EPFO Introduces Facial Recognition for UAN Services: A New Era of Digital Convenience

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The government has made a big announcement for the employees covered under EPFO. Union Labor Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday that employees covered under the social security schemes of the retirement fund body EPFO ​​will now be able to obtain Universal Provident Fund Account Number (UAN) and related services by just doing facial recognition.

The Union Minister also announced full notification of six districts of Bihar, namely Araria, Saharsa, Aurangabad, Banka, East Champaran and Gopalganj, under the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC). This will bring about 24,000 additional people under the ambit of the social security schemes of ESIC. Speaking to media persons, Mandaviya said that the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has launched advanced digital services for UAN allotment and activation using face authentication. Crores of EPFO ​​members will get the benefit of contactless, secure and completely digital services. The Union Minister informed that now employees can directly create UAN using Aadhaar Face Authentication Technology (FAT) through Umang mobile app. Employers can also use Umang app to create UAN using Aadhaar Face Authentication Technology (FAT) for a new employee.

To generate UAN, the employee has to open Umang App and follow the steps for UAN allotment and activation through face authentication. After Aadhaar-based verification, the UAN will be generated and sent via SMS to the mobile number provided in the Aadhaar database. After generating UAN, the employee can download the UAN card from Umang App or Member Portal. The advantages of the new process are that it has 100 per cent verification of Aadhaar and the user uses face authentication. The minister further informed that members who already have a UAN but have not activated it yet can now easily activate their UAN through Umang App. Using face authentication provides a higher level of security than traditional methods such as biometric authentication, demographic or OTP-based authentication.