How To Withdraw Pension Contribution In EPF?

If you have an active Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) account, you and your employer contribute a specific amount to your EPF account. It is one of the financial tools that help accumulate a sufficient corpus for one's post-retirement years. 

After retirement, the employee can withdraw the entire sum, or he/she can make premature withdrawals from the EPF account after meeting certain conditions before retirement. So, if you are wondering how to withdraw pension contributions in EPF, read this article. 

What Is the Employee Pension Scheme (EPS)?

Employee Pension Scheme (EPS) came into effect in 1995 under the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for the convenience of employees working under companies and organisations. Employees who come under this scheme are entitled to an employee pension scheme. 

You and your employer will contribute 12% each to the EPF account. Out of the employer's 12% contribution, 8.33% (up to a limit of Rs.15,000) will go to the EPS, while the remaining amount will go to the EPF. EPF is mandatory for all individuals with a monthly income below Rs.15,000.

When Can You Withdraw Your EPS Pension Contribution?

As per the EPF Act, any individual who retires after completing his/her service can get the pension amount by following proper procedure. However, one must meet the criteria or conditions listed below to withdraw the EPFO pension:

• You can take your pension home early if you have worked for ten years and reached 50 years. However, in that circumstance, you will only receive a reduced pension. The rate of pension decreases by 4% every year till you reach the age of 50.
• You can withdraw your pension contribution without any hitch when you have served for less than ten years but more than six months. However, you can withdraw it after being unemployed for approximately two months.
• In some circumstances, many individuals have reached the retirement age of 58 but have not served for ten years or more. Such instances generally happen if one has joined the organised sector after age 48. In such cases, employees are not eligible for a monthly pension. Although you will not receive payments monthly, you can still withdraw the entire amount from your EPS account in a single payment.

Documents Required for EPF Pension Withdrawal

Here is the list of documents you will need to withdraw the pension contribution:

• Address proof
• Bank account statement
• 2 revenue stamps 
• Identity proof

Eligibility Criteria to Withdraw a Contribution from EPF

To withdraw the pension portion of your EPF account, you need to meet one of the following criteria:

• You have completed at least 10 years of eligible service and are 50 years or older (early pension withdrawal with reduced benefits).
• You have worked for more than 6 months but less than 10 years, and have been unemployed for 2 months or more.
• You have reached 58 years of age, but did not complete 10 years of service, making you eligible to withdraw the full EPS amount.

EPF Withdrawal Limits

There are certain limitations if you want to take money out of your EPF account before your retirement. You have the eligibility to withdraw contributions from EPF in certain situations: 

How to Withdraw EPS Pension Contribution

You can withdraw EPS through both online and offline modes.

EPS Pension Withdrawal Online:

It does not involve any complicated procedure. However, for the online process, it is mandatory to link your Aadhaar with your UAN. 

Step 1: Visit the Unified Member Sewa portal. Log in with your UAN and password.

Step 2: Go to ‘Online Services’ and click on ‘Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C & 10D)’.

Step 3: Confirm your member and KYC details. Enter your bank account number and click ‘Verify’.

Step 4: Select the claim type as ‘Withdraw Pension Only’.

Step 5: Under ‘I want to apply for’, select ‘Only Pension Withdrawal (Form 10C)’.

Step 6: Enter your permanent address, tick the disclaimer, and click ‘Get Aadhaar OTP’.

Step 7: Enter the OTP sent to your Aadhaar-linked mobile, validate, and click ‘Submit Claim Form’.

Step 8: You will get an SMS confirmation. The EPS amount will be credited to your savings account after claim approval.

An SMS notification will be sent to the registered mobile after successfully submitting Form 10C. The pension claim will be submitted with Form 10C, and the EPS pension amount gets transferred to the savings bank account. 

EPS Pension Withdrawal Offline:

Step 1: Download the composite claim form (Aadhaar or non-Aadhaar version) from the EPFO website.

Step 2: If using the Aadhaar-based form, make sure your Aadhaar and bank account are linked.

Step 3: Fill out the form with accurate bank details and personal info.

Step 4: Submit the completed form to your jurisdictional EPF office for processing.

EPF Pension Withdrawal Rules

Here are the key withdrawal rules for the pension (EPS) part of your EPF:

• If your service is less than 6 months, no pension amount can be withdrawn.
• If your service is 6 months to less than 10 years, you can withdraw the EPS amount as a lump sum, using Form 10C.
• If you complete 10 years of service, you are not allowed to withdraw the pension fund—you can only get a monthly pension starting from age 58.
• For monthly pension, you must submit Form 10D.
• If you’ve completed 10 years but want to claim a reduced pension at 50, you still need to submit Form 10D.

Conclusion

EPF is an excellent option to save money for the future. Additionally, you can save taxes on the interest you earn with this scheme.