How to Activate UAN on EPFO Portal — A Step by Step Guide

Universal Account Number (UAN) is the account where employees' provident fund (EPF) deposits are made. In many companies, salaried employees are given EPF as a benefit that saves taxes and adds to long-term savings. Many employees are aware of money being added to their PF deposits, but don't often know where this money is and how to access it. To check PF balance, you need to activate your UAN first. This is a fairly simple process that you need to follow if you have never activated your UAN before. Once you activate UAN, you will be able to check PF balance.

How to find UAN

Your UAN will usually be displayed on your payslip. If it is not displayed here, you should contact the finance department of your organisation to find your UAN. This is only applicable to those who get PF deducted from their salary.

How to activate UAN

If you have never checked your PF balance, follow these steps to activate your UAN via the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) website.

1. Go to the EPFO website and click Activate UAN on the bottom-right corner of the page.
2. Key in your UAN, name, date of birth, mobile number, and the captcha text. Then click Get Authorization Pin.
3. You will now get a one-time password (OTP) on your mobile number. Copy it.
4. Verify all the details on the EPFO page, and tick the check-box next to I Agree.
5. Paste the OTP from your phone next to Enter OTP and click Validate OTP and Activate UAN.

This will activate your UAN and the password will be sent to your mobile number. You will still need to wait for six hours before you can log in to the EPFO portal to check PF balance. Six hours after activating UAN, you can check PF balance.