What Is An EPF Account?
An Employee Provident Fund or EPF is a type of fund in which a percentage of any salaried employee's salary is deposited. An EPF account essentially serves as retirement savings account for any salaried employee. The reason that EPF is so valuable is that it helps build a corpus of funds that can help you when you are out of work or when you finally retire. Every single company that employs more than 20 people are required by law to register with the EPFO. Under the EPF scheme, every employee is required to provide a certain percentage of their salary as a contribution toward the scheme and the employer is required to match the same contribution to the employee's EPF account. As a general rule, a 12% contribution to the EPF is made by the employees and the employers to EPF accounts.
Can You Close Your EPF Account?
Opening or closing an EPF account is not a simple process like opening a bank account. There are only two scenarios where an employee's EPF account can be closed. First, an employee's EPF account can be closed in case of the death of that employee. Secondly, an employee's EPF account can be closed if they have left the company or retired and the funds have been withdrawn. However, since the UAN (Universal Account Number) is mandatorily provided to employees and must also be provided to the new employer when switching jobs, closing your EPF account is not the ideal option before you are fully retired.
How To Withdraw Funds From EPF Account?
You will need to use Form 19 in order to withdraw funds from EPF during the final settlement after retirement. Here are the steps you will need to follow:
Go to the EPFO website and enter your UAN along with the password and captcha.
Click on the ‘Online Services' option and then choose the option to claim Form 19.
Next, enter your bank account which is linked with your PF account and ‘Verify'.
Select the ‘Yes' option when the ‘Certificate of Undertaking' appears on the screen.
Then choose ‘Only PF Withdrawal (Form – 19)' from the drop-down menu that appears.
Entry your full address, tick off the disclaimer and then click on ‘Get Aadhaar OTP'.
Once you have inputted the OTP and verified your Aadhar, your application to withdraw EPF will be successful.
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