Rules to Withdraw EPF

Almost all salaried people contribute a certain percentage of their salary towards their Employee
Provident Fund (EPF) account every month. While most of us know that EPF is an effective tool that
helps generate a corpus for life post retirement, many of us are unaware that you can make a
withdrawal from your EPF account for urgent cash requirements.

However, an EPF account cannot be treated like any other saving bank account implying that there
are certain specified criteria under which withdrawal is permitted from an EPF account. An
individual needs to furnish all relevant documents and satisfy the necessary requirements in order
to be eligible for premature withdrawal of EPF.

Here are the categories and other details with respect to premature withdrawal from EPF.

Reasons for Premature EPF Withdrawal

Reason Requirement Amount allowed No. of times
to be withdrawn permitted
Education or 1. The employee should have 50% of the total Permitted thrice
marriage completed at least 7 years of corpus amount only during a
employment or service. till date persons total
2. Withdrawal allowed for self, service tenure
sibling(s) or childrens marriage.
3. Withdrawal permitted for self
or childrens education only.
4. Proof of the education or
wedding required to be
submitted, such as a valid copy
or a bonafide certificate of the
payable fees or the wedding
invitation
5. In case of education, the
individual needs to apply in Form
31 through his/her employer.
Medical 1. Withdrawal permitted for 6 times the Anytime
treatment medical treatment of self, monthly salary of
spouse, parents and children. an individual or
2. There is no restriction regarding the total corpus
the number of years of service. amount,
3. The proof of hospitalization for whichever is
a month or more along with an lesser
approved leave certificate from
the employer for the
 corresponding period needs to
be produced.
4. The member needs to obtain
and deposit a certificate from
the employer or ESI stating that
ESI facility is not accessible or
available to him/her.
5. A certified proof or document of
the disease should be submitted
in Form 31 while applying for
withdrawal.
Purchase of a 1. Should have completed at least Up to 24 times Once during
plot 5 years of service. the salary of the entire service
2. The plot or property should be individual tenure
registered in the persons or
his/her spouses name or
should be owned jointly.
3. The plot should not be entangled
in any legal issues and the
agreement registered under the
Indian Registration Act with the
Flat Promoter needs to be
submitted along with the
application form.
Construction or 1. Should have completed at least 36 times the Once during
purchase of a 5 years of service. monthly salary of entire service
flat, house or 2. The house should be registered in the individual tenure
plot the persons or his/her spouses
name or should be owned jointly.
Repayment of 1. Should have completed at least 36 times the Once during
Home Loan 10 years of employment. monthly salary of entire service
2. The house should be registered in the individual tenure
the persons or his/her spouses
name or should be owned jointly.
Alteration or 1. Should have completed at least Up to 12 times Once during
Renovation of 5 years of service. the individuals entire service
house 2. The house should be registered in monthly salary tenure
the persons or his/her spouses
name or should be owned jointly.
Pre-retirement 1. The individual must be at least 54 90% of the total Once during
years old. corpus amount entire service
tenure
Withdrawal from EPF after leaving an Organization
On switching jobs, an employee can apply for transfer of money from the EPF account through a
form which is filled by the employee and attested by the designated authority at the employer.

Withdrawal of money from the account in between two jobs is illegal and is permissible only under
the following two circumstances:
When a member is in between two jobs
If the member has been unable to find another job for over two months

Grievance related to withdrawal from EPF

There is a mechanism to address grievances of EPF members which comes under the Consumer
Protection Act. To report a grievance, a member needs to:
Log on to the website www.epfigms.gov.in
Click Register Grievance
Enter the details and information in the specified field.

All grievances related to the following subjects can be addressed to the grievance cell:
Withdrawal or final settlement of EPF
Scheme certificate
Transfer of accumulated PF amount
Issuance of PF balance or slip
Return or misplacement of cheque
Payment of insurance benefit

EPF is the corpus that helps build financial stability post retirement. It is, therefore, advisable to
leave the amount undisturbed during employment tenure unless the circumstances are
unavoidable