Employees' Provident Fund (EPF)
Written in plain language to promote general understanding. This is educational information, not legal advice. Based on Indian central (Union) law — Constitution of India, central Acts of Parliament, and Supreme Court decisions.
Indian Central Law
What is this right?
The EPF is India's mandatory retirement savings scheme for employees in the organised sector.
- Mandatory for establishments with 20 or more employees (and may voluntarily cover smaller ones).
- Contribution rate: Both employer and employee contribute 12% of basic wages + dearness allowance each month. The employee's entire 12% goes to EPF; the employer's 12% is split — 3.67% to EPF and 8.33% to the Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS).
- Employees earning basic wages up to ₹15,000/month are mandatorily enrolled; those above can opt in voluntarily.
- Interest on EPF accumulations is credited annually at a rate declared by the EPFO (recently ~8.15% p.a.).
- The EDLI scheme provides a lump-sum death benefit to the nominee of a deceased member.
When does it apply?
- You are employed in a covered establishment (20+ employees) and your basic wages are up to ₹15,000/month (mandatory enrollment).
- You wish to withdraw EPF on retirement, resignation (after 2 months of unemployment), or for specific purposes (housing, medical emergency, marriage, education) via partial withdrawal.
- Your employer has not been depositing EPF contributions deducted from your salary.
What should you do?
- Check your UAN (Universal Account Number): Activate it on the EPFO Member Portal (epfindia.gov.in) and verify monthly contributions via your passbook.
- If your employer is not depositing contributions, file a grievance on the EPFiGMS portal (epfigms.gov.in) or approach the Regional PF Commissioner — unpaid contributions carry penalties and interest against the employer.
- For partial withdrawals (housing, medical, education), submit a Composite Claim Form online through the EPFO Member Portal or physically to your EPFO office.
- On retirement or after 2 months of unemployment, you can withdraw the full EPF corpus using the Composite Claim Form (Aadhar-seeded UAN allows online withdrawal without employer attestation).
What should you NOT do?
- Do not withdraw EPF before retirement if avoidable — premature withdrawal forfeits pension benefits under EPS for that period of service.
- Do not ignore mismatches in your EPF passbook — discrepancies indicate possible employer non-deposit, which is a criminal offence under the EPF Act.
- Do not let your UAN lapse unlinked from your Aadhaar — this can block online withdrawals and transfers.
- Do not allow multiple EPF accounts to remain unmerged when switching jobs — always transfer your old PF to the new employer's account via the EPFO portal.
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