If you’ve analysed your salary breakdown, you might have noticed a specific component called EPF. The EPF or Employee’s Provident Fund is that element of your compensation package that doesn’t go to your bank account with the rest of your salary. It goes to a certain EPF account and gets collected every month until you work with that particular organisation.

At first, it might seem upsetting to miss this percentage when you get your monthly salary. However, this benefits you later in life.

The Employee’s Provident Fund (EPF) is a retirement benefits scheme made available to all salaried people. Think of it as a savings platform. Through it, you end up saving a fraction of your salary each month so that you can use it in the future if you’re out of work or when you retire.

If you’ve been working for a few years now, you might have jumped jobs at least a couple of times. With each new job comes a new EPF account. This means you might be the proud owner of multiple EPF accounts holding a substantial amount for you to inherit when you need it. The question remains, how do you do it?

The good news is you don’t have to track every company you’ve worked for to get your EPF money. All you need is a UAN number that connects all your accounts. It will be better if you know how to link multiple pf accounts to uan.

To know how UAN has changed the way you control your EPF account, click here.

What is UAN Number?

UAN or Universal Account Number is a 12-digit number given by the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to every person with an EPF account. Like your Permanent Account Number (PAN), once your UAN is allotted, it remains unaltered throughout your entire career. Even if you change jobs, the UAN remains the same. All you need to do is give your UAN number to your new employer every time you switch jobs. UAN has made life easier. Before the UAN was introduced, employees were inconvenienced by the fact that they had to keep shifting their EPF account with every job change. However, now, you can unify and link multiple EPF accounts under the one UAN number. Here’s all you need to know about UAN.

How to Know UAN Number?

EPFO provides you with a facility through which you can know your UAN number on their portal. You can do so by entering your PAN card number, member ID or PF number. Here are five other features of UAN you need to keep in mind.

How to Know UAN Number from PAN Number?

Step 1: Visit the official Employee’s Provident Fund website.

Step 2: Click on the ‘Know your UAN status’ tab.

Step 3: Here you will be forwarded to a new page. Fill in all the required details, including your state, city, name, date of birth, mobile number, email ID and your PAN card number. Then click on ‘Get Authorisation Pin’.

Step 4: Now, you will receive a One Time Password (OTP) on your registered mobile number. Enter this number on the web page. Once you do so, your UAN number will be sent to your mobile number.

How to Get UAN Number from Member ID?

In addition to your PAN, If you want to how to get uan number you can use your Member ID as UAN request ID. You can request for UAN for this member id directly from your employer or find your member ID on your payslip.

Step 1: Visit the EPF official website and enter your Member ID.

Step 2: Enter all other details asked for such as your name, date of birth, mobile number, and your email ID. Then click on ‘Get Authorisation Pin’

Step 3: Once you receive this pin (OTP) on your registered mobile number, enter that number and click on the “Validate OTP and get UAN” button. When you do that, your UAN number will be sent to your mobile number.

You can follow the same steps if you want to know how to activate UAN number using PF number too.

UAN based activation can be done after you find your UAN number through the UAN number finder. Once you activate your UAN, here’s how you can use the portal to your advantage.

How to Get UAN Card

Once you’ve done your UAN based activation, you can download your UAN card from the official EPF website.

Step 1: Visit the official EPF website.

Step: Enter your UAN number and your password to login to your account.

Step 3: Go to the UAN card option on the ‘View’ drop-down menu.

Here you will find your UAN card. You can download this card or directly get it printed.

How to Link Different PF Accounts to UAN

Now that you know how to activate UAN number and get your UAN card, here’s how to link multiple PF accounts to UAN.

Step 1: Visit the EPF portal.

Step 2: Under the “Services” tab, click on “One employee – One EPF account” button.

Step 3: A form will open for consolidating multiple EPF accounts. Fill in your registered mobile number, UAN number, and Member ID, as requested. On submission of these details, an OTP will be sent to your registered mobile number for authentication.

Step 4: After entering the OPT, the page for entering old PF account details for the merger will be displayed. Once you enter the old PF account number and the declaration is accepted and submitted, the request for merger of that account to the existing PF account will be sent to the EPFO.

Your PF account will soon be linked to your UAN. Repeat the process with all your old PF accounts to merge them all under one UAN number.

Conclusion

Having all your PF under one account will help you to access and withdraw from it whenever you want. You can use the money for an emergency or finance other needs. However, leaving your PF intact for your retirement will help you build a substantial saving. So, if you need finances now you can always take a loan. Bajaj Finserv gives you pre-approved offers on personal loans, home loans, business loans and other financial products. This makes the process of applying and availing the loan much simpler. All you need to do is share your details and check your pre-approved offers here.