How to Check Your EPF Balance Online

Employees Provident Fund has always been the most trusted investment option for salaried individuals. Also known as PF, it gives the option of saving for retirement and making the most of employment years. The EPF balance includes contributions made by the employer and the employee.
 

If you are worried about your future and wish to plan efficiently, it is important to know your retirement EPF balance. Knowing your PF balance will not just help you plan your future but also help you in making additional investments.
 

During these times, an informed decision is critical before making any investment. Within a significant period, your EPF account will likely have a sizeable corpus to help you realize critical financial goals. Besides, there are also different withdrawal options that you can use to reinvest your money for your future endeavours.

Brief Overview of EPF Savings Schemes
 

Following are some things you must know about EPF:
 

• According to the country's law, any business with more than 20 employees has to enrol under the EPFO.
• Employers and employees contribute 12% of each salary (basic + dearness allowance) to the EPF monthly.
• Employees can withdraw part of their EPF after completion of a year but only during an emergency.
• NGOs contribute 10% of an employee’s salary to the EPF.
• Funds in the EPF account grow with an interest rate of 8.5% as of 2023.
• There is a tax deduction of 10% from the PF balance in the event of withdrawal before completing five years of employment.

Advantages of EPF Savings Schemes

Here is why every working professional should contribute to the Employees Provident Fund Savings Scheme and what you will get from it:
 

• A statutory body manages EPF. Hence, every organization must follow the regulations of EPFO.
• The EPF account has various facilities to address grievances and compliance for the employee easily.
• Working professionals gain easy access to different online services through EPFO.
• With the help of EPF, claim settlement has become a lot faster.
• EPF further enhances promotion and all kinds of voluntary compliance.
• Working professionals can create a suitable corpus with EPF in the long run.
• Monthly contributions help employees save money that can help them during emergencies or fulfil long-term goals.
• It serves as a major tax-saving tool. The portion of salary deducted as EPF is non-tax deductible income.
• When switching jobs, EPF account holders can transfer their corpus from one employer to another.

Different Ways of checking balance EPF savings schemes

In the age of digital convenience, everyone prefers to access services from the comfort of their home. Checking your employee PF balance is also extremely simple; here are the ways through which you can do it.  
 

Using the EPFO portal

You must have a valid Universal Account Number (UAN) to do an EPF balance check through the EPFO portal. After activation of the UAN, you must follow these steps.
 

1. Log into the EPFO portal using the necessary login credentials
2. Click on the tab “Our Services."
3. Select the "For employees" option from the drop-down menu
4. Click on the "Member Passbook" option present under the services tab
5. After that, you will be asked to enter your UAN and password
6. If you have entered your credentials, you will have access to your EPF account, where you can get passbook details and check your EPF balance online.
    

Using the UMANG application
 

1. Open the Umang application on your mobile and look for the EPFO option on the home screen. It is present under the "Employee Centric Services" menu.
2. Next, click the  "Member" option and the balance option.
3. You will be required to provide your registered mobile number and UAN
4. On successful verification of the credentials, you can check your current EPF balance
    

However, the system will give an error if your mobile number and UAN are not linked.
 

Additional Ways to Check EPF Balance

Some other ways through which you can check your EPF Balance are:
 

SMS

You can follow these steps to check your Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) balance via SMS:

1. Make sure your mobile number is linked with your UAN.
2. Send an SMS from your registered mobile number to 7738299899.
3. he format of the SMS should be: "EPFOHO UAN"
   
   

For instance, if your UAN is 123456789012, you should send the following SMS: "EPFOHO 123456789012."
 

Missed call

This is the easiest way to check EPF balance Just give a missed call to 011-22901406 using a registered mobile number. However, you must update the KYC details and mobile number with UAN. After the missed call, you will get an SMS alert with EPF information.

Increasing the corpus of savings schemes

EPF is a debt investment tool free from market exposure. Hence, if inflation significantly increases, you may have negative returns over a long period. So, it is always a decision to break and reinvest a certain portion of the Corpus-based on your risk appetite. Employee PF balance check will allow you to leverage high-growth investment instruments.
 

With the above options, checking EPF balance online has now become extremely easy. Besides, fund withdrawal from the account has become equally convenient. When transferring funds from your EPF account, consider high-return tools to ensure capital safety.

Investing in fixed deposits with EPF savings schemes

Fixed deposit is a common investment option for most people as it gives relatively higher interest with minimal risk.  You can also loan a sizeable portion of the FD value with a fixed deposit. The liquidity feature gives you peace of mind during monetary emergencies. There are several online tools that you can use to align your investments with future goals.

Conclusion

There are several methods available at your disposal to check your EPF balance. To keep a tab on the EPF balance online, you can either choose to visit the online portal or download the UMANG mobile app. Make the best use of these methods to know  EPF balance to make your future bright and financially secure.