Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) established the Employee Provident Fund or EPF is an effective way to save money for retirement. A certain amount of share from the employee’s salary gets stored as savings by the organization, this is known as ‘provident fund’.
But in case of the urgency of money, one could rely on EPF as a secured option. Earlier to claim money in EPF it was mandatory for employees to have the attestation of their employers to approve the withdrawal. However, this process is been modified and EPFO has a withdrawal option on the website for its members.
The withdrawal is not recommended because the amount is saved for retirement purposes. To encourage the savings this scheme provides an attractive rate of interest of 8.75%. Also, the interest that you earn from the PF is tax-free (if withdrawn after 5 years of PF account opening). Keeping all this in mind still if any individual still wants to withdraw, here are the steps to do it:
• Step 1: Go to the EPFO and click on ‘For Employees’ and select the ‘Our services’ option.
• Step 2: Select the 'Member UAN/Online service’ option.
• Step 3: On the UAN portal you have to click on ‘Activate your UAN.’
• Step 4: The applicant will have to fill the form to generate the authorization PIN and enter it activate their UAN.
• Step 5: After the activation of UAN, the subscriber will receive a confirmation message.
• Step 6: The applicant will also receive a password providing access to EPF account information through the UAN portal.
• Step 7: Login to the EPFO portal using the UAN and password.
• Step 8: Verify KYC details by clicking on the ‘Manage’ tab.
• Step 9: ‘Our Services’ tab and click on the option titled ‘claim’ from the drop-down list.
• Step 10: Click on ‘I want to apply for’, the subscriber will then be required to choose the type of withdrawal claim they wish to file-full withdrawal, partial withdrawal or pension withdrawal.
• Step 11: The drop-down box with the types of withdrawal will only be displayed if the subscriber is eligible to avail it.
