On Sunday, the labour ministry issued a notice allowing all Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) subscribers to withdraw a portion of their retirement savings with immediate effect.
According to the notification, a subscriber can withdraw an amount not exceeding his/her basic income and dearness allowance of three months.
On 24th March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day lockdown across the entire country to contain the spread of the coronavirus, saying "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease.
Under the new pandemic rules, all the withdrawal requests of the pension funds will be honoured within three days, said the labour ministry. However, you can avail the online withdrawal claim option only if you have linked your Aadhaar to your Universal Account Number (UAN). UAN is essential for you to access your PF records.
Before you sit down to raise an online request, check if you have done the following steps:
Your UAN should be activated
Your Aadhaar card should be linked to the UAN
Your bank account with IFSC should be linked to the UAN
If you have not activated your UAN, here's how to do it:
Open www.epfindia.gov.in website
Click on ‘Our Services’ and choose ‘For employees’ from the drop down.
Now click on ‘Member UAN/Online Services’. You will now be taken to the UAN Member Portal.
Once the page opens, click on ‘Activate your UAN’, which you can find under ‘Important Links’ on the right-hand side.
Now, enter the required details and hit 'I agree' option.
You will then receive an OTP on your registered mobile number.
Enter the OTP as received on your registered mobile number.
Lastly click on ‘Validate OTP and Activate UAN’.
You have now successfully activated your UAN.
Now, you can withdraw your PF amount on your account
Firstly, open the EPFO website
Login with your UAN and password and enter the given captcha
Now click on online services and select the claim form
Once you do that, ‘Member Details’ will be displayed on your screen. Now enter the last 4 digits of your bank account and click on ‘Verify’.
Now you will be redirected to a new page
In this page, you will have to click on PF advance form 31 and then select 'outbreak of pandemic COVID-19' as the reason from the drop down list.
Now fill the required details, incuding how much you wish to withdraw as advance and the address.
Either 75 per cent or your 3 months salary or the requested amount, whichever is lower, will automatically be selected by the system.
Once your claim is processed, the amount will be credited directly to the bank account automatically.