Provident Fund- Withdrawal

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 contributions, 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.

PF Withdrawal

When can EPF been withdrawn

One may choose to withdraw EPF completely or partially. EPF can be completely withdrawn under any of the following circumstances:

• When an individual retires from employment
• 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.

Procedure for PF withdrawal

Broadly, withdrawal of EPF can be done either by:

1. Submission of a physical application for withdrawal
2. Submission of an online application

Submission of a physical application

For this, one can download the new composite claim (Aadhar)/ composite claim form (Non-Aadhar).

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.

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.

Steps to apply for EPF withdrawal online

Step 1: Go to the UAN portal by clicking EPF Withrawal Online Form 

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.

 EPF Withdrawal Forms

At the time of filing an online withdrawal claim, you will find two options

• Only PF Withdrawal- Form 19
• Only Pension Withdrawal- Form 10C

Form 19

This form is be filled to withdraw the entire accumulated PF amount which is also known as ‘final settlement’. You need to fill your personal details and employment details such as your date of leaving, reason of leaving services, date of joining services, PAN, UAN and Aadhaar Number, bank account details, full postal address, etc.

Form 10C

If you want to withdraw only the Pension amount, Form 10C should be filled. The fields in this form are similar to that in Form 19. The Pension amount is regulated by the Employee Pension Scheme, 1950 whereas the PF amount is regulated by the Employee Provident Fund Scheme, 1952. So even if you want to withdraw both the amounts, you will have to fill the two forms separately.

Composite Claim Form

When applying for the withdrawal offline, you are required to fill out the Composite Claim Form which serves the purpose of three forms- Form 19 (For Final PF Settlement), Form 10C (For Pension Withdrawal) and Form 31 (For Part Withdrawal of PF amount).

Reasons for PF withdrawal

Subscribers can make a complete or partial withdrawal under the following circumstances:

• If the member has reached the age of retirement.
• If he/she needs to fund their house construction or pay their home loan.
• To cover medical expenses.
• To cover wedding or education expenses.
• If they have been unemployed for a duration of more than 60 days or two months.
• If they wish to move permanently abroad.
• If a female employee is resigning due to reasons such as pregnancy, childbirth, getting married, etc.

Limits of EPF Partial Withdrawal

Employees can make withdrawals based on the below listed circumstances. Listed below is the withdrawal purpose, the minimum service requirement to be eligible to make the withdrawal, the PF withdrawal limit and the relations for who the employee can make the withdrawal.

Benefits of claiming EPF Online

Making an online EPF withdrawal claim offers a number of benefits, such as –

• Hassle-free Withdrawal-Online claim saves you from the hassle of visiting the PF office in person and standing in long queues. You just need to fill the forms online from the comfort of your home.
• Reduced Processing Time-With online claims, the amount will be processed and credited into your bank account within 15-20 days of the application. The government plans to further reduce the processing.
• No need to visit previous employer for verification-Unlike offline claim wherein you have to get your documents attested by the employer, online claims verification is done automatically. This is especially helpful for people who have moved to a new city as it will save them from the trouble of mailing the documents or travelling long distances.

Types of PF Withdrawals

Subscribers can make three different types of PF withdrawals on the EPFO member portal. They are:

• PF final settlement
• PF partial withdrawal
• Pension withdrawal benefit

Subscribers can make the above listed withdrawals on the EPFO member portal with the attestation of their employer if they have seeded their Aadhaar card details with their UAN.

PF Withdrawal Claim Forms

The PF Withdrawal Claim Forms that need to be submitted to withdraw the provident fund or pension fund vary based on the age, reason for making the claim, and whether or not the employee is still in service. Earlier, Form 19, Form 31 , and Form 10C were used to make withdrawals. But recently, a composite claim form has replaced the above-mentioned forms. The forms that required the UAN details of the employee have now been replaced with a composite claim form that requires the Aadhaar details of the employee.

As mentioned earlier, the claim form that needs to be submitted varies based on certain criteria.

When an employee is still under service:

• If he/she wishes to take an advance from the PF account, the composite claim form (Aadhar/Non-Aadhar) has to be submitted.
• If he/she wishes to finance his/her LIC policy through the PF account, Form 14 has to be applied.
• If he/she has crossed 58 years of age and wishes to claim the pension fund.
• Form 10D should be applied for a monthly pension if 10 years of eligible service has been completed.
• The composite claim form (Aadhar/Non-Aadhar) should be submitted if 10 years of eligible service has not been completed.

When an employee switches the job

• And wishes to transfer the account, Form 13 should be applied.
• When an employee leaves an establishment and doesn’t join another
• He/she can make a PF and pension fund claim using the composite claim form (Aadhar/Non-Aadhar).
• Is above the age of 58, and has completed 10 years of eligible service, he/she can make a PF claim using the composite claim form (Aadhar/Non-Aadhar) and a pension claim using Form 10D.

When an employee leaves an establishment due to a physical disability

• He/she can make a PF claimusing composite claim form (Aadhar/Non-Aadhar).
• He/she can make a pension claim using Form 10D.
• Is above the age of 58 and has not completed 10 years of eligible service, he/she can make the PF and pension claim using the composite claim form (Aadhar/Non-Aadhar).

When an employee is deceased while in service

• Before the age of 58 while still in service, the nominee/heir/beneficiary can apply for the PF settlement using Form 20, monthly pension using Form 10D, and EDLI (Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance) amount using Form 5IF.
• After the age of 58 and had completed 10 years of eligible service, the nominee/heir/beneficiary can claim the PF using Form 20, the pension using Form 10D, and the EDLI amount using Form 5IF.
• After the age of 58 and had not completed 10 years of eligible service, the nominee/heir/beneficiary can make the PF settlement using Form 20, withdraw the pension using the composite claim form (Aadhar/Non-Aadhar), and claim the EDLI amount using Form 5IF.

When an employee is deceased

• Before the age of 58, the nominee/heir/beneficiary may claim the PF amount through Form 20, and pension amount through Form 10D.
• After the age of 58 and had completed 10 years of eligible service, the nominee/heir/beneficiary can claim the PF amount using Form 20, and the pension amount using Form 10D.
• After the age of 58 and had not completed 10 years of eligible service at the age of 58, the nominee, heir or beneficiary can apply for a final PF settlement using Form 20 and for the pension fund using the composite claim form (Aadhar/Non-Aadhar).

Here are five things to know about the new provident fund (PF) withdrawal rules:

1) Currently, an EPFO subscriber can withdraw the accumulated funds in EPF kitty after two months of unemployment and settle the account in one go.

2) Under the new EPF withdrawal rules, EPFO subscribers will be given the option to withdraw 75% of accumulated corpus after one month of unemployment and at the same time keep the account active.

3) Also under the new rules, EPFO subscribers will have the option to withdraw the remaining 25% of their funds and go for final settlement of account after completion of two months of unemployment.

4) “We have decided to amend the scheme to allow members to take advance from its account on one month of unemployment. He can withdraw 75 per cent of its funds as advance from its account after one month of unemployment and keep its account with the EPFO,” said Labour Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar, who is also the Chairman of EPFO’s Central Board of Trustees. Central Board of Trustees is the apex decision-making body of the EPFO.

5) The new rules would give an option to subscribers to keep their account with the EPFO, which they can use after regaining employment again.

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