How to Check & Withdraw your PF Balance with Ease

The Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Act, 1952, governs the primary system of EPF. Both the employee and the employer contribute 12% of the employee’s base salary and dearness allowance to the EPF. The current interest rate on EPF deposits is 8.10 per cent per annum.

The EPFO’s key aims are:

• To make sure that each employee only has one EPF account.
• Compliance must be simple to achieve.
• Ensure that organisations adhere to all EPFO laws and regulations regularly.
• To assure the reliability of online services and to improve their capabilities.
• All member accounts should be easily accessible online.
• It takes to resolve a claim will be lower from 20 to 3 days.
• Encouragement and promotion of voluntary compliance.

Withdrawing PF balance

It is possible to withdraw EPF in full or in part.

Withdrawal in Full

EPF can be withdrawn entirely in the following circumstances:

• When a person decides to retire
• When a person is out of work for more than two months. Individuals must obtain an attestation from a gazetted office to make a withdrawal in this situation.

Partial withdrawal can be made in case of a wedding, medical, education, land purchase, home loan repayment, house renovation, and before retirement.

How to check PF balance?

Checking PF balance can be done in three ways:

1. To check your EPF balance, send “EPFOHO UAN LAN” as an SMS from your registered cellphone number to 7738299899. In the SMS, do not use quote marks. 
2. Make a missed call from your registered cellphone number to 011-22901406. After the phone has finish ringing, you will receive an SMS with information about your EPF account, including your PF account balance.
3. You can also log in to EPFO’s member passbook portal to view your EPF account balance and other details. You’ll need your Universal Account Number (UAN) to log in. Go to either the EPF passbook portal or the Member e-Sewa portal. Enter your UAN and password after you’ve reach the passbook gateway. After logging in to the EPF passbook portal, choose “Download/View Passbook” to access your passbook. You can also take a printout.

How to withdraw the balance

In general, EPF withdrawal can be accomplished by submitting:

Online application or physical application

1. Physical application 

To withdraw your EPF balance, download the new Composite Claim Form (Aadhaar)/Composite Claim Form (non-Aadhaar).

Use the Composite Claim Form; if you have seeded your Aadhaar number and bank account details on the UAN portal and your UAN is enabled, use the Composite Claim Form (Aadhaar). Fill up the form and submit it to the EPFO office in your jurisdiction without the employer’s signature.

If your Aadhaar number isn’t seeded on the UAN portal, you can utilise the Composite Claim Form (Non-Aadhaar). Please fill out the form and submit it to the EPFO office in your area, together with the employer’s attestation.

2. Online application

The EPFO has introduce an online withdrawal option, which has made the process more convenient and time-consuming.

1. Go to the UAN website.
2. Use your UAN and password to log in. Please enter the captcha
3. Select ‘KYC’ from the ‘Manage’ page to see if your KYC information, such as Aadhaar, PAN, and bank account information, has been validated.
4. After you’ve validated your KYC information, proceed to the ‘Online Services’ tab and choose ‘Claim (Form-31, 19 & 10C)’ from the drop-down menu.
5. The following screen will show the member information, KYC information, and other service information. Click ‘Verify’ after entering your bank account number.
6. Click ‘Yes’ to sign the undertaking certificate and continue.
7. Next, select ‘Proceed with Online Claim’.
8. Under the tab ‘I Want To Apply For’ on the claim form, select the claim you desire, i.e. full EPF settlement, EPF portion withdrawal (loan/advance), or pension fund. If the member does not meet the service conditions for any of the services, such as PF withdrawal or pension withdrawal, that choice will not appear in the drop-down menu.
9. To withdraw your funds, select ‘PF Advance (Form 31).’ Include the reason for the advance, the amount needed, and the employee’s address.
10. Submit your application by clicking on the certificate. You may be asked to supply scanned documents to fill out the form. The employer must approve the withdrawal request, and then you will receive money in your bank account within 15-20 days.

The PF amount is a fund that you build up during a time to have adequate money when you retire. PF is a fantastic financial tool for saving a small amount each month at an excellent return rate of 8.5 per cent per annum. The interest that you earn on your PF account is tax-free (if withdrawn after five years of PF account opening). With all of these advantages, withdrawing PF funds is not a good option until essential.