Employee Provident Fund or EPF is a government scheme wherein employees contribute 12% of their basic pay monthly. Their employers also contribute a matching amount. This fund is available to the employee at the time of his retirement. Though there is the provision of early EPF withdrawal for employees whilst his employment is still on.
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When is EPF Withdrawal possible?
According to the earlier rules and regulations, EPF withdrawal was available either completely or partially. Complete EPF withdrawal is possible when either the employee retires from employment or when the employee has been unemployed for 2 months or more. The employee’s unemployment period has to be certified by a gazetted officer in this case. But, complete withdrawal whilst switching between jobs, with no unemployment phase in between, is illegal. Partial withdrawal is allowed under some circumstances.
But with the new amendment, EPF withdrawal rules have become more relaxed. Now, employees can withdraw 75% of their EPF balance after one month of unemployment and the remaining 25% balance after 2 months of unemployment. This EPF withdrawal process is available both offline and online.
EPF Withdrawal Offline Procedure:
You need to download the new composite claim form (for Aadhaar) or composite claim form (for non-Aadhaar) from here.
The Aadhaar composite form does not require the employer’s attestation while the Non-Aadhaar composite form needs the employer’s attestation. Either form needs to be filled up and submitted to the respective jurisdictional EPFO office.
In the case of partial withdrawal, there is no longer a requirement for various certificates. Only a self-certification is sufficient. Find more instructions on that here.
EPF Withdrawal Online Procedure:
Find the detailed process in our previous video and related blog.
Watch our video below for a gist on this topic:
Other important PF related articles to browse through:
- 5 rules for easy EPF calculation – blog/video
- All about the EPF Act and amendments – blog/video
- How to check EPF balance – blog/video
- FAQs about EPF registration – blog/video
- How to complete your EPF challan payment – blog/video
- How to register employees on EPF – blog/video
- PF confirmation slip of online payment – blog/video
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