UAN (Universal Account Number): activate, KYC, passbook and withdrawal

Last reviewed: 11 November 2026.

A Universal Account Number is the 12-digit number the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation issues so that provident fund, pension and insurance records can stay together when a person changes jobs. After it is activated, the official member portal can be used for KYC, the passbook, a transfer and a claim. Activation itself is done on UMANG. The longer explanation of the number is on what a UAN is.

What a UAN is and what it unlocks

Treat the UAN as the permanent member number and the member ID as the account opened with one employer. A new job in a covered establishment can create a new member ID. That member ID should be linked to the same UAN, so an earlier balance can be transferred instead of being left under an old employer. PIB Release ID 2120326 (9 April 2025) says that once the UAN is activated the member can view the passbook, update KYC and submit a claim.

The number does not, by itself, move money. A password still has to be set on the official member portal. A forgotten number is retrieved with Know Your UAN on that portal, not by typing it into a private website. The steps are on know your UAN.

Activate or generate a UAN on UMANG

The member portal notice opened on 11 November 2026 says two facilities have been discontinued: UAN activation through the portal, and direct UAN allotment through the portal. Both now go through Aadhaar-based face authentication on UMANG. Open EPFO services, then “UAN Allotment and Activation” under “UAN Services Through Face Auth”.

PIB Release ID 2120326 sets out the sequence. Install UMANG and AadhaarFaceRD from the official stores. Enter the Aadhaar number and the mobile number that is linked with Aadhaar, give consent, and validate the OTP sent to that mobile. Complete the face capture. The outline turning from red to green means the capture succeeded. After a match with the Aadhaar database, the UAN is generated and sent by SMS. The e-UAN card can be downloaded from UMANG or the member portal, and the UAN is auto-activated on the member portal. An existing UAN that was never activated uses the same path. The full sequence, including what to do if the face capture fails, is on how to activate a UAN. Helpdesk 14470 is the number printed on the portal notice.

Do not follow older write-ups that still describe an “Activate UAN” form, an authorisation PIN and a password SMS after a portal OTP. That was the earlier method, summarised for example in PIB Release ID 2075422 in 2024. It is not the current route. Know Your UAN, and death-claim filing, remain among the services listed on the portal.

Login, KYC, passbook and official balance channels

Sign in only at the Unified Member Portal with the UAN and password. A forgotten password is reset on that site’s own forgot-password link. EPFO’s passbook page says the organisation does not call members or pensioners to ask for a deposit, and it tells members not to share Aadhaar, PAN, bank details or an OTP.

KYC is Aadhaar, PAN and a bank account, updated after login. PIB Release ID 2136592 (16 June 2025) records three practical changes: online profile correction using Aadhaar, with employer and EPFO dependency removed in most cases; an online facility to de-link a wrong member ID; and, from April 2025, removal of employer approval for seeding bank account details. The cheque-leaf upload has also been removed for many online claims. The menu names on the live portal are the ones to follow. Detail is on UAN KYC.

The official passbook is a different host: passbook.epfindia.gov.in. That login page (version 1.2.28, 1 November 2026) also prints a missed call to 9966044425 and an SMS of “EPFOHO” followed by the UAN to 7738299899. The passbook helpdesk on that page is 1800 118 005. UMANG can show the passbook after activation. None of those channels is reproduced here. See the passbook page.

Transfer after a job change

A transfer moves earlier provident-fund amounts into the present member account on the same UAN. It is not a withdrawal, and it is not taxed as one. PIB Release ID 2136592 says the transfer claim was simplified with effect from 15 January 2025 by removing the requirement of employer approval in most cases. The claim is still filed after login on the official portal, once KYC is in order. If two UANs exist, the wrong member ID can be de-linked with the facility described in that same release, and the balances should end on one UAN. The comparison with a withdrawal is on PF transfer.

Partial withdrawal and final settlement in 2026

The Employees’ Provident Funds Scheme, 2026, G.S.R. 525(E) dated 29 June 2026 (CG-DL-E-01072026-273957), replaced the familiar paragraph numbers of the 1952 Scheme. Partial withdrawals are paragraph 46. Full settlement is paragraph 49. The minimum partial amount is ₹1,000. The Minimum Balance is 25% of the aggregate of contributions standing to the member’s credit — employee share, employer share and interest — and that 25% has to remain after the withdrawal. The Eligible Member Balance is what is left, so at most 75% of that aggregate.

Housing in paragraph 46(3) covers purchase of a flat or house, a site, construction, repayment of a home loan taken for those purposes, and additions, alterations, renovations or improvements. A member who leaves employment before completing twelve months may take a partial withdrawal not exceeding the eligible balance, under paragraph 46(5). Paragraph 47 explains which earlier service counts towards membership: service under the same employer before the Scheme applied, excluding breaks; Fund membership; membership of an exempted private provident fund; and membership covered by a section 143 exemption immediately before.

Paragraph 49(1) pays the full amount on retirement after attaining 55 (or attaining 55 before payment is authorised), retirement for permanent and total incapacity certified as the paragraph requires, migration from India for permanent settlement or employment abroad, mass or individual retrenchment, and termination under a voluntary retirement scheme agreed by employer and employee. Certain closure and transfer cases in paragraph 49(1)(vi) are paid only after a continuous period of not less than two months immediately before the application. In other cases, paragraph 49(2) allows a full withdrawal only when the member has not been employed in any covered establishment for a continuous period of not less than twelve months. The waiting period does not apply to a female member resigning for the purpose of getting married.

PIB Release ID 2136592 records that auto-settlement of advance claims was enhanced to ₹1 lakh for illness, housing, marriage and education in FY 2024-25. That is background. It is not a promise that a particular claim will be auto-settled. Filing steps, worked examples and the checklist are on EPF withdrawal.

Section 192A of the Income-tax Act deals with TDS on a taxable premature withdrawal of the accumulated balance. The Income Tax Department says no TDS is deducted under that section if the taxable amount is less than ₹50,000, and its rate table lists section 192A at 10%. If PAN is not furnished, section 206AA can require the higher of the prescribed rate, the rates in force, or 20%. A transfer between PF accounts is not a withdrawal. The checklist can flag a likely TDS situation. It does not compute a personal tax bill and it does not ask for a PAN number.

Contribution split, wage ceiling and declared interest

Paragraph 18(2) of the EPF Scheme, 2026 sets the employer contribution at 12% of wages and the employee contribution at the same rate. A 10% rate applies to classes of establishments notified by the Central Government. Paragraph 18(3) limits contributions to the wage ceiling notified from time to time, unless a higher-wage route applies. Paragraph 18(5) rounds each contribution to the nearest rupee, with 50 paise or more counted as the next higher rupee. Paragraph 19 lets an employee opt to contribute on wages above the ceiling. The employer is not obliged to match that extra amount.

Of the employer’s 12%, 8.33% of wages up to the ceiling is diverted to the Employees’ Pension Scheme. The remainder stays in the EPF account. EDLI is 0.5% of wages up to the ceiling, paid by the employer only, and it is not part of the EPF corpus. EPFO’s contribution-rate note describes that long-standing split.

PIB Release ID 2314111 (23 September 2026) says the ceiling, last enhanced to ₹15,000 in September 2014, was revised to ₹25,000 by a Gazette notification dated 17 September 2026, with the key changes effective from September 2026. Where contributions were restricted to the old ceiling, the monthly contribution wage becomes ₹25,000 or actual wages, whichever is lower. The maximum EPS contribution is calculated at 8.33% of ₹25,000 instead of 8.33% of ₹15,000. 8.33% of ₹25,000 is ₹2,082.50, which rounds to ₹2,083. 8.33% of ₹15,000 is ₹1,249.50, which rounds to ₹1,250.

Paragraph 42 (formerly paragraph 60 of the 1952 Scheme) credits interest at the rate determined by the Central Government in consultation with the Central Board. Interest runs on the monthly balance: twelve months on the opening balance less withdrawals, interest up to the month before a withdrawal, and interest on a fresh credit from the first day of the next month until the end of the financial year. The total is rounded to the nearest rupee. The declared rate for 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 is 8.25%. The 2025-26 credit follows EPFO Order No. INV-11/2/2021-INV/E-41960/2519 dated 1 July 2026. A year after 2025-26 has not been declared. The interest calculator may reuse 8.25% only with the label “last declared rate, for illustration”.

One worked year at the old ceiling shows the method. PF wages at ₹15,000 for every month of FY 2025-26, opening balance zero, monthly EPF inflow ₹2,350, declared rate 8.25%: interest is ₹2,350 × 8.25% × (11+10+…+0) / 12 = ₹1,066.31, rounded to ₹1,066. Closing EPF balance ₹29,266. EPS of ₹15,000 and EDLI of ₹900 for the year are not in that corpus.

Calculator and withdrawal checklist

The calculator above asks for monthly PF wages, a start month, years, an optional opening balance, whether contributions stop at the ceiling, and whether the establishment is in the 12% class or a notified 10% class. For the default — November 2026, ₹25,000, one year, opening balance zero, ceiling, 12% — the first month inflow is ₹3,917 and the closing EPF balance is ₹50,419, of which ₹3,415 is interest. Both financial years in that run, 2026-27 and 2027-28, use 8.25% only as the last declared rate. The same engine reproduces the FY 2025-26 result of ₹29,266 when the start month is April 2025.

The checklist applies paragraphs 46 and 49 to an estimated balance. On the default figures — illness, 24 months of membership, still employed, balance ₹2,00,000 — the 25% minimum is ₹50,000 and the maximum partial withdrawal is ₹1,50,000. Change the purpose, the months out of covered work, or a paragraph 49(1) ground and the answer changes. File the real claim on the member portal.

Stay on official portals and ignore paid agents

PIB Release ID 2136592 says EPFO services, including claim filing, transfers, KYC and grievances, are free, and it warns members not to pay cybercafés or unauthorised agents. Grievances can be registered on EPFiGMS or CPGRAMS. The passbook login page warns that EPFO does not call members to demand a deposit. A call that asks for an OTP, a UAN, or a “processing fee” is not an official service. Use the member portal, the passbook site, UMANG, epfindia.gov.in, or helpdesk 14470.

Filing of nominations is mandatory under the EPF Scheme, 2026, according to the member-portal notice opened on 11 November 2026. An e-nomination can be filed and updated during service, on the official portal. Do not send nominee details to any other site. More short answers are on the UAN and EPF FAQ.