As an employee in India, we pay a small portion of our salary (12 percent of basic salary) towards Employee Provident Fund Scheme. The contribution forms a corpus for long term and can help during retirement. However, during the course of employment, you can easily withdraw EPF money.
We have already written about how you could check your EPF balance online and download your passbook. We also discussed how you could link your Aadhaar and EPF account. However, in case you’re wondering how you could submit an EPF claim request online, and withdraw money, follow the steps below. The best part of online claim submission is that you don’t need to visit your previous employer for verification of documents. You can withdraw your PF amount from the comforts of your home.
Checklist before you submit EPF withdrawal claim
In order to submit the claim, you need to know your UAN (Universal Account Number). If you’re unfamiliar with your UAN, you will get it from your salary slip. Go to the eSewa Portal and activate your UAN here.
Ensure that your mobile number is linked with the UAN as you will get an OTP, which will be needed for the activation. Next, you will also need to ensure that your Aadhaar number is linked to the PF account. If not, then after logging in, you will need to click on the ‘Manage’ tab followed by KYC.
Here, you will also need to add other details such as your Bank Account Number and IFSC code, so that the withdrawal amount will be directly credited in the account that you have provided.
Once all these details are in place, you’re good to go.
How to fill EPF claim online and submit for withdrawal
The online application process is pretty simple. You will get a pre-filled form that will have all basic details such as your name, date of birth, mobile number, PAN and Aadhaar number among others. Follow the below-mentioned steps to submit the EPF withdrawal claim.
Step One
Head over to EPF India’s Member e-Sewa portal here and login using your UAN number and password.
Step Two
Click on the ‘Online Services’ tab and click on Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C). Here, the form 19 is for PF withdrawal, and form 10C is for pension withdrawal.
You will be able to see Member details, KYC details and Service details here. At the bottom, click on ‘Proceed for Online Claim’ after which you will be redirected to the claims page.
Step Three
On this page, you need to choose the type of claim under ‘I want to apply for’ tab – withdraw PF only or withdraw pension only. In case you are not eligible for any of the criteria, the option will not show up in the drop down.
Step Four
After selecting the relevant claim, you will see a detailed form. Fill it with details, and then authenticate using Aadhaar OTP to complete the claim submission. You will also get the claim form copy in PDF format, just save it.
The process generally takes about 20-30 days, after which the amount is credited in your linked bank account.
The EPFO’s online service also lets you track your claim status. Simply login to Member e-Sewa page then click on ‘Online Services’ followed by ‘Track Claim Status.’
