New Delhi: Employees Provident Fund is a long-term investing mechanism with contributions from the employee, employer, and occasionally the government. In other words, PF is an Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation social security programme (EPFO). Upon retirement, employees use it as a source of protection for their finances. When an employee retires, the employer pays him the amount that has been accrued over the years in the PF account as well as the stipulated interest.
When can you withdraw money?
The money can be withdrawn from EPFO on the following conditions:
- At the time of retirement (on or after 58 years of age)
- If unemployed for 2 months.
- By the nominee in case of the death of the employee before the age of retirement
However, the EPFO amended several withdrawal policies for those with financial difficulties in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. According to the new regulations, PF account holders may withdraw up to 75% of their net account balance or three months’ worth of their basic pay and dearness allowance, whichever is less. To enable the withdrawal of PF funds by a person facing unemployment before retirement due to shutdown or retrenchment, a substantial adjustment was implemented.
Process for withdrawing PF funds:
EPFO member has to log in to unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in and then
- From the Services menu, choose the For Employees option.
- On the newly created page, select Member UAN/Online Service (OCS/OTCP).
- Enter your UAN, password, and captcha code to log into the portal.
- Choose the KYC option from the Manage tab.
You will be redirected to a new page. Check your KYC information at the Digitally Approved KYC area at the bottom of the page. Verify the accuracy of the information.
- Select Online Service from the top menu to finish the withdrawal.
- From the drop-down menu, select CLAIM (FORM-31, 19 & 10C).
