EPFO news: Employees can now generate and activate UAN through face authentication; here’s how

EPFO update: The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has introduced a new digital feature that allows employees to generate and activate their Universal Account Number (UAN) using Aadhaar-based Face Authentication Technology (FAT), Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday. The minister said that the decision marks a significant step towards contactless, secure, and fully digital service delivery for crores of members. He stated that now the employee can directly generate UAN using Aadhaar Face Authentication Technology (FAT) using the Umang Mobile App. Any Employer can also use the same Umang App to generate UAN using Aadhaar Face Authentication Technology (FAT) for any new employee.

How to generate UAN using the UMANG App?

1. Open the UMANG App and go to UAN Allotment and Activation under UAN services.
2. Enter the Aadhaar number and Aadhaar-linked mobile number.
3. Provide consent and validate the OTP.
4. Capture a live photo using the device camera.
5. Once matched with Aadhaar records, UAN is generated and sent via SMS.
6. After generating UAN, the employee can download the UAN card from the UMANG App or Member Portal.

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The advantages of the new process are 100 per cent validation of Aadhaar and user using Face Authentication. Members who already have a UAN but have not yet activated, can now easily activate their UAN through the UMANG App. Biometric authentication using Face Authentication provides a higher level of security compared to traditional methods such as demographic or OTP-based authentication. This secure verification will also pave the way for a wide range of self-service options for members, eliminating the need for employer or Regional Office intervention in many future services.

In the financial year 2024-25, 1.26 crore (1,26,56,127) Universal Account Numbers (UANs) were allotted by EPFO. However, the minister stated that only 44 lakh (44,68,236) UANs (35.30%) were activated by the Members during the FY 2024-25.