Checking of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) balance has become very simple for members of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). The four different methods to check the EPF balance are mentioned below:

1. EPFO Portal

Employees can use the EPFO portal to access their EPF passbook. However, the employees must have a UAN and it must be activated. Given below is the process that employees must follow to check the EPF balance using the EPFO portal:

First, the employees must visit the EPFO portal (https://www.epfindia.gov.in/site_en/index.php). On the next page, the member must click on ‘For Employees’ under the ‘Our Services’ tab. Next, the member must click on ‘Member Passbook’ which can be found under the ‘Services’ column. On the next page, the member must enter his/her UAN, password, and captcha details and click on ‘Login’. On the next page, the member will be able to check his/her EPF balance under the respective Member ID.

2. UMANG App

By downloading the Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG) app, employees will be able to check the EPF balance on a mobile phone. The app was introduced by the government in 2018 and various government services are available on the app. Apart from checking EPF balance, claims can be raised as well as tracked on the app. A one-time registration must be done using the member’s mobile number that has been registered with the UAN to have access to the app.

Let us take a look at how you can view your historical EPF transactions through the UMANG app:

Install the app and open it on your mobile phone. Click on the EPFO option.

Select “Employee Centric Services”

On the next screen, you will find the “View Passbook” option. Clicking on this will display your EPF transactions, including withdrawals and deposits from your current and previous employment.

3. Missed Call

EPF members can also check their balance by giving a missed call to 011-22901406 from their registered mobile number. However, the employee’s Permanent Account Number (PAN), Aadhaar, and bank account number must be linked with their UAN in order to avail this service. In case the above details are not linked with the UAN, the employee can request the employer to link them.

4. SMS Service

In case employees have activated their UAN, they can send an SMS to 7738299899 to check their PF balance and the last contribution. The format that the SMS should be sent in is EPFOHO UAN ENG. The preferred language that the employee would like to receive the details in is the last three letters.

Currently, the facility is available in Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Hindi, and English. In case the employee wants the PF details in Kannada, the format the SMS must be sent in is EPFOHO UAN KAN. However, the PAN, Aadhaar, and bank details of the employee must be linked to the UAN for the employees to avail these services.

How to Check EPF Balance of Exempted Establishments/Private Trusts

Since the EPF contribution, in the case of an exempted establishment or private trust, goes to the company managed trusts rather than the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation, only the company managed trust can reveal an employee's PF account balance. There is no common method for checking PF balance when it comes to EPF accounts maintained with exempted establishments. The EPFO does not provide passbook facility for the members of exempted establishments.

According to the Employee Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, some employers can manage their own PF schemes for their employees. Exempted establishments are large companies like Godrej, HDFC, Nestle, Wipro, TCS, Infosys, etc. that have in-house EPF trusts and are exempted from contributing their EPF corpus to the EPFO. These exempted establishments can manage the EPF corpus with their own trusts. However, these trusts are expected to provide higher returns than the EPFO-managed fund. The same rules for EPF contribution to EPFO apply to these trusts as well.

Employees of such exempted establishments can check their EPF balance in the following 4 ways:

Check your PF slip or payslip: Most big establishments, provide salary slips to their employees via internal emails. Employees can check their payslips for EPF account balance. Some companies also give EPF slip in addition to the salary slip. Employees can find their monthly contributions as well as their EPF account balance in that slip. Check the company's employee portal: Most large companies maintain a company website on which employees can log in and check their EPF account balance in the EPF section. Wipro and TCS are an example of such companies that provide the online facility to check one's EPF account balance and get PF statement. Check with the company's HR department: Employees contact the company's HR department as it deals with the employees' PF and is better able to provide the related details. Track your contributions: Employees can keep track of their monthly contributions by checking their salary slips and thus calculate the annual EPF balance. Use the interest rate set by the EPFO for EPF interest calculation. Keep in mind, a fixed sum of money (up to Rs.1,250 per month) goes to the EPS account.

EPF Balance for inoperative Accounts

According to a notification issued by Government in November 2016, even the dormant accounts will continue to accrue interests and it will not be classified as inoperative anymore. EPFO had stopped paying interest to dormant accounts since 2011. But once the new amendment comes into effect, all inoperative accounts will receive interests at the rate of 8.8% per annum. Earlier, accounts turned inoperative chiefly due to two reasons—the cumbersome processes involved in EPF transfer and employees preferring to open new accounts while switching jobs. Communication gap between current and previous employers of an individual also contributes largely to the same. In cases where employees are unable to track the details of their old inoperative accounts, they can approach the EPFO help-desk and get the balance in those accounts transferred to the current one.

FAQs on EPF Balance