The Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) is a retirement benefits scheme under the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Act, 1952. Regulated by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), the scheme requires the employer and employee to contribute 12% of the latter’s basic salary and dearness allowance (DA) towards the fund. When an individual wishes to withdraw the funds, they must file an EPF claim by filling up a withdrawal form online.
Read on to understand how to claim an EPF online, the eligibility criteria you need to meet and the documents required.
The term ‘EPF claim’ means to make a withdrawal from your Employees’ Provident Fund. You can partially or wholly withdraw your EPF, depending on your need. For instance, partial withdrawal of EPF is allowed in exceptional circumstances such as loan repayment, educational purposes, marriage and the like. On the other hand, complete EPF withdrawal is typical among retired persons or unemployed individuals. Regardless of the goal, you can make an EPF claim following some defined steps, starting with the online filing of an EPF withdrawal form.
Following is the step-by-step procedure to apply for an EPF claim via UAN portal online:
Go to the official website of EPFO and enter your UAN, password and CAPTCHA
Hover your cursor above the Online Services tab and select ‘Claim (Form-31, 19 & 10C)’ from the drop-down menu.
Once you select the EPF claim form, the following page would be displayed. You would be able to see your KYC and other details. Enter your bank account number and click ‘Verify’.
Click ‘Yes’ to acknowledge Certificate of Undertaking and proceed further.
Select ‘Proceed for Online Claim’. You also need to select the reason for your EPF claim from a dropdown list based on your eligibility. You also need to select the claim you need – EPF settlement, EPF part withdrawal, etc., under ‘I Want to Apply For’. Those who are not eligible for EPF withdrawal, they won’t be able to see the option in the dropdown menu.
Click on ‘PF Advance (Form 31)’ to withdraw your fund. You would also need to provide the amount required and your address. Once your employer approves the claim request, the amount would be deposited to your bank account within 15-20 days.
Before applying for an EPF claim, you must be well-versed with the terms and conditions that make you eligible for the application. Below is a list of the eligibility conditions an employee must fulfil to qualify for EPF withdrawal:
Individuals applying for Employees’ Provident Fund withdrawal require the following documents during the application:
Your EPF claim status describes the latest information about your application for EPF withdrawal. In other words, your EPF claim status gives you a fair idea of the progress of the withdrawal process once you have applied for an EPF claim online. Moreover, keeping a track of the EPF claim status will help you take necessary action in case of any glitch or delay in the claiming process. Individuals who wish to withdraw funds from their EPF account can make a claim online and track their EPF claim status online or offline. But to claim EPF, you must fulfil the eligibility requirements.
You can check EPF claim status online in three ways:
Follow the steps below to track EPF claim status through EPFO portal:
Follow the steps below to track EPF via UAN member portal:
Follow the steps below to track EPF claim status via UMANG app:
You can check your EPF claim status offline by sending an SMS from your registered mobile number to 7738299899. The SMS format is EPFOHO UAN LAN.
LAN is the language code in which you want to receive the claim status details. The table below lists the language codes:
Language | Code |
Hindi | HIN |
English | ENG |
Marathi | MAR |
Tamil | TAM |
Bengali | BEN |
Telugu | TEL |
Kannada | KAN |
Malayalam | MAL |
Gujarati | GUJ |
Punjabi | PUN |
Individuals can also check their EPF claim status offline by giving a missed call on the toll-free number 011-22901406 from their registered mobile number. The call will be automatically disconnected, and the individual will receive their EPF claim status through an SMS on their registered mobile number.
EPF claim allows employees to withdraw corpus from the EPF account on retirement or due to exceptional circumstances such as unemployment or medical emergencies. Applying for an EPF claim online is pretty straightforward and requires the applicant to upload relevant documents. However, applicants must also bear in mind that approval of the claim is subject to fulfilment of eligibility conditions specified by the EPFO. Once the EPF claim application is successful, individuals can check its status online or offline to track progress.
Ans: An active UAN and bank details linked with the UAN, Aadhaar, and PAN are mandatory requirements to initiate an online EPF claim.
Ans: You can log in to your EPF account by entering your 12-digit UAN and password on the EPFO portal. Alternatively, you can use the details to access your account via the UAN Member Portal.
Ans: Complete withdrawal of the EPF amount is not permitted while you are still working. However, partial withdrawal is allowed in exceptional circumstances such as medical emergencies or house loan repayment.
Ans: EPF claim status settled means that your EPF claim application has been processed and the amount transferred to your bank account.
Ans: Employers registered under the Employees’ Provident Fund Act, 1952, must contribute at least 12% of an employee’s remuneration toward the latter’s EPF account and cannot lower the contribution.
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