How to Withdraw EPF Balance Online: Simple Steps to Follow

The Employment Provident Fund (EPF) is considered as one of the safest methods to create an accumulated corpus of savings throughout their employment. This savings scheme includes contribution both from the employer and the employee’s end, meant to fund the financial requirements of individuals post-retirement.

Applicants who wish to withdraw from their EPF account after retirement can enjoy the total PF balance along with the employer’s contribution and the accrued interest. Senior citizens can re-invest their acquired corpus in FDs and manage their finances judiciously. It stands as the most recommended investment schemes for senior citizens thanks to the lucrative features and benefits on offer. Financial institutions and NBFCs offer a special interest rate on the prevailing rate and can reap best returns on their invested money.

Things to know about EPF withdrawal

An individual, who wishes to withdraw his PF account, for the sake of not transferring his account while switching his job should be aware of specific steps, following which one, can easily withdraw their EPF balance. EPF Withdrawal process can be achieved in two ways – online mode and offline mode.

To withdraw the EPF amount online, the account holder needs to make sure if the UAN number needs to be activated first. A common issue faced by most individuals, they can easily do so by submitting the KYC documents and updating them on the EPFO portal.

In most cases, the UAN number is provided to the employee on their salary receipts by the employer. Individuals who do not have their UAN number activated can follow easy steps mentioned below –

• The individual has to visit the EPFO website and click on the “For Employers” option.
  Click on to the “Our Services” tab.
• On the device screen, under “our services” segment, the option “Member UAN/Online services” will be displayed, the individual has to click on to that, to get redirected on the UAN portal and click on to “Activate your UAN.”
• The applicant would be provided with an application form which he has to fill and generate the access pin to activate their UAN number.
• The applicant will receive an SMS from EPFO confirming the successful completion of the UAN activation process.
• The individual has to note down the authorized PIN provided to them through SMS to access their EPF account.
• Using a UAN number on the EPFO portal, the applicant has to file for his EPF withdrawal claim.

Steps for online withdrawal of EPF account

The online procedures to withdraw EPF balance online are elucidated below –

• The applicant has to login to the EPFO portal and enters their UAN number and password.
  After the verification of the KYC documents by clicking on the “manage” tab, the applicant has to visit the “our services” tab and click on to the “claim “option.
• After this the applicant will be given options to choose among the types of withdrawals he/she would want to avail; the applicant has to select between partial or full withdrawal according to their preference. On that note, the types of withdrawal will be displayed on the screen only if the applicant is eligible to avail the options.
• The claim request will be directed to the employer for approval.  The amount will be credited to the account of the applicant within 10 days of the employer’s consent.

Applicants after their EPF withdrawal can find ways to strengthen their finances, by re investing their collated amount in fixed deposits. It offers an interest rate that is higher than other savings schemes, along with an added rate per cent for the senior citizens.

Financial institutions and NBFCs like Bajaj Finance offers Fixed Deposit with up to 8.70% return that helps in a steady growth of the corpus together with a fixed interest rate.  It also facilitates the investors with an option to withdraw their amount before the end of the tenor or take a loan against the deposit to meet their financial requirements.

The applicant, instead of choosing EPF withdrawal, can opt for partial recovery of the amount from the account to avail immediate financial assistance. Partial EPF withdrawal is approved and permitted by the EPFO department only on specific occasions, including –

• Marriage.
• Face-lifting of residential space.
• Higher education.
• Repayments of loan debts.
• Construction of living spaces.

Individuals should not delay in initiating the process of PF withdrawal after quitting their job, to avoid unlawful confiscation of their savings due to adulteration and forgeries.