In this article, Pradipta Nath discusses everything you need to know about the advance PF withdrawal.

Introduction

Foremost important is that advance withdrawal is not possible for only the employer’s part of contribution rather as a whole both, on the employer as well as the employee’s part of PF. Advance withdrawal is possible on only the PF and not on the pension or EDLI.

The EPF has a facility to withdraw the contribution in advance. As it is commonly mistaken that it is a loan, but it is only an advance withdrew and not a loan. As of now, the employee can avail it once in his/her employment.

The employee may withdraw the amount in advance mainly on the following grounds:-

1. Purchase of house.
2. Purchase of Land.
3. Housing Loans.
4. Construction or alteration of House.
5. Repayment of housing loans.
6. Lockout or closure of Factory as defined under the Industrial Dispute Act.
7. Illness of the EPF member or any of his/her family.
8. Marriage of self or son/daughter/brother/sister.
9. Post Matriculation education of children.
10. Natural Calamity.
11. Cut in electricity in an establishment.
12. Purchasing equipment for physically handicapped.
13. One year before retirement.
14. Investment in Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana.

By virtue of an Order, (Reference no. Manual/Amendment/2011/Pt/31792 dated 20th February 2017) a new composite form had replaced the earlier forms 19, 10C, 31, 19(UAN), 10C(UAN) & 31(UAN). Therefore, the EPF members do not even need to request his/her employer for attestation.

The most significant move of the EPF authority is that the EPF members do not even have to submit any supportive documents for the purpose of partial withdrawal. Like says before the EPF members had to provide ‘Utilization certificate’ annexing with Form 31, but with this order on implementing the composite form, there is no need for this at all.

But in order to avail the advance withdrawal, the EPF members need to be at least 5 years as a member of the EPF. May his/her employment changes, but the EPF a/c or better now the UAN has not changed in these 5 years.

Quantity of amount allowed to withdraw of advances from EPF

Purchasing of land

Apart the EPF member can only withdraw twenty-four months contributions for the purchase of land. Minimum the members will have to be under the scheme for 5 years at least.

Construction of house or purchasing of a house

The member is allowed to withdraw his/her EPF contribution for the purpose of purchasing house or construction of a house, provided the member is a member under the EPF scheme for not less than 60 months.

Repayment of loans

The members need to be a member for at least 10 years under the EPF scheme to avail the facility for repayment of loans from his/her PF account. Further, the members are allowed to withdraw up to 36 months contribution or the actual amount of outstanding amount, whichever is less. The member may also be required to provide self-certification on the outstanding amount.

Lockout/Closure under the Industrial Dispute Act

If the establishment where the EPF Act is prevailing and the establishment or the Factory has been not function due to lockout or closure for 15 days then the EPF member can also avail the partial withdraw. The member can withdraw up to 50 % of his/her total contribution if he/she has challenged the lay-off or retrenchment. There is no specific time required for being an EPF member to avail this facility. Moreover, there are eligibilities in this regard: –

• The Factory is not working for 15 days.
• The employee has not been paid compensation.
• The employee has not been paid wages or salary for 2 months due to only closure/lockout.

Illness of the EPF member or any of his/her family

A member of EPF can withdraw up to 6 months of his/her EPF contribution for treatment purpose.

Marriage

The member can partial withdraw his/her EPF contribution up to 50% if he/she has been as a member under the EPF scheme for at least 7 years for the purpose of his/her marriage or for son’s or daughter’s marriage.

Son’s or daughter’s higher education

The member can partial withdraw his/her EPF contribution up to 50% if he/she has been as a member under the EPF scheme for at least 7 years for the purpose of his/her son’s and/or daughter’s higher education. Higher education means education after matriculation.

Before 1 year of retirement

The EPF member can even withdraw 90% of his/her EPF contribution if only one year is left for his/her retirement or superannuation. But this is not applicable if the member is 33 years ago.

Online submission of form – 31 for EPF advance withdrawal

The member can even submit online Form – 31 through his/her UAN portal, provided his/her Aadhar and Pan details are seeded and verified by the present employer in his/her EPF portal. The following steps may be followed for this purpose.

Step 1

Please log into the UAN portal using the UAN and password.

Step 2

After opening the UAN member home page, please click on the ‘Online Services’ and then select ‘Claim’ to generate an online request for advance’.

Step 3

A new page will open showing all the personal details which were seeded earlier like name, father’s name, date of birth, mobile number, Aadhaar number, PIN number, bank account detail and the date of joining of the company.

Step 4

The member will be asked to verify his/her bank account details which were seeded and verified earlier. The members need to provide last 4 digits of his/her bank account no. upon successfully verify the members are required to proceed further. If the details are incorrect, the member should not proceed further and inform his/her present employer accordingly on the incorrectness.

Step 5

After clicking on the “Proceed for Online Claim” a new window will open. In the drop-down menu shown against “I want to apply for”, select “PF ADVANCE (FORM-31).

Step 6

The members need to fill the purpose for which the advance is required. In the drop-down menu, all the available advanced options are provided which are currently available under the online facility.

Step 7

After filling up the address details, further, the member needs to sign a disclosure form by clicking on the left-hand box on the bottom of the box. Once you click on the box, “Get Aadhaar OTP” tab will be visible on the screen, which needs to be clicked for generating a one time password to authenticate the online advance request. You have to enter the OTP in the box provided below and click on “Validate OTP and Submit Claim Form” to complete the online EPF advance application process.

If the advance amount has not been completely spent then the excess amount can be refunded back to the member’s EPF account, provided this has to be done within 30 days from the date of getting the amount or completion of the purpose. Aside from if the advance has not been utilized completely then the full amount has to be refunded within 15 days from the date of getting the amount or been aware that the purpose is not in need at all.

Further, the member should consult his/her HR or private consultants in this regard for getting a clear picture of the procedures, as every month more or less the rules of EPF are changing.

LawSikho has created a telegram group for exchanging legal knowledge, referrals and various opportunities. You can click on this link and join: 

https://t.me/joinchat/J_0YrBa4IBSHdpuTfQO_sA