Employees’ Provident Fund, or EPF, is a central government savings plan to offer retirement pension to Indian employees. It compels employers and employees to contribute a certain percentage of salary to an account maintained by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
It’s always preferable to keep your EPF account handy with you, for this reason, as this will make it easier for you to access your account, withdraw and receive money, and withdraw when necessary. Lacking your EPF account number can prove to be a recurring but irritating issue.
Following is an article providing step-by-step information on what you are to do in case you have forgotten your EPF account number, which will ease your retrieval of the information without any hassle.
We are going to discuss how you can obtain your EPF account number by following online and offline procedures with special mention of claiming pf online and ensuring you get a hassle-free experience.
What is an EPF Account Number and Why is it Important?
You would require an EPF number as a certain identification number allotted to you by your employer or EPFO. It acts as the primary identifier of your EPF contribution, withdrawal, and transactions. It is commonly linked with another principal number in the EPF field—Universal Account Number (UAN). The UAN consolidates various EPF accounts under one umbrella and simplifies your managerial process.
If you have forgotten your EPF account number, you may not be able to:
1. Claim PF online in case of an emergency.
2. View your contribution and balance.
3. Transfer your account in case of a job change within India.
It is thus necessary that you retrieve or recover your EPF account number on time so that you do not have to undergo the trouble of handling money related to retirement planning.
Step-by-Step Process to Recover Your Forgotten EPF Account Number
In case your EPF account number is lost, the following steps can be used to recover the same in a few simple steps online:
1. Retrieve Your Salary Slips or Employer’s Records
One of the easiest ways to get your missing EPF account number is to look at your salary slips taken out of your company. In most companies, it is normal practice to mention the EPF account number and UAN in monthly salary slips, along with other statutory deduction statements. Or, visit the HR department of your company and seek their assistance to fetch your EPF details.
2. Utilize Your UAN to Find the EPF Account Number
If you are aware of your UAN, you can log in to the EPFO website and find your EPF account number. You can achieve this by the following steps:
1. Visit the official EPFO website.
2. Click on ‘Services’ under the option ‘For Employees’.
3. Click on ‘Member Passbook’ and login through your UAN and password.
4. Once you have logged in, you can view the details of all EPF accounts that have your UAN linked to them, even account numbers.
Even you can retrieve your UAN if you lost it by using the procedure offered at Business Today EPFO UAN Recovery.
3. Retrieve EPF Account Number by Using Aadhaar-Linked Information
EPFO has also introduced sophisticated tools like Aadhaar-based e-KYC tools so that workers can control their provident fund accounts. If your Aadhaar number is linked to your EPF account, the following recovery process is for you:
1. Visit the official EPFO portal or Unified Portal for Member Services.
2. Choose the UAN recovery page.
3. Put in your Aadhaar-linked mobile number and proceed with OTP verification.
4. Once your Aadhaar is verified, your EPF account information such as the EPF account number can be retrieved by the portal.
4. Contact EPFO Customer Care
If you are not in a situation to follow the above process, directly contacting EPFO authorities may prove useful to retrieve the account number. To do so:
– Dial the EPFO customer care number 1800-118-005, and share your details, like your name, registered mobile number, PAN, or Aadhaar.
– Or, send EPFO an email at and state your query. Attach copies of the identity documents like Aadhaar, PAN, and previous employment proof.
After verifying your details, the EPFO officials will assist in retrieving your EPF account.
5. Utilize Online Claim PF Tools
When trying to claim PF online, recovery is also feasible by tools on the EPFO website. This is how it can be tried:
– Check your claim status while requesting withdrawal or transfer online. EPF account verification is generally required for this. Follow all the instructions to verify and use allotted tracking numbers or respective identification details in order to get your EPF account number.
How to Never Forget Your EPF Account Number in the Future
Once you get your EPF account number, it is to be kept safe so that you don’t forget it in the future. Some suggestions to do that are:
1. Link your EPF account with UAN to manage it easily.
2. Keep the number on your phone or digital records.
3. Use simple digital tools like cloud storage software (Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.) for security.
Calculations for EPF Account Utilization
Your EPF contribution is employer and employee’s share, normally 12% of Basic Salary + DA (Dearness Allowance). Let us break a sample calculation further:
– Assume an example employee monthly salary: ₹50,000 (Basic + DA)
– Employee Contribution (12%): ₹6,000
– Employer Contribution (12%): ₹6,000
– Note: Some portion of the employer contribution goes into Employee Pension Scheme (EPS), i.e., 8.33% in general, and the rest is credited to EPF.
- Monthly contribution amount = ₹6,000 (Employee) + ₹6,000 (Employer) = ₹12,000
- Yearly contribution to EPF account = ₹12,000 × 12 months = ₹1,44,000
- Forgetting EPF account would cause delaying tracing these contributions and affecting fund planning negatively.
Disclaimer
The above mentioned are requirements and provide general information regarding recovery of EPF-related data. All these have to conduct massive research work, cross verify all fact-based information, and think about advantages and disadvantages of conducting business in Indian financial market or provident fund-related service.
Summary
Forgetfulness of your EPF account number can lead to problems in withdrawing cash, viewing accounts, or claiming PF online. You can retrieve your EPF account very easily by following procedures like looking into salary slips, getting assistance from UAN-related online services, or checking identification details with Aadhaar and EPFO customer care. Moreover, filing claims for online facility through EPFO’s portal can get you out of this very easily.
Keherching your EPF account and correlating it with the essential identifiers like UAN and Aadhaar ensures easy management of funds. Systematic tracking of salary-based contributions (12% of Basic + DA) simplifies future financial planning. Always refer to EPFO authorities or reliable online portals like Business Today to be informed about the latest recovery processes.