UAN-Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation: History, Benefits & More

Written by Rayden Sam Posted on 2024-01-19

The government of India on 1 October 2014 presented a Universal Account Number for employees to allow Provident Fund Number portability.

Employees’ Provident Fund Organization-Introduction

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) is one of the two main statutory social security bodies under the Ministry of Labor and Employment, Government of India, and is responsible for the regulation and management of provident funds in India, the other being Employees’ State Insurance. International employees are covered under EPFO plans in countries where bilateral agreements have been signed.

The EPFO’s apex decision-making body Central Board of Trustees (CBT), is a statutory body set up by the Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions (EPF & MP) Act, 1952. As of the year 2018, more than ₹11 lakh crore are under The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization management.

Employees’ Provident Fund Organization- Origins

The Constitution of India enacted a non-justiciable directive in 1950 that the State shall, within the limits of its economic capacity, make effective provisions to secure the right to work, education, and public assistance in cases of unemployment, and old age. Illness and disability and ineligible desire.

Recent Developments

In March 2022, EPFO reduced the interest rate on the Employees’ Provident Fund to 8.10% for 2021-22, and EPFO reduced the interest rate for the 2021-22 financial year by 8.10%.

Universal Account Number (UAN)

Universal Account Number (UAN) is a 12-digit number allotted to employees contributing to EPF. One UAN is generated by EPFO for each PF member. The UAN portal acts as an umbrella for multiple member IDs allotted to an individual by different establishments and remains the same throughout the lifetime of an employee.

This will help the member to view the details of all the Member Identification Numbers (Member ID) associated with it.

The major advantage of UAN is the convenience of tagging multiple member IDs of an employee. UAN member portal helps in the transfer and withdrawal of PF claims, online or offline. Along with these services, an online passbook, SMS services on every deposit or contribution, and online KYC update can be provided based on UAN, which enables the transfer of the balance amount from one EPF to another.

A new (2018) UAN portal allows members to check EPF balance and UAN status, download a UAN EPF passbook, view a provident fund claim, etc.

Members who are unable to withdraw PF due to any reason can withdraw without the consent of the employer.

They can submit Form 19 for EPF (Employees Provident Fund) and Form 10C for EPS (Employees’ Pension Scheme) to the EPFO office in which they have an EPF account.

UAN provided by EPFO is used to track PF balance and PF claim status.