EPF Withdrawal Rules

EPFO has revised its many rules regarding withdrawal from the PF account in 2021 with the aim of providing PF account holders with easier access to their PF funds who are facing financial difficulties due to COVID-19 pandemic. Under the new rules, PF members can withdraw money equivalent to their 3 months’ basic salary + dearness allowance or 75% of the total balance available in their EPF/PF account, whichever is lower. It will be considered as a non-refundable deposit and members can raise withdrawal claims online. The timeline stipulated for settling online claims is within 3 working days and up to 20 days for offline claims settlement.
The PF amount can be withdrawn for various reasons such as for house construction/addition, marriage expenses of self/children/siblings, post matriculation education of children, medical expenses, natural calamity, purchase of equipment for physically handicapped, factory closure, cut in electricity in establishment, and so on.   

The eligibility for EPF withdrawal is different for different situations. Below are the detailed eligibility criteria based on situations:

• When employees are still employed
  • If EPF members wish to take an advance from their PF account, they have to submit the composite claim form (Aadhaar/Non-Aadhaar).
  • If they wish to finance their LIC policy with the PF account, they have to submit Form 14.
  • If members have crossed the age of 58 years and want to claim the pension fund, they must submit Form 10D for a monthly pension if they have completed 10 years of eligible service.
  • Members should submit the composite claim form (Aadhaar/Non-Aadhaar) if they have not completed 10 years of eligible service.

• When employees switch their job
  • When employees switch their job and wish to transfer their EPF account, they should apply Form 13.
  • When employees leave an establishment and do not join another, they can claim a PF and pension fund through the composite claim form (Aadhar/Non-Aadhar).
  • When an employee is aged above 58 years and has completed 10 years of eligible service, they can make a PF claim through the composite claim form (Aadhaar/Non-Aadhaar) & a pension claim using Form 10D.

• When employees leave an establishment because of a physical disability
  • They can make a PF claim with a composite claim form (Aadhaar/Non-Aadhaar).
  • They can make a pension claim with Form 10D.
  • When an employee is aged above 58 years and has completed 10 years of eligible service, they can make the PF & pension claim with the composite claim form (Aadhaar/Non-Aadhaar).
     
• When employees are deceased during the service
  • If an employee dies before the age of 58 during their service, their nominee/heir/beneficiary can claim the PF settlement with Form 20, monthly pension with Form 10D, and Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) amount with Form 5IF.
  • If an employee dies after 58 years of age and has completed 10 years of eligible service, their nominee/heir/beneficiary can claim the PF amount with Form 20, the pension with Form 10D, and the EDLI amount with Form 5IF.
  • If an employee dies after 58 years of age and has not completed 10 years of eligible service, their nominee/heir/beneficiary can claim the PF settlement with Form 20, withdraw the pension with the composite claim form (Aadhaar/Non-Aadhaar), and claim EDLI amount with Form 5IF.
     
• When the employee is deceased
  • If the employee dies before 58 years  of age, their nominee/heir/beneficiary can claim the PF amount using Form 20, and pension amount using Form 10D.
  • If the employee dies after 58 years of age and has completed 10 years of eligible service, their nominee/heir/beneficiary may claim the PF amount with Form 20, and the pension amount through Form 10D.
  • If the employee dies after 58 years of age and has not completed 10 years of eligible service, their nominee/heir/beneficiary may claim a final PF settlement through Form 20 and for the pension fund with the composite claim form (Aadhaar/Non-Aadhaar).

PF account holders can make the following three different types of PF withdrawals through the EPFO member portal with the attestation of their employer if they have linked their Aadhaar card details with their UAN:

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

The PF member can withdraw PF amount only in the following conditions:  

• For home loan repayment: For this purpose, the PF member is permitted to withdraw up to 90% of their corpus if the house is registered in their name or held jointly. However, for PF amount withdrawal in this situation, the member must complete at least 3 years of service.
• For medical reasons: For any medical treatment, an employee can withdraw their share with interest or 6 times the monthly salary, whichever is lower from their PF. This EPF withdrawal is allowed only for medical treatments of self/spouse/children/parents. No lock-in or minimum service period is applicable for this type of withdrawal.
• For marriage: To be eligible for this withdrawal, the PF member must complete at least 7 years of service. The member can withdraw 50% of their contribution with interest for their own, siblings or child’s marriage.
• For house purchase or construction: A partial amount can be withdrawn from employee’s PF for purchasing a plot and/or constructing a house on it. The property must be registered in the PF member’s name or held jointly with their spouse. To be eligible for this withdrawal, the employee should have completed at least 5 years of total service. They can withdraw up to 24 times of their monthly salary for plot purchase, 36 times of their monthly salary for a house purchase or construction or the total of their own and their employer’s share along with the amount of interest (whichever is less).
• For house renovation and reconstruction: To be eligible for this withdrawal, the house should be held in PF member;s name or jointly with the spouse. At least 5 years of total service must be completed and the member can withdraw only 12 times of their monthly salary from their Provident fund account.
• Retirement: An employee can withdraw up to 90% of their EPF balance after achieving the age of 58 years.
• Unemployment: In case of unemployment for more than a month, the member can withdraw up to 75% of their provident fund. For more than 2 months of unemployment, the remaining 25% of the PF corpus can be withdrawn.

• You cannot withdraw money from your EPF account during employment, unlike a bank account. That is because the EPF is a long-term retirement savings scheme and the money can be withdrawn only post retirement.
• A partial withdrawal from EPF account is allowed during an emergency like medical emergency, higher education, house purchase/construction, etc. Partial withdrawal limit depending on the reason of withdrawal.
• You can withdraw the EPF corpus only after retirement. However, early retirement is not considered until you reach 55 years of age. EPFO permits withdrawal of 90% of the EPF amount 1 year before retirement, if the person is 54 years old or above.
• The EPF amount can be withdrawn if you face unemployment before retirement due to retrenchment or lock-down. You have to declare unemployment to withdraw the EPF amount. EPFO permits 75% withdrawal after 1 month of unemployment and the remaining 25% can be shifted to your new EPF account after getting new employment.
• EPF amount withdrawal is exempted from tax under some conditions. Tax exemption is allowed only if you contribute to the EPF account for 5 years continuously. The EPF amount will be taxable if there is any break in the contribution to the PF account for 5 continuous years.
• Tax is deducted at source for premature withdrawal of the EPF amount. However, if the total amount is below Rs. 50,000, TDS is not applicable. If you provide PAN with your application, the applicable TDS rate will be 10%. Otherwise, it will be 30% + taxes. TO claim tax exemption, you have to fill Form 15H/15G, which is a declaration form that states that your total income is not taxable and TDS is avoidable.
• You do not have to wait for approval from your employer for EPF withdrawal anymore. You can do it directly from the EPFO, provided your UAN and Aadhaar are linked, and your employer has approved it. You can check EPF withdrawal status as well as EPF claim status online.

To ensure the process of making a withdrawal is seamless, subscribers have to meet the requirements that are listed below, if they wish to carry out a withdrawal without the attestation of their employer.

• Subscribers have to ensure that their UAN is active and their mobile number is seeded with their PF account.
• The PF member should also seed his/her Aadhaar card details with their PF account.
• The member’s bank account details and the bank’s IFSC code has to be integrated as well.
• For final settlements prior to completion of 5 years in the EPF scheme, the member will be required to seed his/her PAN details.
• Check out for more about PF Withdrawal Guidelines.

• The UAN (Universal Account Number) is a compulsory requirement and can be obtained from the employer
• Bank account details need to be clearly given with the name as per the EPF account
• The bank account has to be in the name of the provident fund holder as funds cannot be transferred to the third party when the holder is alive
• Personal information like the father’s name and date of birth should match clearly with the identity proof
• The employer should submit the details to EPFO (Employee Provident Fund Organization) and register the exit of an employee from the organization. Date of joining and date of leaving need to be clearly mentioned.

Employees can make a PF withdrawal claim on the EPFO member portal by following the steps mentioned below. As already mentioned, if the employee has seeded his/her Aadhaar card details with one’s UAN account, they do not require the attestation of their employer to make a PF withdrawal.

• Visit the EPFO member portal.
• Choose the “For Employees” option under the “Our Services” tab.
• On the new webpage click on the “Member UAN/Online Service (OCS/OTCP)” option under the “Services” tab of the “For Employees” page.
• This will redirect you to a new webpage. Log in to the portal using your UAN, password, and the Captcha code.
• Click on the “KYC” option under the “Manage” tab.
• You will be redirected to a new webpage. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the “Digitally Approved KYC” section and check your KYC details. Ensure the details are correct.
• Click on the “Online Service” tab from the top menu to proceed with the withdrawal if all the KYC details are correct.
• Click on the “CLAIM (FORM-31, 19 & 10C)” option from the drop down menu.
• You will be redirected to a new webpage with an automatically generated “ONLINE CLAIM (FORM 31, 19 & 10C)” form.
• You will be required to enter the Last 4 digits of your registered bank account number and verify the same.
• After the verification of the bank account, a “Certificate of Undertaking” will be generated. Click “Yes” on the certificate pop-up to proceed.
• Click on the “Proceed for Online Claim” option when prompted.
• For online fund withdrawal, select the “PF ADVANCE (FORM - 31)” option from the drop-down menu provided next to the “I want to apply for” option.
• A reason for claim has to be selected from the drop-down options provided next to the “Purpose for which advance is required” option. The fields provided for the address of the employee and the amount for advance is also required to be filled up.
• Click on the checkbox at the end of the page and submit your withdrawal application.
• You might be required to upload certain scanned documents (depends on the nature of withdrawal).
• Once the employer approves the withdrawal request, the withdrawal amount will be withdrawn from the EPF account and will be deposited to the respective bank account. Once the claim has been settled, you will receive an SMS notification on your registered mobile number.

Under EPF money withdrawal rules, TDS is deducted on EPF withdrawal before completing 5 years of service at a rate of 10% on withdrawal if the PAN is furnished and 34.608% if the PAN is not furnished. However, if the amount of withdrawal is below Rs. 50,000, TDS is not deducted. TDS rule does not apply when termination of your service is not in your control due to reasons including company lockouts, retrenchments, employee layoffs, etc. Also, TDS is not applicable if the service cannot be continued because of some serious medical condition like physical disability, mental disability, etc.