Retirement fund body EPFO (Employees’ Provident Fund Body) has made it mandatory to file online claims for provident fund withdrawals above Rs. 10 lakh, taking another step towards becoming a paperless organisation. EPFO has also made it mandatory to file online claims for withdrawals of above Rs. 5 lakh under the Employee’s Pension Scheme 1995. Under the pension scheme, there is a provision of part withdrawal of pension, commonly known as commutation of pension money.

At present, EPFO subscribers have the option of filing online as well as manual claims for provident fund withdrawal as also for pension.

The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Central Provident Fund Commissioner on January 17, 2018, an official said.

The official said the field offices have been directed that the claims must be accepted online in case the amount of provident fund withdrawal is above Rs. 10 lakh.

Similarly, the claims must be online in case the amount is above Rs. 5 lakh under employees’ pension scheme, the official added.

The bank account of the subscriber has to be seeded and verified in the system before the online claims can be settled. Moreover, the subscriber should have been issued a universal account number or UAN and same must be activated.
The official said that all claims exceeding the said limits would not be accepted in the physical form now onwards.

As per the EPFO latest amendment, PF member claims under below categories like; 

1) Full PF withdrawal if not under service

2) PF Partial withdrawal via loan/advance and

3) Pension withdrawal benefit through EPS withdrawal(Retirement)

can be made directly through employees online UAN (Universal Account Number) portal by all members of EPF who have activated their UAN and linked their KYC.

Now no more physical forms (Form 19, Form 10C, Form 13) will be accepted by PF office.

Following points to be noted before you go with online claim process:

i) You should have activated your Universal Account Number (UAN). https://unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/

ii) Your mobile number, which is in working condition (should be the same as registered with your Aadhaar card)

iii) Bank Account details should have linked with your Aadhaar Card and PAN Card

iv) If there is mismatch in PF to Aadhaar database, due which Aadhaar is not linked, for this PF member needs to add their correct info and get it verified by the employer and EPF office.

How to Withdraw EPF & EPS Balance online?

Step 1 is to log on to the UAN portal and enter your details.

Link to access memeber portal: https://unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/

Step 2 is to check whether the KYC details seeded are correct and verified or not.

Step 3 is to select the claim you require out of the 3 namely, full PF Settlement, PF Part withdrawal (loan / advance) or EPS withdrawal

Step 4 is to verify the online PF claim using One Time Password (OTP) that you will receive on your mobile number linked with your UAN. EPFO will obtain your KYC i.e. Aadhaar details from UIDAI and your online PF claim will be processed and your bank account will be credited with the amount of the claim.

Also, if someone is applying online for EPF partial withdrawal i.e. loan/advance, he/she doesn’t need to submit any documents along with. Now that surely brings a lot of convenience and easy access to one’s money as the current EPF withdrawal system only require minimum 10 to 15 days to process the above mentioned EPF claims.