Saving money is always a good habit. Savings help in preparing and planning for a sound future. To promote the attitude of saving for a happy retired life, investments in a provident fund is one of the most common avenues. It is an investment fund wherein the employee and employer/government contributes toward an employee’s retirement corpus.
All provident fund investments are made in the account maintained by the EPFO (Employee’s Provident Fund Organization). The EPFO allocates a Universal Account Number (UAN) for such accounts. The Universal Account Number is a unique 12-digit number allotted by the EPFO to all its members. It is an identification number for the members, who are entitled to the provident fund. Irrespective of changing jobs, the UAN remains the same. The services provided by EPFO are all accessible online.
1. UAN Status
UAN Status
The following steps are to be followed:
1.Visit the EPF portal and click on ‘Our Services’ on the dashboard and click on ‘For Employees’
2. Click on UAN Online Service (OCS/OTCP) 
3. Click on the link ‘Know your UAN Status’
4. You can either enter your PF number or member ID or PAN or Aadhaar number. Other details like date of birth and mobile number should be filled as well. 
5. Click over “Get Authorization pin” 6.An authentication pin will be received in the registered mobile number. You will then be required to validate the pin by clicking ‘Validate OTP and get UAN’. 7. You will receive the UAN number and its status as a message in the registered mobile number.
2. Passbook
Members are required to be registered on the unified member portal to view the passbook online. After six hours of registration, members can view their passbook online. However, passbook facility will not be available for exempted establishments members, settled members and inoperative members.
Step by step process to access your UAN passbook online:
1. Visit the EPF portal and click on ‘Our Services’ on the dashboard and click on ‘For Employees’
2. Click on ‘Member Passbook’
3. The following details must be populated to log in to access the account. 
EPFO services are also available on apps that can be downloaded from the UMANG website/from Playstore or app store. UMANG refers to the Unified Mobile App for New Governance.
- Registering forUAN e-Passbook
Users are required to activate their UAN to register for the e-passbook facility. You can activate your UAN by visiting the website https://unifiedportal.epfindia.gov.in. You should be able to download the e-passbook after three working days from the day of authentication. Click on ‘Download e-passbook’ after logging in to the member portal and access your e-passbook.
3. Checking Your Account Balance
TUsers can check the account balances through various means:
- EPFO Portal
The following steps must be followed to check the account balance on the EPFO portal. Visit the EPF portal and click on ‘Our Services’ on the dashboard and click on ‘For Employees’. 2. Click on ‘Member Passbook’ 3.Enter your user credentials. Login to your account and click on ‘View Passbook’
2. Click on ‘Member Passbook’ 
3. The following details must be populated to login to access the account. 
SMS
EPF account balance can be checked by sending an SMS to 7738299899 from the registered mobile number. The format for sending the message is ‘EPFOHO UAN ENG’ where ENG is the three characters of the language you prefer. The language facility is available in ten vernacular languages, i.e. (English, Hindi, Telugu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, and Bengali). There is a probability that you may not receive a message if your Aadhaar, PAN and bank account were provided by the employer and were not digitally approved. In such an instance, you must contact your employer immediately. When the message has been successfully accepted, an SMS is received from EPFO which states the KYC document details; the last contribution made and the balance in the account.
Missed Call
TTo be able to check the account balance by giving a missed call, the account holder must ensure that the KYC details have been linked and integrated with the UAN. When the KYC has been successfully linked you may give a missed call to 011-22901406 from your registered number and an SMS containing details of the EPFO will soon be dispatched.
UMANG App
The UMANG app also has access to the EPFO account. Follow these steps to check the account balance on your app:
- Download the app on your phone;
- Select the EPFO option on the app;
- Click on ‘Employee Centric Service’ option;
- Enter the UAN of the account holder;
- An OTP is received on the registered mobile number of the account holder;
- To proceed further, enter the OTP received.
- Click on ‘view passbook’ under the EPFO option.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q- How big is UAN?
A- The UAN is a 12-digit number.
Q- How to check UAN status?
A- To check your UAN status, you must log on here and fill all the requested details and submit.
Q- Who allots UAN?
A- The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) allocates the UAN for all subscribers.
Q- How to access EPF passbook?
A- To access EPF passbook, log on here and log in with your UAN and password to access your passbook.
Q- Should I mandatorily withdraw from EPF once I retire?
A- It is not compulsory to withdraw the entire accumulated amount from the EPF account. However, the account will not accrue any more interest after three months of not receiving any contributions.
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