Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) is a retirement savings scheme that is available to all salaried employees in India.

This scheme was established by the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, with the objective of providing retirement benefits to the employees of any organisation.

It is regulated by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO), which is a statutory body under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.

Let’s first understand the eligibility criteria for contributing to the scheme and the benefits:

A person must be between 18 and 58 years of age and should be an employee of an organisation with more than 20 employees.

A person earning up to Rs 15,000 per month in any organisation can contribute to this scheme.

An EPF scheme can benefit employees in terms of saving taxes, retirement savings, financial safety, partial withdrawals, etc:

It helps you gain financial independence after your retirement so that you can manage your lifestyle without being dependent on anyone.

As it is not a one-time investment scheme, it becomes easy for the contributor to invest in monthly installments, not putting the burden on the person.

It allows you to enjoy tax concessions.

It can play a vital role in times of financial emergencies.

An important question that arises here is: What happens if the person leaves the workplace or the organisation they were working in, are they also eligible for the contribution to this scheme?

So, the answer to this is, No, in the absence of wages and an employer, no recovery can be affected, and any contributions by the member must be matched with the employer’s share of the contribution.

Following this, another question comes to the mind of the employee: what would happen to the PF amount if you resign from a company?

To withdraw the PF amount after you resign from a particular organisation, certain eligibility criteria is to be fulfiled, which is as follows:

The person must serve a notice period of one month or pay the corresponding amount to the employer.

The person must complete two months of continuous service with their current employer.

The personal details must be updated on the EPFO portal.

To withdraw your PF amount without any problem after your resignation, here is the procedure:

The first step towards withdrawing your PF balance is to submit Form 19 (PF Settlement Form) to your current employer.

You can easily obtain this form from the official website of EPFO or the nearest EPFO office.

Before submitting it to your current employer, you must sign the form.

You must also submit a cancelled bank account’s cheque or a copy of your bank account’s passbook.

If you change jobs, you can transfer your PF account from your previous employer to the new one to avoid incurring tax on the interest.

You can do this simply by submitting Form 13 to your current employer.

After submission, your current employer will verify all necessary details and approve your withdrawal request. This process may take approximately 20 days from the date of form submission.

After withdrawal request approval, your accumulated PF amount will be automatically credited to your bank account after 30 days from the date of approval.

To withdraw from an EPF account online: Here is the complete process:

Visit the EPFO portal and submit a withdrawal claim using your UAN. All you need to do is follow these simple steps below:

Step 1: Visit EPFO’s official portal and enter your UAN and password to sign in.

Step 2: Click on the ‘Online Services’ tab. In the drop-down menu, choose the ‘Claim’ option.

Step 3: Once redirected, enter your bank account number and click ‘Verify’.

Step 4: Click ‘Yes’ to continue and select ‘Proceed with Online Claim’.

Step 5: Under the ‘I want to apply for’ tab, select the type of withdrawal claim you want to apply for.

Step 6: Select the ‘PF Advance’ form. Explain the reason behind the EPF withdrawal and submit your application. You may be asked to submit documents for verification.

Step 7: After approval, the PF amount will be credited to your bank account.