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EPFO members have common queries regarding their EPF accounts. One of these is how to merge PF accounts. In case you are a working professional who has recently changed your job, this stands to be a legitimate query. If you have opened an EPF or PF account related to your previous employer, changing your job means that you have to merge your old EPF account with a new one.
With this in view, the Indian government introduced the UAN or the Universal Account Number. This 12-digit unique number is assigned to EPF members by the EPFO. The UAN enables the linking of PF accounts within a single account. This makes tracking considerably easy and smooth.
Having a UAN comes with several advantages among which are the convenient transfer of funds from one EPF account to another. Additionally, you can link your Aadhaar to the UAN, consequently avoiding the need for a signature to withdraw or transfer funds in your PF account. Nonetheless, before you learn how to merge PF or EPF accounts, it is worth educating yourself about EPF, sometimes referred to as PF.
EPF (Employees’ Provident Fund) or PF (Provident Fund) was launched by the Government of India to establish a savings scheme to benefit salaried employees during their retirement. It is administered by the EPFO (Employees Provident Fund Organisation). Here are some features of EPF you should be aware of:
Also Read: EPF or PF Withdrawal Rules
There are specific prerequisites to consider before you head to the EPFO portal to merge your EPF accounts:
You can easily merge PF accounts by using the online EPFO portal. Follow the steps outlined below to do so:
Visit the website of the EPFO and hit “Services”.
Select the link that states “One Employee and One EPF Account”.
Now you will see a screen that requires you to fill in some details, such as your cell number and your unique UAN. After this, click on “Generate OTP”.
After an OTP is received on your cell number, you will have to enter the same in a required field. Once you have entered and submitted it, you can click on “Verify OTP”.
You will then be directed to another screen on which you have to fill details of your previous EPF accounts that you wish to merge with the new account.
Be sure that you mark the required declaration stating that you are merging accounts and then you may press “Submit”.
You may visit the EPFO home page on the EPFO website to avail of many facilities related to your PF account, besides simply merging accounts. For instance, you can check the status of your account once you have conducted the merging process online.
Also Read: EPF vs EPS
An EPF/PF account is a beneficial facility for employees to save for retirement. With the advanced EPFO portal, employees gain an edge over the control and monitoring of EPF/PF accounts. Processes like the merging of accounts can also be conducted at any time, say, if an employee changes their job. The UAN helps an employee to merge accounts seamlessly, and it is linked to the employee’s important KYC information like your cell phone, PAN, and Aadhaar details. This is why your UAN is an important piece of information that must be kept safely with you. In case you do not know your UAN, it is mentioned on your salary slip. It is important to note that the UAN must be activated before you can engage in any processes related to your EPF/PF online or offline.
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