Withdrawing PF online? Know which form to select for correct provident fund claim filing

Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) is a fund where contributions are made by both the employer and the employee. The EPFO allows the EPF subscribers to withdraw some part of their provident fund for different purposes that includes illness, construction or addition of house/purchase of site/flat, the marriage of self/son/ daughter/brother/sister, medical expenses, natural calamity or cut in electricity in establishment among others.

Form 19: The Form 19 is to be filled by the subscriber for the final settlement of the EPF account once they leave the job. Even if you join another job but don't want to transfer your old PF account's funds, you can file Form 19 to withdraw funds from the old account.

Pension Withdrawal Benefit (Form 10-C): The pension withdrawal benefit form or Form 10-C should be filled by an employee who has either left the employment before completion of 10 years of service or who has attained the age of 58 years before completion of 10 years of service. A member, who has completed 10 years, of service on the date of leaving the service and has not attained the age of 50 years on the date of filing this application can also apply for PF withdrawal using Form 10-C. An employee who has attained the age of 50 years or more, but less than 58 years and is not willing to reduce their pension can also file a claim through this form. The family/nominee /legal heir of the deceased member who had died after 58 years of age but had not completed 10 years of eligible service can also file this claim form.

PF Part Withdrawal (Form 31): This form is needed for the partial withdrawal of the funds from the PF account. Also known as PF Advance Form, an employee willing to withdraw PF before retirement for purposes including purchase/construction of a home, wedding or education of self/sibling/child, repayment of home loan and medical emergencies. If you are in service and want to withdraw PF, you should apply using Form 31.

Form 10-D: While all EPFO members are automatically enrolled on the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) and get a pension after retirement at the age of 58 years, a member can opt for a reduced pension at a discounted rate of 4% each year after attaining an age of 50 years. Those members who want to opt for a reduced pension, need to fill out the EPF Form 10D.

All of these forms comes with certain criteria. You should check details before filing your claim. According to the provisional payroll data of EPFO released on 20th September 2022,  the EPFO added 18.23 lakh net members in July, 2022.  Of the total 18.23 lakh members added during the month, around 10.58 lakh new members have come under the social security cover of EPFO for the first time.