The word providence indicates a level of preparation that enables an individual to face future eventualities. Forgetting a password or having to change your mobile phone number due to unforeseen circumstances are also "eventualities" that one should be prepared for. The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) unified portal requires you to complete certain tasks in order to still maintain access to your EPF account and use it in times of need.
Changing/Updating Mobile Phone Number
If you know your credentials for accessing and using the Unified Portal, these can be used to update or change the mobile number in the EPF/UAN portal online. The process is simple and can be explained as below –
Go to EPFO’s Unified Member Portal. You can then log in with your UAN number and password. Now visit the ‘Manage’ tab and select the ‘Contact Details’ Option from the drop-down menu to change your contact details.Then, a dialog box will appear where you have the option to change your mobile number or email id. Base your choice on the option that indicates the credential that you wish to change. Then you can enter your new/updated mobile in the relevant fields. Next, you can press on the option ‘Get Authorization Pin’.Now, you will receive an OTP on the new mobile number. You can enter the OTP in the designated field in the next window and then press ‘Save Changes’ button. You will see a message which says ‘Contact details updated successfully’.Changing/Updating Password and Mobile Number
In a situation where one has forgotten the password and the mobile number that you previously used for logging in is no longer valid, things might get a bit tricky. You would have noticed that if you want to update the mobile number, you need to know the login details. Without the number as a saving grace, you will need to access your account by following the following steps -
Visit EPFO’s Unified Member Portal. Then click on ‘Forgot Password’.There you will have to enter your Uan and the Captcha code and then click on the ‘Submit’ button.In the next window, your existing mobile number which is linked to UAN is displayed. If you wish to only change the password, then click on ‘Yes’ to receive OTP on your registered mobile number. This OTP can be used to change or reset the UAN Login password.In case, you wish to change your registered mobile number in UAN account, you can click on the ‘No’ option.Next, you will get a dialog box in where you have to enter your details like – Name, Date of Birth and Gender details as you had put in the UAN and then click on ‘Verify’ button.If details entered by you are the same as the records available with the EPFO, then you will have to further furnish some other details like either Aadhar or PAN. Here you need to enter your updated mobile number and click on ’Verify’ tab. If details are validated successfully, you can put your new mobile number in the designated tab and ‘Get OTP’. Now you can enter the OTP which you received in your new mobile number to update your mobile number at EPF UAN.If the details which you have entered do not match with the details available in the EPFO, a message which says, ‘Verification Failed’ will be displayed. In such a scenario you will need to contact your employer or EPFO. This will help you get the correct UAN details and change your mobile number. It is to be noted that during this process of changing or updating the mobile number, the above steps will work only when you have linked the Aadhar or PAN with your UAN. Otherwise, the process cannot be completed.
An EPF account can go a long way to secure your future. Apart from EPF accounts, banks and other financial organizations like Bajaj Finance offer a variety of FD options with plenty of benefits so you can rest assured about the times ahead, both turbulent as well as calm.
About the Author
Aman Khanna is an experienced financial advisor. He has written numerous pieces on various investment topics like Mutual Funds, FD, RD and many more.
