PF Withdrawal Online - Second Covid-19

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PF Withdrawal Online – Second Covid-19

In view of the second wave of corona virus, the EPFO allowed its pf members to withdraw second non-refundable covid-19 in advance. This move was taken by the EPFO understanding the emergency and to support the financial needs of the pf members.

The special provision for first covid-19 pf withdrawal in advance was first introduced under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) by the Government of India in March 2020. The purpose of this provision is to withdraw pf money in advance and to meet financial needs.

Under this provision, pf members can withdraw either 3 months’ Basic salary plus DA or 75% of members’ total pf balance (employee share + employer share) whichever is lesser.

The same provision has been extended for the pf members in the year 2021 as well amid the second wave of the coronavirus which was initiated earlier in 2020.

The pf members who have already taken the first covid-19 pf in advance can now withdraw their second non-refundable covid-19 pf in advance.

The second covid-19 advance pf withdrawal process would remain the same as that of the first covid-19 pf advance.

Table of Contents

Pre Condition for Covid-19 Advance PF Withdrawal

You will be eligible for either one of the options listed below.

The employees can withdraw 75% of their total pf balance which includes both employee shares and employer shares.
The employees can withdraw 3 months of their basic salary plus da from the PF balance.

So, whichever is lesser either one of the above options. You will be eligible to take pf advance withdrawal with that pf amount.

Example to calculate maximum claim amount during covid-19 advance pf withdrawal

Let us take an example of an employee called Rajith who wants to apply for covid-19 pf withdrawal in advance.

Case 1: 75% of the total pf balance is more than 3 months basic salary + da

Employee Name	Rajith
Total Employee Balance	60,000
Total Employer Balance	40,000
Total Balance (as of date)	1,00,000
*Basic Salary + DA 3 months**	(15,000 +0) * 3 = 45,000
75% of the Total Balance	75% * 1,00,000 = 75,000
PF Withdrawable Amount	45,000 (lesser)
Remarks	Since 3 months basic salary + da is lesser than 75% of the total balance. The same amount can be eligible for withdrawal in advance.

Case 2: 75% of the total pf balance is less than 3 months basic salary + da

Employee Name	Rajith
Total Employee Balance	15,000
Total Employer Balance	10,000
Total Balance (as of date)	25,000
*Basic Salary + DA 3 months**	(15,000 +0) * 3 = 45,000
75% of the Total Balance	75% * 25,000 = 18,750
PF Withdrawable Amount	18,750 (lesser)
Remarks	Since 75% of the total balance is lesser than 3 months basic salary + da. The same amount can be eligible for withdrawal in advance.

PF Withdrawal Second Covid-19 Online Process

Step 1: Sign in to EPF Unified Member Portal with UAN, Password, and Captcha code (autogenerated)

Step 2: Close the Alert Message and under Online Services click on Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C&10D)

Under Online Services select claim (Form -31, 19, 10C&10D)

Step 3: Enter your bank account number linked with your UAN and click on Verify button for verification.

Type bank account no and click on verify

Step 4: Now click on Yes to the Certificate of Undertaking

Click on yes to the certificate of undertaking

Step 5: After the bank verification, click on Proceed For Online Claim button

Bank account no verified and now click proceed for online claim

The Bank account no verified and now click proceed for the online claim

Note:

Before proceeding to Step 6 check your PF Balance to make sure that you enter the correct claim amount for advance pf withdrawal with the purpose of covid-19.

Step 6: Select PF Advance (Form-31) from the field I want to apply for.

Step 7: Select the Service of your present company where your PF balance is accumulated.

Step 8: Now select the purpose for which advance is required which is an Outbreak of the Pandemic (Covid-19)

Step 9: Enter the amount of advance required (in Rs.) for partial withdrawal

Select pf advance form-31, service purpose – outbreak of pandemic covid-19, and amount of advance

Step 10: Now enter the full Employee Address consisting of Locality, Street, State, District, City and Pin Code.

Step 11: Upload a Scanned copy of the cheque or passbook

Rules for uploading scanned cheques or passbook

The scanned image should be either in jpg or jpeg format. Also, the image size should be at least 100 KB and shouldn’t be more than 500 KB.
Bank Account Number, IFSC code and Name should be clearly visible on the cheque or passbook.
The uploaded scanned image contents must be easy to read.
If the uploaded scanned image is not easily readable, then there is a high chance of your claim being rejected. So, click on the View button to see whether your scanned image is easy to read or not.

Step 12: Tick on the checkbox and click on Get Aaadhar OTP to receive OTP on your mobile number registered with aadhaar.

Enter employee address, Upload scanned passbook, tick box and click on get aadhaar otp

Enter the employee address, upload a scanned passbook/chequebook, tick the box and click on get aadhaar otp

Step 13: Now enter the 6 digits OTP sent to your mobile number. Finally, click on the Validate OTP and Submit Claim Form button.

Enter otp, click validate otp and submit the claim form button

Step 14: After OTP has been verified PF Advance Claim form-31 for an outbreak of pandemic (covid-19) is submitted successfully on Unified Portal

Claim form-31 submitted successfully on the unified portal

Claim form-31 was submitted successfully on the unified portal

After submitting the online claim form-31 on the unified portal, the most important thing that we can do is track the claim status of our online claim form.

PF Withdrawal Online Form-31 Claim Status

Here is how we can check our claim status of online form-31.

Step 1: Login Unified Member Portal with UAN, Password, and Captcha code

Step 2: Close the Alert message and under Online Services click on Track Claim Status

Step 3: After submitting the online claim form-31 at the portal, the current claim status will be shown as “Online Claim Submitted at Portal”

Claim form-31 track claim status is an online claim submitted at the portal

Claim form-31 track claim status as an online claim submitted at the portal

Step 4: The next claim status can be seen as “Under Process” showing your online claim force request is sent to the EPF field office.

Since auto mode claim settlement was deployed by the EPFO in keeping top priority for the claims settled under covid-19. This will reduce the delay in claim settlement.

Claim form-31 track claim status is sent to the field office with under process

Step 5: The last and final claim status can be seen as “Claim Settled”

Due to the auto mode of settlement option deployed by EPFO considering covid-19 claim settlement as on top priority, claim settlement can be reduced within 20 days to just 3 working days

Once the status is changed to “claim settled”, You will soon receive an SMS stating that the claim amount will be credited to the bank account within 3 working days.

Claim form-31 track claim status is sent to the field office with claim settled

Claim form-31 track claim status is sent to the field office with the claim settled

You can also log in to EPF Member Passbook and check your claim status

My PF Withdrawal (Covid-19)

As an author, it’s easy to write an article on pf withdrawal online and recommend procedures to follow on pf withdrawal online. But I believe in doing it practically from my end and sharing the steps so you can follow them to claim your advance withdrawal amount.

Let me share my experience on pf withdrawal by following the same procedures as mentioned in this post.

I submitted the advance pf withdrawal online form-31 at the unified portal on July 15, 10:08 PM by selecting the purpose as “outbreak of pandemic (covid-19)”.

Later on July 16, 04:37 PM, the online form-19 is sent to the epfo field office showing the claim status as “under process”.

Auto mode settlement option is deployed by the EPFO considering high priority on covid-19 pf claim settlement. This will reduce in delay in covid-19 claim settlement. Hence it will take a maximum of 3 working days to credit the partial withdrawal claim amount to the bank account.

In my case, the claim settled status was shown on July 16, 04:37 PM and on July 17, 7:11 AM I received an SMS stating that my claim amount will be credited within 3 working days.

Finally, the SMS was received stating that the claim amount was credited to the bank. This happened on the same day i.e July 17, 5:21 PM.

It took me just 2 days to receive my claim amount in my bank account.

FAQs Related to PF Withdrawal Form-31 (Covid-19)

Q1. What is the common reason for claim rejection for pf withdrawal online?

A. The employee’s sometimes very carefully and correctly fill out their online form-31. But while uploading a scanned image they don’t see whether the scanned image is easily readable or not. Hence this may be the common reason for claim rejection for pf withdrawal online.

So, before submitting online form-31 always click on the View button to view whether the scanned image is clear or not.

Q2. How many times covid-19 advance pf withdrawal can be claimed?

A. The maximum covid-19 advance pf withdrawal can be claimed twice. The first covid-19 advance pf withdrawal provision was introduced by the central government in March 2020. Later considering the second wave of coronavirus prevailing in India. The EPFO has extended the provision allowing the pf members to take their second covid-19 non-refundable pf withdrawal in advance.

Q3. Are the first covid-19 advance and the second covid-19 advance pf withdrawal rules are same?

A. Yes. The same provision of covid-19 advance pf withdrawal is extended to the second covid-19 pf withdrawal in advance. Under the provision, pf members can withdraw 3 months’ basic salary plus DA or 75% of the member’s credited total pf balance whichever is lesser.

Q4. Can I withdraw my pension amount with covid-19 advance pf withdrawal?

A. No. As per the provision introduced by the Ministry of Finance under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY). It is clearly stated that only 75% of pf balance with the employee and employer share or 3 months’ basic salary plus da whichever is less can be withdrawn in advance.

Q5. What documents are uploaded for online covid-19 advance pf withdrawal?

A. Only a scanned bank passbook or cheque is required. The scanned uploaded image must be in jpg or jpeg format with a minimum size of 100 KB and should not exceed 500 KB. The Bank account no, IFSC and Name must be readable.

Q6. How many days are required to receive the advance PF withdrawal amount?

A. Since the auto mode system is implemented by the EPFO, especially for covid-19 advance withdrawal. It will normally take a maximum of 3 days to process the covid-19 advance pf withdrawal. The minimum you can expect the advance withdrawal amount to be credited to your bank account is from 1 to 2 working days.

Q7. How to check the claim status of covid-19 advance pf withdrawal?

A. You can check the claim status either by login EPF Unified Member Portal or from EPF Member Passbook.

To check the claim status in the unified member portal, sign in to the unified member portal and under Online Services, click on Track Claim Status.

To check the claim status in the member passbook, log in to the member passbook and select your pf member id and click on View Claim Status.