EPFO: Employees often forget their Provident Fund (PF) accounts when changing jobs. A lost PF number from their old company, a changed UAN, or missing documents can all leave millions of people without their money. But now there’s no need to worry. The EPFO has developed a digital system that makes it easy to track and activate even a 15-year-old PF account.
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EPFO: For employed individuals, Provident Fund (PF) is considered the safest source of their hard-earned money. However, it often happens that after changing jobs, employees forget their old PF number. The difficulty is especially acute for those who worked before 2014, as the Universal Account Number (UAN) system was not in place at that time. Each company assigned a different PF number, and a new PF account was created upon changing jobs. Therefore, finding a PF account that dates back 15 years can be a puzzle.
How to Find a PF Number
EPFO has now provided a solution to this problem. According to the organization, even if you don’t have your old PF number, you can still locate your account. First, employees must visit the Unified Member Portal (unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in). After registering or logging in with your mobile number, select the ‘Track Claim Status’ or ‘One Member One EPF Account’ option. By entering your Aadhaar, PAN, and old PF number, the system will automatically search for old records, even those from 2010. If your KYC is up-to-date and your Aadhaar is linked to your UAN, instant passbook verification is possible. Importantly, under EPFO 3.0, PF withdrawals are now possible through ATMs and UPI starting in 2026, meaning there’s no need to visit a branch.
Let’s understand with an example:
An employee named Rahul left a private firm in 2011. He created a new PF account at his new job and forgot about his old one. Fifteen years later, he needed money for his wedding. He downloaded the UMANG app and selected the ‘Forgot UAN’ option. He entered his name, date of birth, and Aadhaar to generate a new UAN and merged it with his old account. In just 10 days, he received Rs 3 lakh, including interest.
EPFO Guidelines
The EPFO states that this process is crucial for employees who worked before 2014. At that time, different companies had different PF numbers, and employees often forgot their old accounts when changing jobs. Now, with the UAN feature, all accounts are linked to a single number, making tracking easier.
Experts believe this move has brought relief to millions of employees who had lost track of their old PF accounts. Often, an employee suddenly needs money and wants to withdraw from their old PF account, but the process gets stuck due to not having the number. Now, the EPFO’s new guidelines will eliminate this problem.
Employees have been advised to link all their old PF accounts to their UAN. This will not only facilitate tracking but also simplify the process of withdrawing or transferring funds in the future.
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