Tax, Money & Pension
Activate your UAN and check your PF balance
How to find your UAN, activate it with Aadhaar face authentication, and check your provident fund balance by app, SMS or missed call.
Your Universal Account Number is the key to everything else in the provident fund system — balance, withdrawal, transfer, nomination. Without an activated UAN you are dependent on your employer's HR desk for information that is legally yours.
EPFO has been rolling out a major platform upgrade through 2026, and UAN activation has moved towards Aadhaar face authentication through the UMANG app rather than the older employer-dependent flow. Because features are being released in phases, confirm the current activation route on epfindia.gov.in before you begin.
Before you start
- Your Aadhaar, linked to an active mobile number.
- Your PF member ID or UAN if you know it — check your salary slip, which usually prints it.
- A smartphone, if your activation requires face authentication through UMANG.
Step by step
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Find your UAN if you do not know it
Check any recent salary slip first. If it is not there, use Know your UAN on the EPFO member portal — enter your registered mobile number, verify the OTP, then supply your Aadhaar or PAN and name. The UAN is returned on screen. You can also simply ask your employer, who is obliged to have allotted one.
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Activate the UAN
Go to the EPFO Member e-Sewa portal, choose Activate UAN, and follow the current flow. Where face authentication is required, install the UMANG app, use the Aadhaar Face RD process, and complete verification there. You receive a password to your registered mobile.
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Log in and complete your KYC
Under Manage → KYC, link Aadhaar, PAN and your bank account with IFSC. Do this even if you are not withdrawing anything. Incomplete KYC is the reason most claims later fail, and fixing it under time pressure is miserable.
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Check your balance in the passbook
Use the EPFO passbook service at passbook.epfindia.gov.in, or the simplified passbook view EPFO has introduced. It shows employee contribution, employer contribution, the pension share and interest credited, broken up by each employer you have worked for.
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Use the quick methods when you only want a number
Send an SMS to the EPFO service number in the format EPFOHO UAN followed by your language code, from your registered mobile. Or give a missed call to the EPFO missed-call service from that number. Both return the balance without a login. Confirm the current numbers on epfindia.gov.in, as they change.
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Verify your service history
Under the service history section, check that every employment period appears with correct joining and exit dates, and that no two employers overlap. Errors here block withdrawals later, and are far easier to correct while you are still in touch with that employer.
Fees, timelines and key facts
| Cost | Free, all methods |
|---|---|
| UAN activation | Through EPFO Member e-Sewa; face authentication via UMANG where required |
| Balance by app | UMANG app, EPFO service |
| Balance by SMS / missed call | From your EPFO-registered mobile number only |
| Interest rate | EPFO declared 8.25% for 2025–26; the rate is reviewed annually |
| Helpline | EPFiGMS grievance portal for unresolved issues |
If something goes wrong
Multiple UANs from different jobs
This happens when a later employer generates a fresh UAN instead of using your existing one. Report it through EPFiGMS and ask for the accounts to be merged; keeping two live UANs will fragment your corpus and block claims.
Mobile number in EPFO records is old
Update it through the member portal if you can still log in, otherwise through your current employer. Almost nothing works without it.
Passbook shows no entries
Passbook data appears only after your employer has filed and reconciled the contribution. A new job typically takes a couple of months to show. Persistent absence means the contribution may not have been remitted — raise it with the employer in writing, then with EPFO.
Aadhaar name does not match EPFO name
Get the EPFO record corrected through the joint declaration process with your employer, or the online correction facility where available. Mismatches block every downstream claim.
Questions people ask
Can I check my PF balance without a UAN?
Partly. A missed call or SMS from your EPFO-registered mobile can return the balance, and you can recover the UAN itself through Know your UAN using your mobile and Aadhaar or PAN. But for anything beyond a balance figure you need the activated UAN.
Does my UAN change when I change jobs?
No. That is the point of it. The UAN stays with you for life and each new employer links their member ID to the same number. If a new employer issues a fresh UAN, get the two merged.
How often is interest credited?
Interest is declared annually and credited to the account; the passbook reflects it once EPFO processes the credit for that year.
What if my employer is not depositing PF?
Raise it in writing with the employer, then file on the EPFiGMS grievance portal. Non-remittance of deducted PF is a serious compliance failure and EPFO can act on it.
Official pages for this task
These are the only sites that can actually do this for you. Everything else is a middleman.