PF or EPF is also called the Employee Provident Fund Scheme. It is one where the employees contribute a small portion of their remuneration i.e. 12% of their basic pay every month.
A matching amount is contributed by the employer. Such a contribution, together, form a corpus. This is to be used to fund the employee’s retirement. EPF withdrawal by employees can, however, be done earlier itself i.e. during the course of their employment. Such circumstances have been elaborated later in the article.
A matching amount is contributed by the employer. Such a contribution, together, form a corpus. This is to be used to fund the employee’s retirement. EPF withdrawal by employees can, however, be done earlier itself i.e. during the course of their employment. Such circumstances have been elaborated later in the article.
Here, it would be relevant to mention that EPF organisation has made the allotment of UAN i.e. the Universal Account Number compulsory for all the employees covered under the PF Act. UAN would be linked to the employee’s EPF account. The UAN remains portable throughout the lifetime of an employee and there is no need to apply for EPF transfer at the time of changing jobs.
EPF WITHDRAWAL
1. When can EPF be withdrawn
One may choose to withdraw EPF completely or partially. EPF can be completely withdrawn under any of the following circumstances:
a. When an individual retires from employment
b. When an individual remains unemployed for a period of 2 months or more. Here, it needs a mention that the fact that the individual is unemployed for more than 2 months has to be certified by a gazetted officer.
Further, complete withdrawal of EPF while switching over from one job to another without remaining unemployed for 2 months or more(i.e. During the interim period between changing jobs), will be against the PF rules and regulations and therefore illegal.
Partial withdrawal of EPF can be done under certain circumstances and subject to certain prescribed conditions which have been discussed in brief below:
Sl No
|
Particulars of reason for withdrawal
|
Limit for withdrawal
|
No of years of service criteria
|
Other conditions
|
1
|
Marriage
|
Up to 50%
of employee’s share of contribution to EPF
|
7 years
|
For the
marriage of self, son/daughter, brother/sister
|
2
|
Education
|
Upto 50%
of employee’s share of contribution to EPF
|
7 years
|
For the
education of either himself or his children after class 10
|
3
|
Purchase
of land / purchase or construction of a house
|
For land
– upto 24 times of monthly wages plus Dearness allowance
For house – upto 36 times of monthly wages plus Dearness allowance |
5 years
|
The asset
i.e. land or the house should be in the name of the employee or spouse or
Jointly.
|
4
|
Home loan
repayment
|
Upto a
maximum of 90 %, from both employee’s contribution and employer contribution
in Employee Provident Fund.
|
10 years
|
i. The
property should be registered in the name of the employee or spouse or
jointly
ii. Withdrawal permitted subject to furnishing of requisite documents as called for by the EPFO relating to the housing loan availed, iii. The accumulation in the member's PF account (or together with the spouse), including the interest, has to be more than Rs 20,000. |
5
|
Renovation
of house
|
Up to 12
times of the monthly wages
|
5 years
|
The
property should be registered in the name of the employee or spouse or
jointly.
|
6
|
A little
before retirement
|
Upto 90%
of accumulated balance with interest
|
Once he
reaches 57 years ( as per recent amendment)
|
For
himself
|
2.
Procedure for EPF withdrawal
Broadly,
withdrawal of EPF can be done either by:
- Submission of
a physical application for withdrawal
- Submission of
an online application
1.
Submission of a physical application
For this, one
can download the new composite claim (Aadhar)/ composite claim form
(Non-Aadhar) from here :
The new
composite claim form (Aadhar) can be filled and submitted to the
respective jurisdictional EPFO office without the
attestation of the employer whereas, the new composite claim form
(Non-aadhaar) shall be filled and submitted with the attestation
of the employer to the respective jurisdictional EPFO office.
One may also note,
that in case of partial withdrawal of EPF amount by an employee for various
circumstances as discussed in the above table, very recently, the requirement
to furnish various certificates has been done away with and the option of
self-certification has been introduced for the EPF subscribers.
2.
Submission of an online application
Interestingly, the
EPFO has very recently come up with the online facility of withdrawal which has
rendered the entire process easier and less time-consuming.
Prerequisite: To apply for withdrawal of EPF online through
EPF Portal, make sure that the following conditions are met:
- UAN
(Universal Account Number) is activated and the mobile number
used for activating the UAN is in working condition - UAN is linked
with your KYC i.e. Aadhaar, PAN and bank details
along with the IFSC code.
If the above
conditions are met, then the requirement of an attestation of the previous
employer to carry
out the process of withdrawal can be done away with.
out the process of withdrawal can be done away with.
Steps to apply for EPF
withdrawal online:
Step 2: Login with
your UAN and password and enter the captcha.
Step 3: Then,
click on the tab ‘Manage’ and select KYC to check whether your KYC details such
as Aadhaar, PAN and bank details are correct and verified or not.
Step 4: After the
KYC details are verified, go to the tab Online Services’ and select the option
‘Claim’ from the drop-down menu.
Step 5: The
‘Claim’ screen will display the member details, KYC details and other service
details. Click on the tab ‘Proceed For Online Claim’ to submit your claim form.
Step 6: In
the claim form, select the claim you require i.e full EPF Settlement, EPF Part
withdrawal (loan/advance) or pension withdrawal, under the tab ‘I Want To Apply
For’. If the member is not
eligible for any of the services like PF withdrawal or pension withdrawal, due to the service criteria, then that option will not be shown in the drop-down menu.
eligible for any of the services like PF withdrawal or pension withdrawal, due to the service criteria, then that option will not be shown in the drop-down menu.
