The Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) is a savings scheme available to salaried employees. In the scheme, a percentage of an employee’s monthly salary is deposited with the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) while the employer also contributes a sum to the fund.
The corpus grows over time and comes in handy for employee in the future, especially in the post-retirement period.
Subscribers of the scheme can withdraw accumulations in their provident fund account by either applying offline or online. The withdrawal can also be made before retirement for various reasons such as marriage, higher education, and construction or purchase of a house.
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How to apply for EPFO withdrawal online
Step – 1 Visit the e-SEWA portal of the EPFO.
Step – 2 Enter your Universal Account Number (UAN), password, and the given captcha code to login.
Step – 3 Click on the ‘Online Services’ tab and select ‘Claim (Form-31, 19 & 10C)” from the menu.
Step – 4 On the new page, enter your bank account number linked with your PF account and click on ‘Verify’. Then, click on ‘Yes’ to agree to the terms and conditions.
Step – 5 Select ‘Proceed for Online Claim’ and select the claim you want to make under the ‘I Want to Apply For’ tab. Here, you can either choose full EPF settlement, EPF past withdrawal (loan/advance), or pension withdrawal. To withdraw the funds before retirement, you must choose ‘PF Advance (Form 31).
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Step – 6 After selecting the form, provide a reason for the withdrawal, the amount you require, and your address.
Step – 7 Proceed to submit your application. You may also be required to upload scanned documents such as Aadhaar card, PAN card, cancelled blank cheque Voter ID card, and an address proof.
Step – 8 Once your application is approved by your employer, the funds will be transferred to your bank account within 15 to 20 days.
It must be noted that before applying for a PF withdrawal online, your mobile number must be linked to your Aadhaar to receive OTP. You also need to seed your bank account and PAN against your UAN.
Interest rate for the EPF account
The current interest rate for EPF accounts is 8.10%. The interest is calculated on a monthly basis as the employee and his employer make their contribution.
The employee contributes 12% of his basic salary to the fund while the employer also makes an equal contribution.
