EPF Form 31 – What It Is, Eligibility, Filing Procedure, and Instructions

Form 31, also known as the EPF Advance Form, is generally used to file a claim for partial withdrawal or advance from the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) account. Employees cannot withdraw money from their EPF accounts as and when required. There are set criteria for any sort of withdrawal. Likewise, withdrawal using Form 31 can be done only in specific situations.

Read more to know the details on the same.

Latest Updates

The government has decided to retain the EPF interest rate of 8.5% for the financial year 2020-21.

When can you use Form 31?

Sl.  No.	Purpose of Withdrawal	Withdrawal Limits	Minimum Service Required	Other Conditions
1.	Education	Up to 50% of employee contribution to the EPF with interest	7 years	Expenses incurred for the education of their children post 10th standard
2.	Marriage	Up to 50% of the employee contribution to EPF with interest	7 years	Marriage expenses for self, siblings, or children
3.	Land purchases or construction/purchase of a new house	For land purchase – Up to 24 times the monthly basic wages and dearness allowance, total employee and employer share with interest, or total cost, whichever is least For house – Up to 36 times the monthly basic wages and dearness allowance, or total cost, whichever is least	5 years	Land or house to be purchased should be under the name of the member, spouse, or owned jointly with the spouse
4.	Home renovation	Up to 12 times of a member’s monthly wages with dearness allowance, or employee share with interest, or cost, whichever is least	5 years	The home to be renovated should be registered under the member’s name,  spouse’s name, or jointly held with the spouse The facility can be availed twice: a. After 5 years of the completion of the house b. After the 10 years of the completion of the house
5.	Loan repayment	Up to 36 times the monthly wages with dearness allowance, or total employee and employer share with interest, or total outstanding principal and interest of the loan, whichever is least	10 years	i. The loan must be taken from an agency ii. The agency must provide a certificate indicating the outstanding principal and interest
6.	Before retirement	Up to 90% of the accumulated corpus with interest	After an individual reaches 54 years of age and within one year of retirement/superannuation, whichever is later	To cover their financial expenses.
7.	Special Cases: i. Closure of establishment for over 15 days and employees are unemployed without compensation ii. The employee has not received a salary for more than two months continuously	Employee share with interest	N/A	The reason for not receiving compensation can be anything other than a strike

What does Form 31 look like?

Form 31 is a 4-page document that looks like this:

Declaration in Form 31

Form 31 can be considered as proof that the reason for partial withdrawal is well within the specified criteria. The form must be signed by the employee before submission. There are a few fields to be filled by the employer and the EPF Commissioner. You must make sure to fill up the latest and factual information in the form. Also, attach the required documents with the form while submitting.

Form 31 requires you to fill in the following information:

• Member name, father/husband’s name
• Factory/establishment name and address
• PF account number
• Basic wage and dearness allowance
• Full postal address of the member
• Mode of remittance –
  • Account payee cheque (mandatory for site/house flat purchase or construction through agency, or repayment of housing loan)
  • Electronic mode
  • Money order only in the case of a withdrawal amount less than Rs.2,000
• Signature of the member and the employer
• Advance stamped receipt (Re.1 stamp)
• A section of the page to be filled in by the employer
• A section for use in the PF Commissioner’s office

How to download Form 31?

Form 31 is available on the EPFO’s official website. Or, you can download it from here.

How to submit Form 31 offline?

Step 1: Download Form 31 as specified above.

Step 2: Fill up the relevant details in the form.

Step 3: Upon filling, contact your employer and get a certification validating your employment with them. Ask them to fill in the designation, date, and signature fields in the form. Do not miss to get the enclosures attested.

Step 4: Submit the duly filled form to the respective jurisdictional EPFO office.

Documents required to submit Form 31

Purpose of Form 31 Submission	Documents Required
Medical reasons	Certificate by the employer Certificate by the doctor
Purchasing a house	Declaration Registration certificate of the property
Loan repayment	Certificate from the agency stating the outstanding principal and interest
Marriage	Declaration within Form 31
Grant advances in special cases	Certificate from the employer
Physically handicapped	Certificate from the doctor
Withdrawal before retirement	Declaration from the member

How to submit Form 31 online?

Step 1: Visit the official website of EPFO https://unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/.

Step 2: Log in to your account by entering the UAN, password, and captcha, and clicking on ‘Sign in’.

Step 3: Select the option ‘Form-31, 19, 10C & 10D’ under the ‘Online Services’ menu item.

Step 4: An auto-filled form will be displayed. Enter the last four digits of your bank account number and verify it.

Step 5: Click on ‘Yes’ when the ‘Certificate of Undertaking’ pop-up window asks you to agree to the terms and conditions.

Step 6: Select the ‘Proceed for Online Claim’ option and choose the ‘PF Withdrawal’ option from the dropdown menu as shown in the image below.

Step 7: Choose the ‘PF Advance Form’ and enter the details such as the purpose of withdrawal, withdrawal amount, and other relevant details.

Step 8: Click ‘Submit’ to complete the online application process.

How to check Form 31 claim status?

Step 1: Visit the official website of EPFO at https://unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/.

Step 2: Log into your account by entering the UAN, password, and captcha. Click ‘Sign in’.

Step 3: Click on ‘Track Claim Status’ under the ‘Online Services’ menu item.

Step 4: Select your respective PF office location from the dropdown menu.

Step 5: The following screen displays your region code and PF office code.

Step 6: Refer to your payslip and enter the establishment code.

Step 7: Now, enter your 7-digit account number and click ‘Submit’.

Step 8: The status of your claim will be displayed on the screen.

What you should remember while submitting Form 31?

• You have to attach a cancelled cheque with the form as a mandatory step for verifying your bank account details.
• In the case of offline application, certification from the last employer is mandatory.
• Online application is possible only if the member has linked his bank account, Aadhaar, and PAN with UAN.
• It takes about a couple of weeks’ time to process the application and transfer funds.