EPF is one of the most well-known and popular retirement schemes in India. The Employee Provident Fund Act of 1952 launched the program, backed by the Government of India.

Both employees and employers make monthly contributions to the EPF, all through the employee's working years. Since contributions are made regularly and over a long period, it helps to build a huge retirement corpus for employees to enjoy a financially comfortable post-retirement life.

Even if you change jobs, your EPF account can be easily transferred from your previous employer to your current employer. All EPF account holders are provided with a UAN (Universal Account Number) linked with the mobile number of the account holder. The UAN is a 12-digit code that helps you check your account details quickly.

If you're wondering how to withdraw funds from your EPF account, this guide is for you. Here, we show you how you can easily withdraw funds from the account in quick, easy steps.

Additional Reading: How to withdraw from EPF if you need money due to Coronavirus?

Table of Contents: 
    When can you withdraw funds from the EPF account? How to withdraw funds from EPF?  How to withdraw funds from EPF online? How to withdraw funds from EPF offline? FAQs of withdraw funds from EPF
When can you withdraw funds from the EPF account?  EPF is our retirement corpus. We wouldn’t want to disturb it as we want a considerable amount to take care of our retirement years. However, anyone could be faced with an emergency and the EPF amount can come in handy to take care of it. 

EPF allows two types of withdrawals – Partial Withdrawals and Complete Withdrawals 

Additional Reading: What Is EPF?

Complete Withdrawals: Complete withdrawals are permitted under any one of the following circumstances:

When the employee retires.  When the employee is unemployed for more than two months. In this scenario, the employee must get attestation certifying unemployment from a gazetted office.  Note that account holders are not permitted to withdraw funds completely while switching jobs. If you're changing your job, we highly encourage you to transfer your current EPF account to your new employer. This way, you can continue building your corpus using the same account.

Partial Withdrawals: The EPFO permits partial withdrawals under certain circumstances, provided you meet the required conditions. 

Reason for Partial Withdrawal

Withdrawal Limit

Minimum no. of years in employment

Other Conditions

Medical Emergencies

Six times the monthly basic salary or the total share contributed by the employee, whichever is lower

NA

Includes medical treatment of self, spouse, kids or parents

Education

Up to 50% of the employee’s contribution to EPF

7 years

For the educational expenses of the account holder or account holder's children

Marriage

Up to 50% of the employee’s contribution to EPF

7 years

For the marriage expenses of the account holder or account holder's children

Construction of a house/purchase of land

For house construction – up to 36 times monthly basic salary + DA (Dearness Allowance) For plot purchase – up to 24 times monthly basic salary + DA

5 years

i. The asset purchased must be in the name of the EPF account holder or jointly held with a spouse ii. The account holder can withdraw funds only once for this purpose iii. The construction of the house should commence within 6 months iv. Construction must be completed within 12 months

Home Loan Repayment

The smaller of the following amounts: 36 times the basic salary + DA Total corpus including employer + employee contribution along with interest The total outstanding principal on the home loan

10 years

i. The house must be in the name of the EPF account holder or jointly held with spouse ii. The account holder must have a minimum of Rs. 20,000 in the EPF account.

House Renovation

The smaller of the following amounts: Up to 12 times the monthly salary + DA Total of the employee’s contribution to EPF + interest

5 years

i. The house must be in the name of the EPF account holder or jointly held with spouse ii. Partial withdrawals, for this reason, are permitted twice. After 5/10 years of completion of the construction of the home.

Partial Withdrawal before Retirement

Up to 90% of the total accumulated amount in the account

Withdrawal must be made within one year of retirement and after the employee reaches the age of 54.

NA