The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) said on Wednesday that EPFO subscribers can now generate and activate their Universal Account Number (UAN) using Aadhaar face authentication technology through the Umang mobile app.
Till now, the employee’s UAN was generated after the HR department of the institution where he works sent the data to the EPFO. Now, as this work is done on the app itself, employees will not have to depend on the HR department.
According to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Aadhaar details have been verified, but errors in information such as father’s name, mobile number or date of birth were common. These errors often require correction during the claim process or while using other EPFO services. Of the 1.26 crore UANs allotted in FY 2024-25 alone, only 44.68 lakh (35.30 per cent) were activated by the members.
All employees can use this facility
This service can be used by both employees and employers. It provides 100 percent validity of Aadhaar and user using face authentication and user data is pre-filled directly from the Aadhaar database. According to EPFO, the user’s mobile number is matched with the mobile number registered with Aadhaar and UAN activation is also completed on the EPFO portal during the generation process.
Companies did not show interest
According to EPFO, “Several reminders were given to employers to activate their UAN using Aadhaar OTP so that any future benefits under the employment linked scheme can be provided using DBT.” EPFO further said that in many cases, the UAN was not even told to the employee and many had missing or incorrect mobile numbers, making direct communication difficult. Moreover, UAN activation through Aadhaar OTP verification on the EPFO member portal was a separate process that had to be completed by the member, leading to confusion.
At the time of joining the job, the employee can submit the PDF of the e-UAN card and a copy of the UAN to the employer to join EPFO. This instantly unlocks access to EPFO services like viewing passbook, updating KYC, submitting claims and other services.
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