Everything you need to know about UAN
With UAN, you don’t have to get a new number every time you join a new office.
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Numbers! This one word is enough to strike fear in the minds of many individuals and not just students. Figures surround our lives. One such significant digit is the Universal Account Number or the UAN.
UAN is a 12-digit identification number, which is assigned to both you and your employer, which lets you contribute to the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). This number is issued by Ministry of Labour and Employment and is given by the EPFO on behalf of the government.
If you’re a salaried individual, then you must be aware of what EPF or PF is. If you are working in an organised sector, a portion of a salary which is 12% of your basic salary, goes towards the employee provident fund (EPF). EPF is an effective way of saving as a portion of your salary is automatically saved. Cultivating a saving habit may be hard and saving through EPF will make sure that a part of your income is saved for your future even if you haven’t started investing in mutual funds.
The purpose of EPF is to fund your retirement goals. Retirement is a long term financial goal. Also, to make sure that there are no hassles while transferring your EPF money, you can easily link your EPF account to your savings bank account. A good savings account is essential to take care of your day to day expenses.
Although your retirement may be many years into the future, you may want to know your PF balance or withdraw from the account in times of emergencies.
A single point of access for anything related to your EPF is your Universal Account Number(UAN). It was introduced in 2014. This number is a permanent number, and it remains the same throughout one’s employment life. This means that it does not change when an employee changes his or her job.
The UAN is generated when you enter the workforce. To create the UAN number, your employer may ask for a few necessary documents such as your PAN card etc. Once this number is generated, it is permanent and remains the same throughout your work life.
If you don’t know your UAN number, you can easily find it in your payslip. If not, you can ask your employer for the same. Once you activate your UAN number, you can avail the different benefits that EPF has to offer such as making withdrawals and checking your balance.
Here are the steps that you need to take to activate the UAN number:
Not just the UAN website, EPFO app can help you to activate your UAN. You can also activate it through a regular SMS. You need to message EPFOHO UAN to 7738299899. After that, select the options and reply to it according to the message that you receive.
The UAN will remain with you for your entire life, and it has made life simpler. With the UAN, you can download the EPF card, check your balances and make withdrawals. Now, you don’t have to change the number every time you join a new company.
And after you are retired, the amount accumulated in your EPF will be transferred to your savings account. From your savings account, you can open an fixed deposits to make sure that your money is safe.
