How To Find PF Account Number?

The EPF, or the Employee Provident Fund, was initiated by the Indian government in the year 1952. The Ministry of Labour and Employment was behind this initiative, and the department actively looked after the proceedings of the fund that contributes towards the savings of salaried professionals in India. EPF is a perfect scheme for working professionals to accumulate savings through the years of employment. For an employee to manage or monitor the details of their PF account, they must know their EPF number.

Do you know your PF number? If you are unable to receive your EPF number from your employer, you can find it through many other sources. You may use your UAN or Universal Account Number to track your EPF number and manage the account accordingly.

Let’s discuss how to check the PF number in this post.

What is a Provident Fund (PF) Account Number?

EPF, commonly termed as PF account number, is the number of an employee’s provident fund account that is assigned to the employee to check and manage their provident fund status and balance, etc. Employees must have their PF number to withdraw money from their EPF account. Every employee should have their own EPF number throughout their employment tenure, as it could be challenging to retrieve the PF number once they have left the job.

However, the introduction of UAN or the Universal Account Number has made it easy for employees to find their EPF number easily. If you want to know how to get a PF number from UAN, you will find the details in this post.

Before that, let’s see what a UAN is. Employees serve different employers during their tenure of employment. Every time they join a new organization, they receive a PF number from their employer to manage their provident fund account. A UAN is a 22-digit alphanumeric number that links several IDs offered by different employers to the PF account of an employee. This UAN number is provided by the employer during the opening of an EPF account for the employee.

The UAN or the Universal Account Number is assigned to every employee and stays the same throughout the tenure of employment of the individual, irrespective of the organization working for. For employees who do not have an existing UAN, employers can generate UAN numbers for employees through the official portal of EPFO.

The UAN number contains information such as the organization or the company that the employee is working with, the details of the employee, the state or location of the employee, etc. The EPF office oversees the activities of the EPF account.

Importance of a PF Account Number – Why You Should Know it?

The EPF account number serves as the main identifier of your EPF account, while the UAN is the second one. Every employee needs to know their PF number and how to find their PF account number for the following reasons:

• PF account number is mandatorily required to withdraw EPF balance
• EPF number can be used easily to find the UAN number of an employee
• Also, you need your PF account number to check your EPF balance
• A PF number is also required if an employee wants to transfer his/her EPF balance from one ID or employer to a new one
• Hence, every employee must find out how to know the PF account number in case they still don’t have it

What is the Format of a PF Account Number?

PF account number is a combination of alphabets and digits. For instance, a PF number might look like the below:

‘DLGHY0012780000001313’

The above number contains the following details:

• The initial two alphabets in the number denote the state. For example, DL denotes Delhi, AS denotes Assam, etc.
• The following three letters, GHY denote the regional PF office code
• The following seven numbers define the employer ID of an employee
• The three numbers that come next stand for the extension code of the company ID
• Finally, the last seven digits show the actual EPF account number that is specific to particular employees

Also Read: EPF vs PPF vs VPF: Which one is better?

How to Check PF Account Number?

There are several ways to find out one’s EPF number. Some of them are:

1. Through Salary Slip:

Most employers mention the EPF number of their employees in their salary slips. So, an employee can check the salary slip to see if the EPF number is there, which is the first step to finding their PF account number.

2. Through Employer:

The EPF number of an employee can also be traced from the employer’s office by contacting the company’s Human Resources (HR) Department, which is responsible for assigning your EPF number.

3. Through EPFO Portal:

Below are the steps to visit the EPFO portal to find your EPFO account number.

1. First, visit the EPFO official portal

2. On the top-right corner, go to the ‘Services’ tab and click ‘For Employees’ in the drop-down menu

3. Next, in the ‘Services’ section, click on the option ‘Member UAN/Online Services’

4. You will reach the screen of UAN member e-SEWA. Here, enter your UAN number to log in to your account, along with the password and captcha.

(In case you don’t have your UAN, first get it by clicking on “Know Your UAN” on the same screen under ‘Important Links’) 

5. The EPF page will allow several services after you log in to the account. Go to ‘View Passbook’ under ‘Employee Centric Services’ and generate OTP to validate the request

6. Enter the OTP in the next step to find your PF account number

4. Through EPFO Office:

Another option for an employee to collect the EPF number is through the EPFO office. You can visit the EPFO office to find your PF number and offer all the required details, including proof of identity. The employee must also fill out an application form for the same.

5. Through UAN Portal:

UAN should be available to every employee since it makes it easy for an employee to find the PF account number on the EPFO portal. They can log on to the EPFO portal, follow the above steps, and provide the UAN as required to access PF details.

Also Read: How to Link Aadhaar with UAN and PF

Other Ways to Find PF Number

1. Through Your Registered Mobile Number:

An employee can use their registered mobile number if it is linked to the PF account to receive regular updates from EPFO. They can also get their PF and UAN account details as SMS alerts.

2. Through PAN:

You can also find your PF number through PAN if it is linked to the PF account and if you don’t have your UAN. Here are the steps:

1. Go to the EPF portal
2. Enter PAN card details as well as the Captcha code
3. Next, click on the ‘Get Authorisation PIN’ button
4. In the next step, click on ‘I Agree’. Now, on your registered email ID, you will receive an OTP. Enter the OTP
5. Click on ‘Validate OTP and Get UAN’
6. Once you get the UAN, you can find the PF number by following the steps mentioned above.

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To Sum Up

Funds accumulated under an EPF account are important for an employee for their retirement life. Hence, every employee must know the PF account number. The above ways can be followed to trace your PF number if you still don’t have it.

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