Why linking Aadhaar with UAN is crucial for continuing your provident fund investments

The Employee Provident Fund, popularly known as EPF or PF is a small savings scheme for employees. It enables salaried individuals to save a small portion of their salary every month and eventually accumulate a large corpus over the course of their working life.

Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (‘EPFO’) has been encouraging the working population to link its Aadhaar card to the PF account/Universal Account Number (‘UAN’), for security and transparency. As per the recent requirement, PF remittance will be permitted only for those employees whose UAN and Aadhaar number are seeded and verified.

EPFO has instructed the Employer (Company) that, if PF account is not linked to Aadhaar or UAN is not Aadhaar verified, then its Electronic Challan-cum-Return (‘ECR’) will not be filed. Further, in absence of Aadhaar-UAN linking, the employees won't be able to avail of any other services from the EPFO.

EPFO has set the last date to link Aadhar with UAN as September 1, 2021.

Why you should link the numbers immediately

One may have to face the following consequences, in cases where Aadhaar is not linked to UAN -

-No credit to PF accounts would be possible till the linking is done; and

-Delayed remittance could result in loss of interest to the employee.

The EPFO has issued a notification whereby it is now the responsibility of the employer to ensure that their employees link their PF account to their Aadhaar number.

-Linking your Aadhaar to your EPF account simplifies the process of withdrawing or transferring your account;

-You can easily get all the benefits, which include taking COVID-19 advances and insurance benefits linked to PF accounts;

-It is easy to verify all the details when Aadhaar is linked with EPF, as the UIDAI has all basic and biometric information;

-Errors are fewer as your information remains consistent across organisations;

-There are fewer chances of duplicate or fake accounts as each employee can have only one EPF account linked to one Aadhaar number; and

-You need not get an attestation by your employer to withdraw your PF. This can be done without any hassle.

How to link EPF with Aadhaar Online?

Step 1:   Open the EPFO website -https://unifiedportalmem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/

Step 2:   Log in to your account using your UAN and password

Step 3:   From the ‘Manage’ section drop down, click on the ‘KYC’ option

Step 4:   A new page will open with options of documents you can link with your EPF account

Step 5:   Select the ‘Aadhaar’ option and enter your Aadhaar number and name, as specified in your Aadhaar card

Step 6:   Save your details. This will be verified with the UIDAI’s data

Step 7:   Once it has been verified, your EPF will be linked to your Aadhaar card

Step 8:   To confirm this, log in to your account, ‘Verified’ will be written against where you typed in your Aadhaar details.

How to link EPF with Aadhaar Offline?

Employees who are not comfortable using computers can link Aadhaar with their EPF account by visiting the EPFO office and submitting the application.

Step 1:   Pick up a copy of the Aadhaar Seeding Application form from the EPFO office and fill it up

Step 2:   Enter your UAN and Aadhaar numbers, along with the other requisite details

Step 3:   Self-attest copies of your Aadhaar, UAN and PAN and attach them with the form

Step 4:   Submit it to the EPFO office

Step 5:   Post verification, your Aadhaar will be linked with your EPF account

Step 6:   You will receive a confirmation about the same via SMS on your Aadhaar registered mobile number