13 Dec, 2012 01:28 PM

On EPF withdrawal

Almost all salaried people contribute a certain percentage of their salary towards their Employee Provident Fund (EPF) account every month. While most of us know that EPF is an effective tool that helps generate a corpus for life after retirement, many of us are unaware that we can withdraw from the EPF account to meet urgent cash requirements.

An EPF account cannot be treated like any other savings bank account. There are certain specified criteria under which withdrawal is permitted from an EPF account. An individual needs to furnish all relevant documents and satisfy the necessary requirements in order to be eligible for premature withdrawal from the account.

Here are the details:

Reason	Conditions	Amount allowed to be withdrawn	No. of times permitted
Education or marriage	1. The employee should have completed at least seven years of employment or service. 2. Withdrawal allowed for self, siblings or children’s marriage. 3. Withdrawal permitted for self or children’s education only. 4. Proof of the education or wedding required to be submitted, such as a valid copy or a bonafide certificate of the payable fees, or the wedding invitation. 5. In case of education, the individual needs to apply using Form 31 through his/her employer.	50 per cent of the total corpus amount till date	Permitted thrice during a person’s total service tenure
Medical treatment	1. Withdrawal permitted for medical treatment of self, spouse, parents and children. 2. There is no restriction regarding the number of years of service. 3. The proof of hospitalization for a month or more along with an approved leave certificate from the employer for the corresponding period needs to be produced. 4. The member needs to obtain and deposit a certificate from the employer or ESI stating that ESI facility is not accessible or available to him/her. 5. A certified proof or document of the disease should be submitted in Form 31 while applying for withdrawal.	Six times the monthly salary of an individual or the total corpus amount, whichever is lesser	No limit
Purchase of a plot	1. Should have completed at least five years of service. 2. The plot or property should be registered in the person’s or his/her spouse’s name or should be owned jointly. 3. The plot should not be entangled in any legal issues, and the agreement registered under the Indian Registration Act with the flat promoter needs to be submitted along with the application form.	Up to 24 times the monthly salary of the individual	Once during entire service tenure
Construction or purchase of a flat or house	1. Should have completed at least five years of service. 2. The house should be registered in the person’s or his/her spouse’s name or should be owned jointly.	36 times the monthly salary of the individual	Once during entire service tenure
Repayment of home loan	1. Should have completed at least 10 years of employment. 2. The house should be registered in the person’s or his/her spouse’s name or should be owned jointly.	36 times the monthly salary of the individual	Once during entire service tenure
Alteration or renovation of house	1. Should have completed at least five years of service. 2. The house should be registered in the person’s or his/her spouse’s name or should be owned jointly.	Up to 12 times the individual’s monthly salary	Once during entire service tenure
Pre-retirement	1. The individual must be at least 54 years old.	90 per cent of the total corpus amount	Once during entire service tenure

Withdrawal from EPF account after leaving an organization

On switching jobs, an employee can apply for transfer of money from the EPF account through a form that is filled by the employee and attested by the designated authority at the employer.

Grievance related to withdrawal from EPF account

There is a mechanism to address grievances of EPF members under the Consumer Protection Act. To report a grievance, a member needs to:

Log on to the website www.epfigms.gov.in
Click on Register Grievance

All grievances related to the following subjects can be addressed to the grievance cell:

Withdrawal or final settlement of EPF
Scheme certificate
Transfer of accumulated PF amount
Issuance of PF balance or slip
Return or misplacement of cheque
Payment of insurance benefit

EPF is the corpus that helps build financial stability post retirement. It is, therefore, advisable to leave the amount undisturbed during employment tenure unless the circumstances are unavoidable.