Changed jobs? EPFO wants you to note this and never repeat it again; check details

The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has a message for individuals in the midst of transitioning to a new job. The retirement body has advised that employees do not apply for a new Universal Account Number (UAN) during this process, as each member should only possess one UAN. This information is crucial for smooth job transitions and continued access to retirement funds. 

"Employees are not required to generate a new UAN when leaving their old employment. A member cannot have more than one UAN. There is no requirement for having a fresh UAN at all, in any case of unemployment or change of employment," wrote EPFO.

When an employee has been assigned two UANs, they must consolidate all previous service details connected to the old UANs with the current UAN using the One Member One EPF Account feature on the EPFO portal.

According to the EPFO website, “Please transfer the balance and service to current UAN by submitting online Form-13. For this you have to get the data (name, date of birth and gender) corrected in previous UAN (if not correct and not matching with aadhar data) through the previous employer and link the UAN with aadhar. In case data is correct then you can yourself link it through eKYC Portal.”

The 12-digit universal account number (UAN) is a unique identifier for an employee's Employee Provident Fund (EPF) deposits, maintaining consistency across different employers.

Employers are required to complete aadhaar-based UAN activation for their employees by November 30, as announced by the EPFO.

EPFO emphasized the significance of activating your UAN to access EPFO services like PF, Pension, Insurance, and the key Employment Linked Incentive through a tweet.

To activate UAN on the EPFO portal using an Aad-based OTP, employers must ensure that their employees follow these steps:

• Go to the EPFO Member Portal.
• Click on the "Activate UAN" link found under "Important Links".
• Fill in the required details such as UAN, Aadhaar number, name, DOB, and Aadhaar-linked mobile number.
• Make sure the mobile number provided is linked to Aadhaar for accessing EPFO’s digital services.
• Agree to Aadhaar OTP verification.
• Click on "Get Authorisation PIN" to receive an OTP on the Aadhaar-linked mobile number.
• Enter the OTP to complete the activation process.
• Upon successful activation, a password will be sent to the registered mobile number.