Universal Account Numbers will solve issues related to fund transfer. The employees were identified only through the employers so far, he said.

A Universal Account Number (UAN) will be allotted to every member by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), according to Regional PF Commissioner II of Kadapa P.B. Verma has said.

Mr. Verma told the media that the EPFO had launched a project to allot UAN to every employee in order to mitigate the problems of employees as well as employers. Every employee has a separate Provident Fund (PF) account number so far and changes of establishment or industry necessitated transfer from one account number to another.

The employees were identified only through the employers so far, he said.

Multiple account numbers have been a major area of concern as a majority of grievances of employees are related to transfer of funds from one account number to another, which is creating needless workload for the employers.

In accordance with the announcement of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech, UAN has been allotted to each PF members by the EPFO by converting the existing account numbers of employees who have contributed through electronic challan-cum-return from January to June 2014, Mr. Verma informed.

“The details of UAN allotted to each PF member have been provided to employer login (OTCP portal) and the employer has to download and communicate it to the employee concerned. The employer has to collect the Know Your Customer (KYC) details in respect of each EPF member, who has been allotted UAN number and upload the KYC. The uploaded KYC details should be approved by the employers with digital signature,” Mr. Verma said.

Hence, in order to upload the KYC details of every member, the employer should have a digital signature certificate and shall be registered as having digital signature in the OTCP portal.

The detailed process can be downloaded from the website www.epfindia.gov.in, the Regional PF Commissioner said.

Suggestions can be given and assistance can be sought on tollfree helpline number 1800118005 or by sending e- mail to v.ranganath@epfindia.gov.in, he added.