Employees' Provident Fund or EPF is a mandatory contribution from the salary of an individual that every organisation with more than 20 employees has to deduct. Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) is the nodal agency that monitors EPF contributions. In an EPF account, the employee contributes 12 per cent of his or her salary (basic wages, dearness allowance and retaining allowance) towards the account, and an equal amount is contributed by the employer, according to the EPF website -epfindia.gov.in. Currently, all members of EPFO get an interest rate of 8.65 per cent on their Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) deposit. (Also read: Latest Interest Rate Offered By General Provident Fund)
Here are 5 things to know about facilities offered by EPFO for EPF contributors:
1. EPF members can access the passbook of their provident fund account digitally from either retirement fund body EPFO's member portal, epfindia.gov.in, or through mobile app UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance). An EPF passbook contains a statement of contributions made to an EPF account.
2. The subscribers can also put a claim for advance fund withdrawal online via EPFO's website. The claim is then forwarded to the employer for approval. Once approved, the amount is credited to the subscriber's account within 10 days, according to the EPFO.
3. Partial withdrawal from EPF accounts is allowed for purchase/construction of house, repayment of loan, non-receipt of wage for two months, marriage of self/daughter/son/brother, for medical treatment of family members etc, according to EPF website.
4. EPFO allows 100 per cent withdrawal - or full withdrawal - in case the subscriber is unemployed for two months.
5. The nomination details can also be submitted through the retirement fund body's website. In the event of a subscriber's death, only the nominated members can withdraw the EPF savings. Subscribers can nominate more than one person, and also fix the percentage for each nominee.
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