Did you know that you could withdraw money from your Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) account before maturity for various reasons? If not, then you must know that it is true and this article will tell you everything about EPF Withdrawal Online.
Ideally, an employee can withdraw his or her money from an EPF account upon retirement which is after the age of 55 years. However, in various special cases, he or she can withdraw this money before the defined age of retirement.
In this article, we will discuss the special cases and other conditions which are important to withdraw an amount from the account. In addition to that, I will also mention the other related topics which are important for a smooth process.
Eligibility to File for EPF Amount Withdrawal
First of all, please go through the following table where you can find the reasons, time frame, purpose, and the maximum amount you can withdraw in the said situation. It will help you understand if your situation can get you the withdrawal or not.
| Reason for partial withdrawal/ advance | When | Purpose | The maximum amount that can be withdrawn |
| Education | After 7 years of EPF membership | Education of son or daughter after class 10 | 50% of the employee’s share of contribution with interest only |
| Marriage | After 7 years of EPF membership | Marriage of self, son/daughter, brother/sister | 50% of the employee’s share of contribution with interest only |
| Purchase of land for construction of the house | After 5 years of EPF membership | Land should be in the name of the individual and/or spouse | Least of the following: (a) 24 months’ basic wages and dearness allowance of member; or (b) Member’s share of contribution along with employer’s contribution and interest; or (c) Actual cost towards the acquisition of the site |
| Purchase of house / Construction of the house | After 5 years of EPF membership | House should be in the name of the individual and/or spouse | Least of the following: (a) 36 months’ basic wages and dearness allowance of member; or (b) Member’s share of contribution along with employer’s contribution and interest or; (c) Total cost of construction |
| Renovation of house | After 5 years from the date of completion of the house | House should be in the name of the individual and/or spouse | Least of the following: (a) 12 months’ basic wages and dearness allowance of member; or (b) Member’s share of contribution along with interest |
| Medical emergency (For e.g. cancer, TB, etc.) | – | For specified medical treatment of self and family member | Least of the following: (a) 6 months’ basic wages and dearness allowance of member; or (b) Member’s share of contribution with interest |
| Non-receipt of wages | – | The employee has not received wages for more than 2 months continuously (for reasons other than a strike) | Employee share with interest |
| Job loss | – | Unemployed for a continuous period of not less than a month | Up to 75% of the EPF balance i.e. member’s share, employer’s share, and interest Balance 25% can be withdrawn after remaining unemployed for a continuous period of two months |
| To meet pandemic-related financial exigencies (For e.g. Coronavirus) | – | If the area is declared to be affected by an epidemic or pandemic | Least of the following: (a) 3 months’ basic wages and dearness allowance of member; or (b) 75% of EPF balance i.e. member’s share, employer’s share, and interest |
| Repayment of housing loan | After 10 years of EPF membership | The loan should in the name of the individual and/or spouse | Least of the following: (a) 36 months’ basic wages and dearness allowance of member; or (b) Member’s share of contribution along with employer’s share of contribution (c) Amount of outstanding principal and interest of the said loan including the interest; or |
| Withdrawal within one year before the retirement | After attainment of 54 years of age by the member or; Within 1 year before his/ her actual retirement on superannuation, whichever is later | Any purpose | Up to 90% of the EPF balance i.e. member’s share, employer’s share, and interest |
| Withdrawal for investment in Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana | After attaining the age of 55 years | Amount to be transferred to the Life Insurance Corporation of India for investment in Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana | Up to 90% of the EPF balance i.e. member’s share, employer’s share, and interest |
These are not the only cases where you can withdraw the amount stored in your EPF account and these include the following circumstances also:
- Purchase or construction of the house
- Locked establishments for more than 15 days without any compensation
- Locked establishments for more than 6 months and employee is unemployed without compensation
- Dismissal of the employee that is challenged in the court
- Natural calamity affects employee like floods, earthquakes, or riots
- Affected employees due to cut in electricity supply
- Equipment required by a physically handicapped member
Documents Required for Filing the Claim Online
There is no need to submit any government-authorised documents but the member would be required to upload a scanned copy of the cheque or passbook to where he or she wants to transfer the money.
The details like the bank account number, IFSC Code, and name on the mentioned documents should be clearly visible or the claim can get rejected.
Checklist to File Withdrawal from EPF Account Online
Here is a quick checklist for you to go through to understand everything you need to file a withdrawal from your EPF account online:
- Activated Universal Account Number (UAN)
- Linked and verified Aadhaar number with UAN
- Bank account seeded with UAN
- KYC-compliant EPF account
- The active mobile number linked with Aadhaar
- The correct date of birth in the EPFO records for withdrawal after retirement
Step-by-Step Guide to File EPF Withdrawal Claim Online
Once you know you are ready to file for your EPF withdrawal claim online, you can follow the simple steps mentioned below and get done with the process without a hiccup:
- Visit the e-Sewa portal on the EPFO Portal.
- Use your UAN, password, and captcha to log in to your UAN account.
- Select the ‘Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C & 10D)’ which is under the ‘Online Services’ tab.
- Enter and verify your correct bank account details seeded with UAN.
- Confirm the terms and conditions stated by EPFO on their portal.
- Select the reason from the dropdown menu available on your portal.
- Please note that you will be able to check on the options which are available to you according to the table mentioned above.
- Enter your complete address with the portal.
- Mention the amount you would like to withdraw from your account.
- Upload the scanned copy of a cheque or your passbook.
- Share your OTP received on the mobile number registered with your Aadhaar Card.
- Once your OTP is submitted, your application for withdrawal claim will be submitted successfully.
Tracking Your Claim Status
If you wish to track your claim status, then you can again log in with your member login portal and check the status of the claim in ‘Track Claim Status’ under the ‘Online Services’ tab.
Conclusion
In this article, we learned the complete process of withdrawing money from our Employees’ Provident Fund accounts. I have ensured to mention every required information on the topic in this article.
Once you submit your application with the online EPFO portal, it will match and cross-check the details with the records. Once they match properly, EPFO will transfer the money to the account seeded with UAN.
I hope this article was helpful to you. Please share this article with people who can really benefit from this article.
Also Read:
How to Update your Personal Details at EPFO as per Aadhaar Card?
