While changing jobs, the process of transferring one’s employees’ provident fund (EPF) can seem quite cumbersome. However, it might not be the same anymore, as from April 1, 2024 onwards, there has been a significant change for subscribers of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
The EPFO has come out with a system that will automatically transfer the EPF balance of an employee when he/she changes job and switches to a new employer. This new process is relevant for the employees whose Universal Account Number (UAN) is linked and fully compliant with the ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) requirements. Such employees would find their PF balance automatically transferred to their new employer’s PF account. As soon as the new employer makes the first contribution, this process of automatic transfer begins.
So far, an employee had to transfer his/her EPF from the old employer to the new employer to keep a continuous track record of the employment history and contribution to EPF. This was necessary for calculating the employee’s pension under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) and for income tax purposes.
“So far, employees were facing a tough time transferring their PF from one employer to the other. This process would involve a lot of paperwork, timelines, and back and forth, all leading to chaos and delay in the entire process. With the current initiative, the employee just needs to ensure the correct linkage between the UAN and the KYC. This method would save a lot of time and comes as a big relief for employees who would get frustrated with the process of transfer,” says Sunil Dasari, founder and CEO of EZTax.
According to the EPFO India government website, UAN stands for Universal Account Number, which is allotted by EPFO. The UAN will act as an umbrella for the multiple Member Identification Numbers (Member Id) allotted to an individual by different establishments. The idea is to link Member Ids allotted to a single member under a single UAN. This will help the member to view details of all the Member Id linked to it. If a member is already allotted a UAN then he/she is required to provide the same on joining a new establishment to enable the employer to in-turn mark the new allotted Member Id to the already allotted UAN.
How To Check UAN: In case you do not get a UAN number from your employer, you can get it through the UAN portal. Here are the steps.
Visit the UAN portal.
Click on the tab ‘Know your UAN’.
Enter your registered mobile number and captcha for verification. Click on the button ‘Request OTP’. Enter the OTP and captcha code and click on the ‘Validate OTP’ button.
It will redirect you to enter your name, date of birth (DOB), PAN/Aadhaar/member ID, and captcha for verification. After entering all the details, click on the button ‘Show my UAN’.
Your UAN number will be displayed on the screen.
To activate UAN, you must have your Universal Account Number and PF member ID with you.
Here are the steps to activate UAN on the EPFO portal.
Step 1: Go to the UAN portal and click on ‘Activate UAN’ under the ‘Important Links’ tab on the dashboard, says Avinash Polepally, senior director, ClearTax.
Step 2: Enter the UAN, Aadhaar number, name, date of birth, mobile number, and captcha code, and click on the ‘Get Authorisation Pin’ button.
Step 3: A new screen will appear on your desktop, where you will be provided with your given details. Make sure that all the information is correct.
Step 4: Now, you will have to click on the ‘I Agree’ checkbox, enter the four-digit OTP and click on ‘Validate OTP and Activate UAN’.
Step 5: “Once the OTP is verified, the UAN will be activated. Upon activation, you will receive a password on your registered mobile number to access your account,” says Polepally.
