EPF or PF which is the Employee Provident Fund or Provident fund is a very important government scheme which is also mandatory. It helps employees to save some amount of their salary every year which they will get back after they retire. Therefore, they won’t suffer financial issues after retirement. There are a lot of benefits of this type of savings account.

According to this government scheme, the employees (government or private) have to contribute about 12% of their basic salary towards provident fund (PF). The lump sum amount can be withdrawn on retirement or a partial amount earlier at any point. There is also an option to claim the PF online by logging into EPFO website. This is very helpful in case you switch jobs, as you can easily transfer your PF funds that you collected from old employer to new employer.

The contribution towards your provident fund begins from your 1st salary itself. This amount is intended for you to completely withdraw when you retire. However, in case of emergency situations like medical emergency, marriage, education loan of children etc, you are allowed to partially withdraw from your PF account. But you first have to give a detailed explanation of withdrawal before you can get the amount.

The important reason you should transfer your Provident Fund account instead of closing it?

There is no tax on a PF account and also not on the interest that you get on the principal amount. But if you close your PF account within 5 years of opening it, then it becomes taxable. This means that you will receive your final amount after deduction of all the taxes.

There is an option of withdrawing the complete amount after 5 years. On the other hand, if you transfer your account, you’ll get all the tax benefits as well as a good rate of interest from EPFO.Also, the amount will be huge over the years which will help you a lot after you retire.

Understanding UAN

In the earlier days, when you left a company and joined another, there was a huge amount of paperwork that you had to go through to avail the benefits of your PF account provided by your older company. But today, all of that can be done just by the click of a few buttons online using UAN.

Universal Account Number (UAN) is a unique number that is assigned to you by your first employer. This was introduced for employees who joined after 2014. Your employer/HR will give you your UAN. If they don’t then you can request them to do so. If you already have your PF number, then you can apply for your UAN online also. You may also be able to find your UAN number on your payslip.

Steps to transfer your EPF account

All the necessary steps that you need to follow to transfer your provident fund from old to the new employee using your UAN in given below. Make sure that you already have your UAN number with you.

Step 1: Click here.

Step 2: Use your PAN number or another identity to log into this website. You can enter details as your Aadhaar, PAN number and the registered mobile number of your earlier employer.

Step 3: You then need to check the eligibility of your account for fund transfer. You can do that by searching your previous employer by entering your State where you were previously employed and then enter the establishment number.

Step 4: Then you have to click on the “Check Eligibility” button.

Step 5: Then the website will show you if your account has the eligibility or not. If not, then again check the details or contact your previous employer to provide the correct details. If you are eligible, then you can transfer your PF account from EPFO website.

Step 6: There’s a tab on top called “Request for transfer of account”. Click on it.

Step 7: Fill Form 13 which is for PF transfer. This form is further divided into 3 parts which are Personal details (including salary account details), details of old PF account and lastly, the details of your current PF account. You should fill all the required information without any mistake. You can take help of your HR of your company for the right information.

Step 8: You can then click “Preview” and check once again all the details that you have entered in your form. If something is incorrect then go back and change it immediately.

Step 9: Once you’re okay with your form, enter the captcha as displayed there and then click on “I Agree” button. It will then submit your form and start the transfer process. The status of the transfer can easily be checked online. There’s a tab called “know your status” on which you can click to check the current status.

This is how easy and efficiently you can transfer your PF account using UAN through EPFO portal. If you have any queries or suggestions then please leave a comment below.