EPF (Employee Provident Fund) is one of the retirement benefit schemes under the Employee Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provision Act, 1952. This scheme is administrated by the Employee Provident Fund Organization (EPFO). EPF is a wide popular and a post retirement benefit scheme. It ensures the securities of future of the salaried employees. Under EPF scheme 1952, both employer as well as employee have to provide an equal monthly contribution at the rate of 12% of the basic salary.
In case of any financial emergency, the funds accumulated in the EPF account can be withdrawn during the employment period as well. To do so, you are required to submit EPF withdrawal Form 31 to EPFO with a valid reason for advance withdrawal of funds. The Form 31 can be filled both though online and offline modes. To fill the EPF withdrawal Form 31 online, you must register your UAN (Universal Account Number).
Key Takeaways
- Form 31 is also known as the EPF advance form. It is generally used to file a claim for partial withdrawal from the EPF account.
- There are set criteria for withdrawal of money from EPF accounts.
- The Form 31 can be easily downloaded from the website of Employee Provident Fund Organization (EPFO).
- EPF helps the employees to build a corpus for their retirement. This corpus can help them to meet various requirements during the employment period.
- In case of any certain certain conditions, the members can apply for partial withdrawals from their EPF account by submitting EPF withdrawal Form 31.
How to Download EPF Withdrawal Form Online/Offline?
To download EPF withdrawal form 31 online, you have to follow the given steps.
- Visit the portal of EPFO.
- Log in to the portal by entering your details like the UAN and password.
- Go to “Online Services” section and select “Claim”.
- This will open a new page wherein you will have to add your details such as, name, date of birth, PAN, Aadhar number, date of joining the company and your mobile number.
- After entering all required details, click on “Proceed for Online Claim”.
- On the next page, select “PF Advance (Form31) from the dropdown menu.
- Select your reason for taking the withdrawal and enter the amount you want to withdraw and add your current address too.
- After that, you will have to sign the disclosure that appears, check the box saying “Get Aadhar OTP”.
- Enter the OTP that you have received on the registered mobile number and click on “Validate OTP and Submit Claim Form”.
- As you have filled the certain details yourself, the remaining details need to be filled I by your employer and the EPF commissioner.
To submit the EPF withdrawal form 31 offline, you can follow the below steps.
- Download the EPF withdrawal form 31 as specified above.
- After downloading the form, fill all the relevant details in the form.
- Before filling, you have to contact your employer and get a certification validating your employment with them. Ask them to fill in the designation, date and the signature fields in the form.
- Do not miss to attach the enclosures.
- Submit the filled form to the respective EPFO office.
Did You Know?
Form 31 is considered as proof that the reason for the partial withdrawal is well within the specified criteria. It is compulsory for employees to sign the form before submitting it.
Field of Content in EPF Form 31
The EPF form 31 is filled by the employee, employer and the EPF commissioner. Also, it is compulsory to provide the latest and factual information in the form31. Here are the fields of content to fill in the form by each of them.
Employee fields:
- Employee mobile number
- The purpose of withdrawal
- The amount of withdrawal
- Name of the employee
- Address of the employee
- Name and address of the employer
- EPF account number
- Monthly basic salary
- Full postal address of the employee
- Advance stamp receipt
Employer Details:
- Certification of the employer
- Designation and signature along with the stamp
- Enclosure
EPF Commissioner Details:
- Section
- Amount to be reimbursed
- Signature
- Mode of remittance
Eligibility to Withdraw EPF Fund
The EPF scheme was invented to create a corpus for the retirement. Withdrawal should be prevented unless it is an emergency. However, the Indian government made some amendments to the employee provident fund, considering the early PF withdrawals by the employees.
According to the EPF withdrawal rules, 90% of the Employee Provident Fund balance can be withdrawn after the age of 54 years. Also, an employee can withdraw 75% of the provident fund balance if they remain unemployed for 1 month after leaving a job. The remaining 25% can be withdrawn after the second month of unemployment.
How to Submit Form 31 Online/offline?
The EPF withdrawal form 31 can be submitted either online or offline.
Follow the below steps to submit the EPF form31 online.
- Visit the official website of EPFO.
- Log in to the account by entering the UAN and the password.
- Select “Claim Form 31” under the “Online services” tab.
- It will open a new page with specific details. The details like, name, date of birth, PAN, Aadhar card number, date of joining the company and the mobile number.
- Enter the last 4 digits if the bank account number and verify the number.
- After this, a new window will appear to accept the terms and conditions. Accept the “Certificate of Undertaking” to proceed further.
- Select the option of “Proceed For Online Claim”.
- The employee will have to choose the “PF Withdrawal” option from the drop-down menu.
- In the next page, select the “PF Advance Form” option.
- The employee will have to provide the details like the purpose of the withdrawal, the amount required, and also other information.
- At last, click on “Submit” to finish the online EPF withdrawal online application process.
Follow the below steps to submit the EPF form 31 offline.
- Download the Form 31 as mentioned above,
- Fill the form with all the required details.
- After filling the details, the employee needs to contact the employer. They will need a certification validating their employment with the company. The employer needs to fill the designation, signature and the date in the form.
- At last, the employee will have to submit the form to the respective EPFO website.
Check Form 31 Submission Status
The following are the steps to check the status of EPF form 31 online,
- First, visit the official website of EPFO.
- Log in to the account by using the UAN and password.
- In the “Online Services” menu tab, click on “Track Claim Status”
- Select the respective PF office location from the menu.
- An employee can refer to their payslip to enter the establishment code.
- Enter the seven digit account number and lastly, click on “Submit”.
- At last, the status of the claim will appear on the screen.
Word to Remember
Form 31
EPF withdrawal form 31 is used to make a partial withdrawal of your EPF corpus that has been reserved for the purpose of retirement. You should note that the partial withdrawals are allowed only at certain specific conditions. However, certain eligibility conditions must meet in order to be eligible for the application of such withdrawal.
Conclusion
The government of India launched the EPF scheme as a post-retirement scheme to promote savings among the salaried employees and help them accumulate a substantial retirement corpus. To get the advance features from your EPF, you need to submit EPF withdrawal form 31 which can be easily downloaded from the official website of EPFO.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Form 31 in PF is an advance form of EPF to file for the partial withdrawal before retirement period for specific reasons such as medical, wedding, education, etc.
It may take around 5-20 days if you have submitted EPF withdrawal form 31 online and if you have submitted form offline, the process time would be slightly longer.
The amount that an employee can withdraw from their EPF corpus depends upon their reason for withdrawal, and the time period that they have been in service.
Once you have submitted EPF withdrawal form 31, you are not allowed to cancel your application. You may contact the regional office of EPFO in case of urgent situations.
An employee can withdraw their PF 2-3 times on a non-refundable basis, at a minimum gap of 6 months between the loans. However, an employee can only withdraw once for one specific reason.
Read more about EPFO Establishment Login.