If you are an employed professional you are already aware of the PF amount; but you might have many unanswered questions like how to check the PF balance.
In other case if you’re a newly employed who is about to get salary credited to your account and have no information about PF then you’re at the right corner.
In this write-up you’ll learn about what PF is, how you can check the PF Balance and other terminologies associated with it.
PF (Provident Fund):
A Provident Fund is essentially organized by the Government of India, which are used as a savings scheme within the country, and overtime are included under Mandatory savings which could be used post-retirement by every employed individual.
This is the scheme that is followed by most of the developing nations around the world, some being like Australia.
How does it work?
For instance: A person named John saves a certain share of money from his salary which is credited to him every month as PF to the government and the company also gives a certain amount to the Government as PF in the name of the individual and then this amount is returned to him as bulk amount with interest added to it at the time of retirement.
Now you can have a quick doubt,
- Can an individual withdraw his PF amount before his retirement?
Answer for this is yes; a person willing to withdraw his own PF amount can do any time he wants by going through the process and guidelines on the EPFO Website.
What is EPFO?
EPFO or Employee’s Provident Fund Organization is the monitory body for all the provident fund related issues in India. It is started in the year 1952 and falls under the Ministry of Labour and Employment. This body is headquartered in New Delhi and led by the IAS Officers at the Helm directly reporting to the Government of India.
UAN (Universal Account Number):
UAN or Universal Account Number is started in the year 2014, for all the employees who are benefiting through the Employee’s Provident Fund. The UAN has started by the Government of India back in 2014 to ease the process of transfer of loans and pensions or PF amounts from one employer to another employer, as the Government of India was heading towards Digital India.
UAN is a 12 digit number that is given to every employed individual and is permanent for his complete career. To know your UAN Number you can do some of these activities mentioned below;
- Your employer mentions the UAN number in the salary slip.
- You can also find it on the UAN website through the PF Number and by entering some of the personal details like date of birth and mobile number which is registered, and then the UAN Number sent on to the mobile via SMS.
How to Activate the UAN?
UAN has been handy to perform various activities like Withdrawal, checking the balance, and do various loan activities.
The UAN number can also be activated on the EPFO website by clicking on “Member UAN/Online services” and there on entering your UAN number and PF member ID. And when both are entered along with the mobile number a setup pin is sent to the registered Mobile number and after verifying the same UAN is activated.
Now when we have understood all the basic terminology and the process for the activation of UAN, Let’s explore how to check the PF balance of our PF accounts.
#1 How to check PF Balance without UAN?
An individual can check his PF account balance with UAN, in case if he doesn’t have one he can use the PF number and should enter all his personal details.
He/She can go to the EPFO website, by clicking on “Click here to know your PF Balance”, by entering the state he resides and EPFO office under jurisdiction, then giving the PF number and mobile number you will be able to see the balance.
#2 How to check PF Balance with UAN?
The UAN Number is the epicenter for all the activities in regards to your PF-related stuff, now let’s see all the different options we can use to check the balance with the UAN Number in a blink of seconds.
- An Individual can check his PF account balance through the UAN Number, he can go to the Website of EPFO. From there going into the “For Employees” section in you will view a section “Member Passbook “ and thereby entering your UAN Number and the password, you will be able to see your PF transactions by your employer.
What if you know the UAN number and forget the password?
In this scenario, let’s quickly check how to get the new password or to reset the password,
You can click “Forgot password” after typing the UAN Number and then there are two scenarios where you can use the mobile number to get the OTP and reset the password.
And the new password should contain all the characters to make the password strong and can save the password.
Or you can also click No to the mobile number and give your personal details like
Name, Date of birth, Gender, and KYC Type by uploading your documents and verifying it and then can enter new mobile number and generate the OTP and the new password will be set.
- PF can be also Checked through SMS when you have UAN Number!! You can send a message to 7738299899 as “ EPFOHO UAN “ and know the balance. This service can also be offered in 10 other local languages like Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Malayalam, etc.
As English is the default setting and to change to a local language one can send SMS to Same mobile number as “EPFPHO UAN TEL”with your personal language.
- PF can also be checked by giving a Missed call on the number 01122901406, the call will be disconnected in seconds,
To avail of this Missed call service, the account must be registered with the mobile number and any of the three other elements,
- Bank account number
- Aadhaar Number
- PAN is linked to the UAN number,
In this scenario also you can know the PF balance amount
- PF amount can also be checked through the UMANG App which is operated by the Government of India, this app is available in the play store and can easily be downloaded,
Once downloaded you can avail of this services by selecting the right options and then using your registered mobile number, an OTP is sent to your number and then you can login and check your balance.
Coming to the main question after we have seen the various options to check the PF Balance, now let’s put a headwind on whether it is possible to do all your PF related activities without a mobile number registered and by the above-mentioned discussion it surely looks difficult, Let’s enlighten ourselves now,
How to check PF Balance without a Mobile number?
Yes you guessed it right it’s very hard to imagine a PF account without a mobile number registered to it and you have to use your mobile number either directly or indirectly to get your PF balance and PF related queries answered.
The scenario where you don’t use your mobile number directly is when you check your balance through the EPFO website where you go to the section of “EPF Passbook” and which gives you Sign-in Option through the UAN Number and password which has been generated and can know your PF balance.
The Irony is that the password you set is also through the registered mobile number and to activate your UAN also you need your mobile number.
Hence, it’s indicative that the individual should need his/her UAN and mobile number in handy to do their PF related works quickly with ease.
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