PF account holders to soon receive universal numbers

From October 15, employees will not have to apply for transfer of their provident fund (PF) accounts while switching jobs anywhere in India.

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is speeding up work on universal account numbers (UANs) for subscribers. Employees now are allotted another PF account numbers when they switch companies. Earlier, it used to take a while to get accounts transferred to new employers. Since EPFO switched over to online transfers in October 2013, this takes 30 days. This will become even faster with the UANs. Employees will merely need to update their new employee identity numbers provided by the new employers in their UANs when switching jobs and their accounts will be automatically shifted.

Once a UAN is allotted to an employee, he or she need not go through his or her employer to provide details to EPFO, unlike now. "There will be no need for an individual to go through the employer. This system will be employee-centric," Chief PF Commissioner K K Jalan told Business Standard.

However, companies would initially have to provide know-your-customer (KYC) details of employees, EPFO said in a letter. KYC details include other identification numbers like Aadhaar, the population register number, savings bank accounts and the income-tax permanent account number (PAN). The UAN would make settling claims easier as all key information would be available, Jalan said.

EPFO has asked its field officers to "impress upon employers that the Aadhaar/PNR must be seeded wherever available." According to an official, 70-80 per cent employees covered by EPFO have Aadhaar/NPR cards. EPFO, in its letter, has asked companies to use digital signatures, otherwise some of the services might not be available to their employees.

IN FAST LANE

Conditions for UAN service

• Employee has to obtain Universal Account Number (UAN) from his/her employer with member ID
• Employee has to activate the registration through the online portal
• User name and password need to be created for accessing UAN-driven member portal
• Scanned copies of KYC documents need to be uploaded

Steps involved

• Enter UAN, mobile number and member ID on portal site
• UAN credentials will be verified
• Create username and password
• You are now registered on the UAN member portal

On the portal, you can

• Download or print passbook
• Download or print UAN Card
• List previous member ID
• File and view transfer claims
• Update your KYC information