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Provident Fund Claim To Be Settled In 3 Days. Here is How To Apply Online

PF withdrawal claims will be settled within three days of their receipt.
PF withdrawal claims will be settled within three days of their receipt.

Retirement fund body, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), has allowed its members to avail second non-refundable COVID-19 advance wherein the EPFO subscribers will be allowed withdraw up to 75 per cent of their contribution from the corpus or the sum of basic wages and dearness allowance for a period of three months to ease the burden on its members in the wake of second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. "To support its subscribers during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, EPFO has now allowed its members to avail second non-refundable COVID-19 advance," Ministry of Labour & Employment said in a press release.

In wake of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic wherein 'mucormycosis' or black fungus was declared an epidemic, EPFO decided to lend a helping hand to its members by meeting their financial needs.

Members who have already availed the first COVID-19 advance can now opt for a second advance also, the retirement body said.

"Considering urgent need of members for financial support in these trying times, it has been decided to accord top priority to COVID-19 claims. EPFO is committed to settle these claims within three days of their receipt," EPFO added.

Here is how to claim you provident fund withdrawal online:

The user is required to log in to the EPF scheme's member portal - unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in. This is to apply for either 75 per cent of the non-refundable advance component of an EPF account or three months of wages and dearness allowance, whichever is less.

Once logged in, the member has to select the claim form 31 under the online services section of the website. In the next step, the user is prompted to verify the last four digits of savings bank account number linked with the PF account and click on "proceed".

The EPF subscriber is redirected to a withdrawal form. On the next page, the member selects the "PF Advance" form (Form 31) from the dropdown next to the text "I want to apply for".

The user, then has to select, the purpose for withdrawal. The portal has introduced a new option, called "outbreak of pandemic (Covid-19)", in the dropdown menu.

The subscriber is asked to provide a scanned copy of a cheque clearly showing the IFSC code and the account number.

The member submits the request by verifying the Aadhaar number through an OTP- or One Time Passcode-based method.