EPFO: Want to check provident fund balance online? Here are 4 easy ways to do it

Gone are the days when you would have to wait for the end of the financial year to check out your Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) balance. Now you can check your PF balance online with just a few clicks or do it through your mobile phones. All you need is an active Universal Account Number (UAN).

How to check EPF balance online?

The easiest and most common way to check your EPF balance is the EPFO website. After logging in on the EPFO website (www.epfindia.gov.in) using your UAN number and password, click on 'For Employees' option and select 'Our Services' before clicking on 'Member Passbook' option. Enter your UAN and password details on the new page, and your provident fund details will be reflected. You can even save a PDF copy of the EPF details. It is mandatory for members to seed their Aadhaar numbers against activated UANs in order to view their e-passbooks.

Also Read: EPF interest rate hiked: Here's how much your provident fund savings will go up

For the uninitiated, UAN is a unique 12-digit number allotted to each EPFO subscriber. To get your UAN, you need to either check your monthly salary slip or contact the human resource department at your place of employment. Alternatively, you can also obtain your UAN on the EPFO portal. Just visit https://unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/ and at the bottom right of the page, you will find the 'Know Your UAN status' link under the 'Important Links' section. Once you click on it, you will be redirected to a page that will ask for details such as an EPF member ID or linked Aadhaar/PAN number and your date of birth. Once you fill in all the details, it asks for an OTP, which is sent on your mobile, and once validated, you will receive your UAN by SMS.

Remember, if you haven't activated your UAN, you won't be able to access the online facility of managing your EPF accounts. To activate it, you need to go to the link https://unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/ and then click on the 'Activate UAN' link at the bottom right of the page. After you fill in the relevant KYC details, you will have to wait for six hours for the newly-activated account to be accessible.

Also Read: 5 reasons why provident fund is so important to the salaried class!

How to check PF balance on your phone?

UMANG mobile app: UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) provides a single platform to access pan India e-governance services, including EPF details. You can download this app from the play/app stores, from the websitehttps://web.umang.gov.in/web/#/, or by giving a missed call on 9718397183.

Once downloaded, click on 'services' section, go to employment and skills option, and submit all details on the mobile app. Once all the details like mobile number, Aadhaar, etc, are filled, you can check EPF balance, claim it and even track claim processing.

SMS service: You can also send an SMS to mobile number 7738299899. The message you have to type out is EPFOHO UAN ENG, if English is your preferred language. If you want to receive the message updates in Hindi, type in EPFOHO UAN HIN. Similarly, you can select eight other languages - Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Punjabi, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, and Telugu. However, ensure your UAN is connected before you send the SMS.

Missed call: Give a missed call on the number 011-22901406 from your registered mobile number, and you can get details about your PF balance. Again, this facility requires your UAN number to be activated and integrated with your KYC details, say, Aadhar or PAN or bank account details.