By- Yashvi Jian

Employees Provident Fund is an excellent way for employed people to save money as a pension for their future. The major benefit of investing in EPF and not any other conventional investment with capital protection is its high yields. With the current EPF interest rate of 8.1%, you can have the maximum returns compared to other schemes. But to enjoy the benefits of EPF, you must first have a UAN number. Read on to know more about UAN numbers, UAN activation and the advantages of having a UAN number.

EPF And UAN

EPF is an employee pension scheme introduced by the government through Employee Provident Fund Organization (EPFO). Through EPF, you can make monthly contributions into your account, which the employee directly deducts from the salary. So you won’t have to go through the troubles of managing and transferring money. But for an EPF account to work, you will require an account number known as Universal Account Number (UAN).

UAN number is a sort of fixed account number. So every person will only have one UAN number despite the number of employer changes. The EPFO links a UAN number with an individual through some of their photo and legal identity cards, such as Aadhaar Card and PAN Card. To have a working EPF account, you must first activate the UAN. And due to the high EPF interest rate, it is unwise to let go of such a profitable investment and not move forwards with UAN activation.

Steps To Follow For UAN Activation

If your employer falls under the eligibility criteria for employers, they will require your UAN number. But if you don’t have a UAN or an EPF account yet, they will generate a PF account and UAN number. And you will need to manually activate the UAN number to use the features of your EPFO account.

The employers usually create such an account after three months of employment or at their discretion. And when they do, they provide you with the details of the UAN number and PF number in your salary slip. Follow the below steps for UAN activation when you receive the UAN and EPF details from the employer.

• Open the EPFO portal for UAN activation

• Here you can toggle between UAN and Member ID

• Select UAN

• Fill in the Aadhaar column

• Fill in the Name column

• Fill in the Date of Birth column

• Fill in the Mobile No. column

• Fill in the Captcha column from the given captcha image

• Tick the box with Aadhaar consent for OTP generation

• Click on Get Authorization Pin

• You will receive an OTP pin in the mobile number linked to your Aadhaar Card

• Fill in the OTP

• Click on Validate OTP and Activate UAN

After completing this process, EPFO will send you a UAN activation confirmation message. Now you can have full access to your EPF account and make necessary changes.

Advantages Of UAN Activation

Through UAN activation, you get the full benefits of an EPF account and UAN. And that is your gateway to an efficient scheme with a high EPF interest rate. Given below are some more advantages of UAN activation.

Multiple PF Accounts

The foremost advantage of UAN activation is that it is a one-time process, regardless of whether you change employers. You will get respective EPF accounts with different employers, but your UAN will remain the same. So, when you shift jobs, you just need to provide your UAN, and they will link the new EPF account under it.

Centralised System

The outcome of enabling the handling of multiple EPF accounts also comes with its benefit, a centralised system. So through UAN activation, you get access to a system where you can manage all your EPF accounts under one roof. This, in turn, makes several financial and tax procedures easier for you. It also helps show service durations and records for pension-related proofs.

Easy Withdrawal

UAN activation also opens the door to an easy method to withdraw funds from your UAN. You don’t need to go through long processes requiring similarly long paperwork when you need to withdraw funds. You can complete almost all of the withdrawal process online without a third person’s help.

Least Employer Involvement

There is also the least employer involvement in UAN. So it makes handling the account your own personal and secure business without much approval or permission from the employer.