PF fund is considered an important investment tool for salaried employees and a Universal Account Number (UAN) for every PF account is allotted by the EPFO.
EPF is applicable in organisations with 20 or more workers. It pertains to the organised sector of the economy
In case an employee changes their job, the Member ID will change, but the UAN remains the same. However, there are high chances that the employee will be allotted a new UAN.
Two UAN can be generated when the exit date is not updated by the previous employer and/or the UAN is not disclosed by the employee. In such a scenario, both numbers should be merged immediately.
With two accounts, you won’t get the benefit of pension and the amount deposited by your old company will also not be added to the new account. It’s best to merge both your accounts.
In case you have two UANs, there are two options available: either one of them must be deactivated or merged.
How to deactivate one account? If there are two UANs, the existing company and the EPFO must be informed at uanepf@epfindia.gov.in. In this, information about both the old and the new UAN will have to be mentioned.
How to merge? The old UAN is deactivated by transferring the funds to the new one. After the transfer request, EPFO verifies the transfer claim. Both the UANs are linked and EPFO will deactivate the old UAN once the transfer process is done.
The process of UAN merging will be completed automatically. Once EPFO verifies your new UAN, it will be linked with your PF account.
