No need for fund transfer: Earlier, transferring your EPF money from one employer account to another was a tedious process. But the UAN will do away with the need to transfer your funds at all. All you have to do is furnish your UAN and KYC details to new employer. Once the new employer verifies these details, the money from the older account will get transferred to the new account. But for old accounts (opened before the allotment of UAN), you still need to apply for funds transfer either in digital or physical form.
No employee involvement in withdrawals: At present any request for EPF withdrawal has to be signed by your previous employer and then sent to the EPFO. However, the UAN will change this. “UAN would negate the role of an employer in case of withdrawal. There would be no need for transfer requests as money lying at your previous account would automatically get transferred to your new account once your present employer verifies your KYC details,” says KK Jalan, the Central Provident Fund Commissioner.
Receiving monthly SMS alerts: Every month when you and your employer contribute to your EPF account, you will receive an SMS alert from the EPFO. This will be similar to the SMS alerts you receive every time your bank account is credited or debited. You can even check your total balance by downloading the EPF passbook. However, this facility is not available to employees of exempted establishments at present.
Better utility of employee pension scheme: Due to the tedious process of transfer of fund from one account to another, members preferred to withdraw (which is an easier process) their EPF money. When you withdraw your PF money you also withdraw the fund contributed to Employee Pension Scheme. This affects the pension that you ultimately receive after retirement.
With UAN, your EPF money along with that under EPS is automatically transferred. Transferring the money instead of withdrawing will result in better pension money when you require it most.