Unemployed members of retirement fund body EPFO will now be able to withdraw their provident fund corpus after 12 months of being out of a job, it announced on October 13.
The decision to amend the scheme was taken by apex decision making body of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), the Central Board of Trustees headed by Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, in a meeting held on Monday.
This comes at a time when companies like TCS are announcing layoffs across the country.
What is the new EPFO rule?
According to the new rules of EPFO, unemployed employees will be able to withdraw their final PF amount after 12 months of unemployment. The final PF pension withdrawal must be made only after 36 months.
This is up from the current 2 months requirement for both events.
“It is also decided to change the period for availing premature final settlement of EPF from the existing 2 months to 12 months and final pension withdrawal from 2 months to 36 months,” the EPFO said in a statement.
“The liberalisation of partial withdrawals ensures members can meet immediate financial needs without compromising their retirement savings or pension entitlements,” it added.
How much PF withdrawal can you do?
In the current scenario, you can draw the full PF amount after 12 months of unemployment.
The EPFO has also decided that no full PF withdrawal will be allowed, so that it facilitates interest benefits for members.
Now, EPFO members will have to keep 25% deposit at all times in their account, and can only withdraw the remaining 75% of their money.
How to withdraw PF online?
1. Fill form 19: To be able to withdraw the employees’ provident fund money, you need to first fill form number 19 (Form 19).
2. Go to member UAN/online service and enter UAN (Universal account number), password and captcha.
3. Select form 19 (for PF) and 10C (for pension).
4. Enter account number linked to UAN and click verify.
5. If eligible, you can upload 15G or 15 H.
6. Now upload a cheque which has name, account number, IFSC code clearly legible.
7. Now you can click ‘Get Aadhaar OTP’.
8. Enter the OTP you received on your registered mobile number.
9. The claim will be submitted to the EPFO which will route it to the designated official for clearing the case.
10. Once the case is approved, you will receive the money in your bank account.
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