.
UAN has automatically been provided provided by the EPFO for most contributing members in the following pattern:
- EPF members in respect of whom at least one contribution is received in or after Jan-2014. EPFO provides UAN automatically.
- EPF members not having UAN & no contribution received in or after Jan-2014 can request EPFO to allot UAN.
- Any citizen (whether EPF member or not) can request for UAN.
How to Get UAN
A new employee can collect UAN after making the first contribution. After collecting the new UAN, the person can activate online services on the Unified Portal by visiting the member services page. In the portal, provide your requisite KYC details like Aadhaar, Bank Account & PAN along with a list of all previous EPF account numbers to activate Unified Portal services.
In case of any employee having UAN, he/she must provide the UAN on joining any new establishment. Along with the UAN, the employee must also submit KYC documents to the new employer. On submission of UAN and KYC documents, the EPF account will be auto-transferred.
Benefits of Joining the Unified Portal
On joining the Unified Portal and linking UAN with Aadhaar, the person will be able to do the following:
PF Balance Check
Employees registered on the Unified Portal having a UAN that is linked to a KYC can easily check their PF Balance at anytime. Click here to know more about PF Balance Check.
EPF Account Activity
The employee would receive SMS about credits/debits to their EPF account. Employees having UAN can also track their EPF account balance using the EPF mobile app or by giving a missed call to 9718397183.
Submit Claims Online
Employee who have Aadhaar enabled UAN can submit their claims directly with EPFO. There would be no requirement to go to the employers for claims attestation. Further, all application for EPFO services can be submitted by the employee online.
Download UAN Card
Members enrolled on the Unified Portal can themselves download UAN Card. Similarly, the most recent passbook can also be printed at anytime on the Unified Portal.
Update KYC Details
Employees enrolled on the Unified Portal can update their KYC details or mobile number at anytime. Further, all the employer IDS can also be listed under the UAN on the Unified Portal to consolidate the accounts.