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Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), also referred to as PF (Provident Fund), is a mandatory savings cum retirement scheme for employees of an eligible.

How to withdraw PF amount?

Broadly speaking, EPF withdrawal can be done through any of the following:

physical application
Online Application

. The employees can fall back on the corpus of this fund post-retirement. 

As per the EPF rules, the employees must contribute 12% of their basic pay every month to this fund. The employer contributes a matching amount to the employee’s PF account. The amount deposited in EPF accounts earns interest on an annual basis.

Employees can withdraw the entire sum accumulated in their EPF once they retire. However, this article explains how one can make premature withdrawals from the EPF account after meeting certain conditions.

Complete Withdrawal

EPF can be withdrawn entirely only under the following two circumstances:

• When an individual retires
• When an individual is unemployed for more than one month, he/she can withdraw 75% of the total accumulated amount and can withdraw the rest 25% if the unemployment period stretches beyond two months.

Individuals cannot make a complete withdrawal of EPF balance while switching employers if they don’t remain unemployed for two months or more (i.e. the interim period between changing jobs). 

Partial Withdrawal

Partial withdrawal of EPF balance can be made only under certain circumstances. They are explained in the table below:

Circumstances where partial withdrawal is allowed	No. of years of service required	Conditions for partial withdrawal
Medical purposes	No criteria	Medical treatment of self, spouse, children, or parents
Marriage	7 years	For the marriage of self, son/daughter, and brother/sister
Education	7 years	Either for account holder’s education or child’s education (post matriculation)
Purchase of site, flat or house and construction of a house	5 years	The asset, i.e. land or the house, should be in the employee’s name, spouse or jointly with the spouse.
Home, site or flat purchase or construction loan repayment	10 years	The property should be registered in the name of the employee or spouse or jointly with the spouse.       Withdrawal permitted subject to furnishing of requisite documents relating to the housing loan availed.
House renovation	5 years	The property should be registered in the name of the employee or spouse or jointly held with the spouse       The facility can be availed twice:        a. Fist time – After 5 years of the completion of the house b. Second time – After the 10 years of the first withdrawal
Partial withdrawal before retirement	When employee reaches 54 years	The employee must reaches 54 years and withdrawal should be before one year of retirement or superannuation

How to withdraw the PF amount?

Broadly speaking, EPF withdrawal can be done through any of the following: physical application or Online Application.

Composite Claim Form (Aadhaar)

If you have entered your Aadhaar and bank details on the UAN portal and your UAN is active then use the composite claim form (Aadhaar).
Fill out the form and submit it to the concerned jurisdictional EPFO ​​office without employer verification.

Online Application

EPFO has introduced an online withdrawal facility, making the entire process more convenient and less time-consuming.

Prerequisites

To apply for online withdrawal of EPF through the EPF portal, ensure that the following conditions are fulfilled:

• The Universal Account Number (UAN) is active, and the mobile number used to activate the UAN is in working order.
• UAN is linked to your KYC, i.e. Aadhaar, PAN, bank details and IFSC code.

If the above conditions are met, there is no need to have your withdrawal application certified by the former employer.

Documents required for EPF withdrawal

Following documents are required to withdraw PF amount:

• Universal Account Number (UAN)
• EPF subscriber’s bank account information
• Proof of identity and address
• Canceled check including IFSC code and account number.