Side by side
Everything we say about EPFO here, we checked ourselves on their own site or in their own orders. Each row says where it came from and when we looked. If we could only find it second-hand, the row says that too. There is no point arguing about a public service using facts that are wrong.
Last checked: 26 August 2026. EPFO changes often. If you are reading this much later, check it again.
EPFO has got better. The site was rebuilt, fixing your details got easier in January 2025, and most small withdrawals are now paid automatically. We say so below where it is true. What has not changed: nothing tells you what is wrong with your record until a claim comes back refused.
EPFO today
The main site has been rebuilt and looks new. But the things you actually do still happen on other websites. Activating your UAN and checking your passbook are on two different sites. Complaints are on a third. Activation is in a phone app.
Here
One place. Every step, every record and every message about your claim, on one site, with one login.
EPFO today
You log in with your UAN and password. Then to see your passbook you go to a different website and log in again. They are so separate that each one had its own version number on the day we checked.
Here
You log in once. Your case stays at a link you can come back to.
EPFO today
The member portal carries a notice marked NEW: "Dear Member, UAN activation for existing UANs and generation of new UANs can be done through the UMANG app." Activation uses Aadhaar face authentication in UMANG, which needs a second app, Aadhaar Face RD, installed alongside it.
Here
We tell you both apps you need before you start, and which phone number the code will go to. And we show you the screen first, so you already know every question it will ask.
EPFO today
The member portal states: "Filing of nominations by members is mandatory as per EPF Scheme, 2026. E-Nominations can be filed and updated during service period." It is not presented as a prerequisite for claiming, and nothing warns you before you try.
Here
It is one of the seven things on your first page, with the reason said plainly: until you do it, the claim page will not open.
EPFO today
In 2024-25 people sent about 796 lakh claims and about 174 lakh came back refused - roughly 1 in 5. The year before it was closer to 1 in 4. It is getting better.
Here
We check the things that cause those refusals before you send anything, not after.
EPFO today
EPFO’s own question list asks what to do if your money has not come in 20 days - so 20 days is the time they aim for, once a claim actually goes through.
Here
A number of working days for your case, worked out from what is still left and what has to happen first.
EPFO today
On 24 June 2025 EPFO raised the auto-settlement limit for advance claims from ₹1 lakh to ₹5 lakh, with those claims settled within about 72 hours. By 30 October 2025, 71.22 per cent of advance claims were being settled automatically. This applies to ADVANCES - money taken while still a member - not to final settlement after you leave a job.
Here
Most of our six have left their job and want all their money, which the fast route does not cover. So we say which route you are on instead of letting you assume the quick one.
EPFO today
The Joint Declaration circular of 16 January 2025 sorts members into three groups. A: UAN generated from Aadhaar on or after 01/10/2017 - file online. B: UAN generated before that date but with Name, DOB and Gender validated by UIDAI - also file online. C: not Aadhaar-validated, or no UAN - physical filing only. Each parameter needs two documents, or one if submitted through DigiLocker, or none where the member can make the change themselves.
Here
We work out which of those three groups you are in and tell you. That one fact decides whether this takes days or weeks, and nothing on the portal says it.
EPFO today
Aadhaar was removed from the list of documents accepted as proof of date of birth by circular WSU/2024/1/UIDAI Matter/4090 of 16 January 2024, following UIDAI, because under the Aadhaar Act 2016 an Aadhaar number establishes identity but is not by itself proof of date of birth. A birth certificate, school or board certificate, passport or PAN is needed instead.
Here
We treat a wrong name and a wrong date of birth as two different problems. One can be fixed free from your Aadhaar. The other needs a paper you may not still have.
EPFO today
The passbook site offers a missed call to 9966044425, or an SMS reading EPFOHO UAN to 7738299899, as alternatives to signing in.
Here
Your balance is on the page, with every month behind it and the empty months marked.
EPFO today
Grievances go to a separate service at epfigms.gov.in, linked from the EPFO home page, with its own registration.
Here
We write the complaint for you, naming what failed and when, and tell you what to do next if nobody replies.
Something dealing with ID documents and other people’s money should be clear about which parts are real. Nothing here is hidden - this page is linked at the bottom of every page.
The seven conditions and the day count
The seven conditions are written down as rules, and the order comes from which one blocks which. The number is worked out, never typed in, and never guessed by an AI.
Your progress
Saved in a real database. Anything you finish is still there when you come back, and the reset button on the case list puts everything back to the start.
Saathi, the assistant
Answers about your case, in the language you type or speak. It is given your facts and is not allowed to make up a number - every figure it says comes from the rules.
UMANG face check
Today you have to leave, install two apps and come back. We think this should be one step inside the page, through UMANG’s own connection, so we built that step here to show it working. The face check itself is not real: no camera opens, nothing is sent to UIDAI, no OTP goes out.
DigiLocker documents
Today you go to DigiLocker, fetch a file and bring it back. We think the page should just ask DigiLocker for it, with your permission, so you never leave. We built that step here to show what it would feel like. No file is really shared and DigiLocker is never contacted.
The link to your employer
This one really works. Send the link, your old company opens it, ticks the box, and your claim moves the same second. In a real version the link would be locked to them and would expire; here anyone with the link can open it, and that page says so.
EPFO and the employer portal
EPFO has no open connection for anyone to use, and members cannot see the employer site at all. Nothing here reaches EPFO, and no claim is really sent.
Identity and payment
No Aadhaar check, no bank check, no money moves. There is no real Aadhaar, PAN or bank number anywhere in this project.
The people and their documents
Six made-up people, each stuck for a different real reason. Every document is made by us, stamped SPECIMEN, and the numbers on them are deliberately not valid.
The waiting times
Each waiting time is stored with where it came from. If EPFO published it, we use their number. If it is only what members report, we say so.
Once all seven checks are clear, the dashboard lets you submit a mocked claim hand-off. It records a demo reference and updates that case in the database, but it never contacts EPFO or moves money. Resetting the example clears this submission too.
Then it should be fixed. Every row above says where it came from, so you can check it instead of trusting us. This is an independent project. It is not run by EPFO and not approved by them.
Back to the start