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| Image Courtesy : thehindubusinessline.com |
With EPF portability now a reality, gone are the days of frisking by employers for EPF transfer and fund withdrawals.Switching jobs will no more give nightmares for your hard-earned PF corpus, thanks to UAN ( Universal Account Number ) scheme launched by the Union Government few months back.
Hon'ble PM Shri Narendra Modi has officially unveiled the scheme during the Shramev Jayate programme on 16th October 2014 in which he announced that UAN of 4.17 crore EPF subscribers have already been processed by EPFO. According to EPFO, UAN has been allotted to PF members by converting the existing accounts of employees for whom employers have uploaded Electronic challan-cum-return for January to June 2014.
Coming to what UAN actually means ..
Universal Account Number (UAN) acts as an umbrella ID linked to multiple member IDs allotted by different establishments (read employers) you have been employed with.Whenever you switch your job, your new employer will allot a new EPF member ID which is required to be linked to UAN so that you can carry on with the same EPF account without any hassle.
So, what's the Employer's responsibility ..
UAN becomes portable only after it has been seeded with KYCs i.e., Bank account details , PAN card etc. duly verified by Employer's Digital Signature Certificate.
Now, the question is how to obtain UAN and get a working UAN based EPF a/c.
- First Check your UAN status. You need to put down your existing PF A/c no. that you may get in your salary slip.If your UAN is ready, it gives the message - "Your UAN is allotted, kindly get your UAN No. from your employer."
- After getting your UAN from your employer, Activate it.
- After activation, one can access the UAN services (many are still under implementation) on UAN Member Portal.Services include downloading EPF A/c. passbook, UAN card, updating profile and KYC details, filing transfer claims.In future, one can also get withdrawals from PF directly to one's listed Bank account.
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| Flowchart depicting the UAN Member portal and its services. Courtesy :EPFO |
If all goes well, this surely will be a landmark step towards e-Governance and welfare of organised sector employees.