How to Know Your PF Number in Four Easy Ways?

As per the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act of 1952, all employers in India with more than 20 employees are required to provide EPF benefits. Under the EPF scheme, the employer and the employee contribute equal amounts toward the employee’s EPF account. The corpus accumulated in this account is available for withdrawal at the time of the employee’s retirement.

As an EPF account holder, you must know your PF number to monitor your retirement corpus. You will need your PF account number to check the status of your EPF account and the accumulated balance in it to make withdrawals. You will also need your PF number to transfer your EPF balance to a new account when you switch jobs.

What is a PF number?

The PF number is a 22-digit alphanumeric number given to an employee by their employer at the time of EPF account opening. This number denotes the details of the issuing organisation, state, employee, and the regional EPF office that oversees the respective EPF account activities.

An example of a PF account number is “MAMUM00641480000001258”. Here, the first two letters denote the state in which the EPF office is located, the subsequent three letters denote the region, the next seven digits denote the establishment code, the next three digits denote the establishment extension, and the last seven digits denote the specific employee’s unique PF number.

How to get your PF number?

If you’re not aware of your PF number, you must get it as soon as possible. There are many ways of knowing your PF account number:

• Look at the salary slip

In most cases, an employee’s PF account number is mentioned on their salary slips. Apart from this, your salary slips may contain other relevant EPF details, including your Universal Account Number (UAN), each month’s PF contribution by your employer, etc.

You will find your monthly salary slips on your employer’s internal login portal. You can also look for your salary slips in your mailbox.

• Contact your employer’s HR department

If you don’t get a salary slip from your employer or if your salary slip doesn’t contain your PF account number, you can contact your company’s Human Resources (HR) department. Usually, it is the responsibility of the HR department to manage and maintain the EPF records of all their employees.

• Visit the official Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) portal

Another easy method of knowing your PF number is by visiting the Member e-SEWA page on the official EPFO portal. Below are the steps to get your PF number through this method:

Step 1 – Go to the official EPFO portal

Step 2 – Place your cursor on the “Services” tab on the top-right corner of your screen and click on the “For Employees” option in the drop-down menu

Step 3 – Click on the “Member UAN/Online Services” option in the “Services” section

Step 4 – The UAN member e-SEWA page will open before you. Log in to your account by entering your UAN number, password, and captcha code. If you don’t have your Universal Account Number (UAN), you can click on the “Know Your UAN” option in the “Important Links” section on the same page

Step 5 – Once you log in to your account, you will be able to access a range of EPF services. You will have to click on the “View Passbook” option under the “Employee Centric Services” section

Step 6 – You will receive a One Time Password (OTP) on your mobile number to validate your request. Once you enter this OTP, you can see your PF account number.

• Visit your regional EPFO office

If none of the above options works, you can directly visit your nearest EPFO office to retrieve your PF number. Just contact the enquiry officer and ask them to provide your PF account number. You may be asked to furnish your KYC documents, including your PAN card, Aadhaar card, employment ID card, etc.

The final words

It’s better to know your PF account number as soon as possible. You may find it difficult to do so after you leave your current job. Once you get your PF number, make sure you note it down and save it. This number will come in handy when you need to check your EPF balance, transfer your EPF account to a new employer, or make withdrawals.

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