EPFO Update: The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has made face authentication mandatory for creating Universal Account Number (UAN) through Umang app. ISF has expressed concern over this.
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EPFO Update: The Indian Staffing Federation (ISF), which has a membership of more than 130 companies across the country, has expressed concern over a recent order of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO). Under this, from August 1, 2025, face authentication will be required to create a Universal Account Number (UAN) from the Umang app. That is, now UAN will be issued through Face Authentication Technology (FAT) through UMANG app. This new rule will apply to all new employees.
More than 1000 jobs stuck in 2 days
The Indian Staffing Federation says that due to the change in the rule of Face Authentication Technology (FAT), the selection process of more than 1,000 candidates has stopped in just two days. This has not only affected the payroll but there are also difficulties in following PF contribution and other rules. According to ISF, a large number of temporary workers are taken in staffing companies. Their joining and exit keeps happening continuously here.
Now it is necessary for every employee to update KYC, for which FAT has been made mandatory. Now the problem is that many employees do not have smartphone or internet facility, due to which it is taking time to generate UAN and this is directly affecting the salary and PF contribution.
These problems are especially being faced in MSMEs and high turnover sectors, where face recognition is failing due to server down or poor quality of camera or network. This is causing delay in making UAN. Now EPFO has set a deadline of 30 June 2025 for Aadhaar linking and FAT. Non-compliance of rules on time can lead to penalty, PF contribution can be stopped. This will affect both the employee and the employer. ISF has given some suggestions to deal with these things.
ISF gave some suggestions
ISF says that the timeline for digital onboarding and FAT awareness should be extended so that employees get some more time to understand about EPFO, UAN and UMANG app. FAT registration should be made easy with proper support and communication. Also, employers should be allowed to create UAN from the portal for first-time job seekers so that there is no delay in PF registration.
What is UAN?
Universal Account Number is issued by EPFO, which is colloquially called UAN. UAN serves as an umbrella identity for multiple member IDs given to a person by different employers. Universal Account Number (UAN) is a 12-digit number, which is given to every employee who opens an account under the Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO). The UAN number remains the same even after the employee changes his job.
