# Get your EPFO returns and challans through an API

> Read each wage month's Due Deposit Balance Summary, your In Process Challans with their TRRNs and your Active Member List from the EPFO Unified Portal with one API call each. Or have a workflow check them every month and email you what is still due.

Page: https://fous.com/automate/epfo-unified-portal-employer
Updated: 2026-11-12

Works with your own EPFO Unified Portal (Employer) account. Fous is an independent product.

## What you can build on the Unified Portal

### Get the due deposit balance for a wage month

Reads the Account Wise Due Deposit Balance Summary for one wage month: dues, paid and balance for each account, plus the 7Q/14B summary.

- Takes: Wage month
- Returns: Wage month, account, dues, paid, balance, 7Q interest, 14B damages

### List challans waiting to be paid

Reads the In Process Challans List under View/Pay Challan: each prepared challan with its TRRN, wage month and amount.

- Takes: Wage month (optional)
- Returns: TRRN, wage month, amount

### Get the active member list

Opens View/Upload for a wage month and reads the Active Member List the portal offers for download, one row per member.

- Takes: Wage month
- Returns: UAN, member name and each other column in the list

### Upload a return file for review

Uploads a .txt return file as a Regular, Supplementary or Revised Return and returns the return file ID, or the error file, without approving it.

- Takes: Wage month, return file (.txt), return type, contribution rate (12% or 10%)
- Returns: Return file ID, status, error file rows, return statement totals

## Automate the Unified Portal with a workflow

A [workflow](/product/workflows) runs your methods as one process, with nobody at the screen. A schedule or a call from your own system starts it, the steps run in order, and the result arrives in your inbox or in the systems you already use.

### Balance still due for last wage month

Starts: Every month on the 10th at 9:00 India Standard Time

1. Get the due deposit balance for the previous wage month.
2. Keep the accounts with a balance above zero, and the 7Q/14B amounts if any.
3. Email you the accounts, dues, paid and balance, or a line saying nothing is due.

### Challans prepared but not paid

Starts: Every weekday at 16:00 India Standard Time

1. List the challans in the In Process Challans List.
2. Keep the ones that were not there on the last run.
3. Post each TRRN, wage month and amount to your finance system's webhook.

### New and missing members, month by month

Starts: Every month on the 5th at 8:00 India Standard Time

1. Get the active member list for the previous wage month.
2. Compare it with the last run and keep members who are new or no longer listed.
3. Email you both lists with UAN and name.

You can run a workflow by hand on every plan, Free included. Schedules and webhook triggers come with the paid plans, from $29 a month.

## Once built, one call from your code

Once you have built a [method](/product/methods), it is one POST to /v1/runs from your backend, or a tool an AI agent calls over MCP. This is what “Get the due deposit balance for a wage month” would look like.

Example request:

```
curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "method": "unifiedportal-emp.epfindia.gov.in/get_due_deposit_balance",
    "input": {
      "wage_month": "2026-10"
    }
  }'
```

Example response:

```
{
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "wage_month": "2026-10",
    "accounts": [
      {
        "account": "Account 1",
        "dues": 412860,
        "paid": 412860,
        "balance": 0
      }
    ],
    "interest_7q": 0,
    "damages_14b": 0,
    "total_balance": 37420,
    "currency": "INR"
  }
}
```

An example with invented data, not a ready-made endpoint. The method exists in your organization once you build it, and its name, inputs and fields follow your request.

## The Unified Portal’s own options

EPFO offers employers no API. The monthly Electronic Challan cum Return is a .txt file you upload in the Unified Portal, check through the return statement and approve, and only then prepare a challan with a TRRN and pay it through a bank. Member KYC is approved on screen with a registered digital signature or Aadhaar e-Sign.

| Option | What it covers | What it takes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ECR return file upload | Regular, Supplementary and Revised Returns for a wage month, in the format given in the portal's Help file. | A .txt file per return, uploaded in the portal and approved there by the employer. |
| Contribution file and Active Member List | A contribution file for Part Payment, and the Active Member List as an Excel download. | Upload or download in the portal, one wage month at a time. |
| The Unified Portal by hand | Return Monthly Dashboard, Due Deposit Balance Summary, View/Pay Challan, member KYC approvals. | An employer login ID and password; a registered DSC or e-Sign for KYC approvals. |

Read on November 12, 2026: [EPFO: User manual for the Re-engineered ECR](https://www.sgcms.com/regulatory-updates/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/User-Manual-ReECR_v3.0.pdf), [EPFO Unified Portal, employer sign-in](https://unifiedportal-emp.epfindia.gov.in/epfo/).

## Signing in to the Unified Portal

The Unified Portal signs employers in on its Establishment Sign In page with a login ID and password; a forgotten password is sent by SMS to the registered mobile number. With Fous you sign in once through that page with your own employer account: the login is sealed with AES-256, code and AI agents never see it, and an expired session is signed back in.

## Worth knowing

- **No challan until the return is approved**: You upload the return, download the return statement and approve it. Only then does the portal let you prepare a challan, which gets a TRRN and waits in In Process Challans to be paid or cancelled.
- **Supplementary and revised returns have rules**: A Supplementary Return adds members not in the approved Regular Return. A Revised Return is allowed only when no other return is in process and no payment has started for that wage month.
- **Four months of relaxation, then all members**: For the first four months of the re-engineered ECR, a regular return could cover part of your active members. After that, a regular return is accepted only when returns for all active members of the month four months earlier were filed.
- **Approvals need a registered signatory**: Member KYC is approved with the DSC or Aadhaar e-Sign of a registered authorised signatory. A new e-Sign registration has to be approved by your EPFO field office before it can be used.

## More in Government: India and South Asia

- [MCA21](https://fous.com/automate/mca21.md)
- [Income Tax e-Filing Portal](https://fous.com/automate/income-tax-e-filing-portal.md)
- [GST Portal](https://fous.com/automate/gst-portal.md)
- [FBR IRIS](https://fous.com/automate/fbr-iris.md)
- [TRACES](https://fous.com/automate/traces.md)

Other industries: [Travelport Smartpoint](/automate/travelport-smartpoint), [ARCA - servicios con Clave Fiscal](/automate/arca-servicios-con-clave-fiscal), [eTIMS](/automate/etims), [EU Funding & Tenders Portal](/automate/eu-funding-and-tenders-portal), [Chorus Pro](/automate/chorus-pro), [Accela Citizen Access](/automate/accela-citizen-access).

## Frequently asked questions

### Does the EPFO Unified Portal have an API?

No, not for employers. EPFO's re-engineered ECR is a .txt return file uploaded in the portal, approved on screen, then paid through a challan with a TRRN. The file follows the format in the portal's Help file, and the portal also offers an Excel download of the Active Member List.

### What is a TRRN in the re-engineered ECR?

It is the number the portal gives a challan when you prepare it. You get one only after approving the return, from Full Payment, Part Payment, admin and inspection charges or 7Q/14B charges, and the challan then waits in the In Process Challans List with Pay and Cancel.

### How do I correct wages after approving a return?

File a Revised Return for the members you want to change. It is allowed only when no other return is in process and no payment has started for that wage month, and downward revisions must come before payment starts. Its details overwrite the earlier return's.

### Is Fous affiliated with the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation?

No. Fous is an independent product. You use it with your own Unified Portal employer account, and a method reads and does only what that account can.

Fous is an independent product: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the operator of EPFO Unified Portal (Employer) (Employees' Provident Fund Organisation). The name is used only to say which system this page is about. Something here wrong or out of date? Write to legal@fous.com.