Terming the government's decision to issue Universal Accounting Numbers to EPF account holders as a "landmark" step, industry body FICCI said that the move will benefit over 30 million contract workers and other short-term employees.

Y K Modi, Past President Ficci and Member ILO (International Labour Organisation) Governing body pointed out that these workers have been resisting coverage under the EPF Act out of a fear of forfeiting their dues. This is because withdrawal is not possible due to frequent changes in jobs and migration from place to place. This is also true in the case of all the informal sector workers who account for 94% of the total Indian labour force.

For contributing members, "Uniform Account Number" (UAN) Service will facilitate portability of Provident Fund accounts. EPFO has planned to launch the UAN for its over five crore subscribers by October 2014.

UAN will help EPFO to provide services to the subscribers at par with core banking services. The subscribers will not need to apply for PF account transfer on changing jobs.