I’m writing this article to help people with right information to get the PF Withdrawal status, amount and many more things. I know it’s not related to investment or stock market, but it is worth to put this important information on this forum as it’s about getting our own money.
Background:
I know many people who have opted to withdraw their PF amount during their job change. They did so may be because of need for some liquid money. But this withdrawal amount takes years to get credited into their bank account and there’s no clue where to get the status of the claim. This article may help all such individuals.
I would suggest Individuals to be proactive and taking steps forward to get this amount, rather than just wait for employer and PF department to work for you.
Tips and Tricks:
o Don’t forget to check with employer’s account department about your willingness for the PF withdrawal for PF transfer during your exit formalities from the organization. For now we’ll concentrate on the PF withdrawal.
o You’ll get PF withdrawal form – Form -19 and Pension withdrawal form – Form 10C from the employer. Please fill the latest and accurate information about your email id and phone number. Just be aware that PF department has come up with SMS facility where they’ll send you status of your claim through SMS. You need to mention your mobile number at the top of the withdrawal forms). For more information please visit http://www.epfindia.com/docs/SMSAdNew.pdf.
o Mention clear bank account details in the PF withdrawal form. Please provide a clear photocopy of your bank passbook or cancelled cheque of the account where you want your money to be credited.
o Make sure that the mobile number and the account which you’ve provided in the Form-19 are active till you get your claim.
o Employer would submit your claim/Form 19 to the PF department after 60 days from your last working day. Generally they do this in bulk when there’s some good amount of PF withdrawal form to be submitted to the PF department. So it would take 90-120 days for your claim to be submitted with PF department. It may vary if employer is using third party to manage all this activity. In that case it would take much longer time. Now here’s the time where you need to be proactive and follow-up with Finance/HR department of your previous employer and asking for submission at the earliest. Don’t forget to ask them to provide duly signed copy of the withdrawal form from PF department. Even scanned copy should be fine. This would vouch the exact date on which you claim has been submitted to the PF department.
o PF department has started online facility to know the claim status of your PF withdrawal. You need to select the office and mention the PF account number to know the status. http://www.epfindia.com/ClaimStatus_New.html. I would request you to wait for at least 15 days from the date your claim is submitted to the PF department and then check the status of your claim.
o In case you don’t find your claim status on the central portal then you can check your claim at the regional site. You can get sites about different regional PF offices from http://www.epfindia.com/RegSites.html
o Generally it takes 30-60 days for the PF department to process your claim. If you don’t find status of your claim on any of the portal then do submit your grievance at the portal. http://epfigms.gov.in/. This is really effective and I’ve personally resolved my claim using the portal. You’ll definitely get reply using this forum. Now with the awareness of this system many people are using this forum so you may need to send reminder for your grievance and you’ll definitely get the response.
o One you submit your grievance you’ll get the contact person details for your grievance along with email id and contact number. You may need to call and drop email to check the status of your grievance. Resolution to your grievance in turn will resolve your PF claim as well. You can check the status of your grievance on the same portal http://epfigms.gov.in/. You can get the additional contact numbers of PF department from your previous employer as well.
Things to Remember:
o You’ll be receiving two different amounts in your account. One is for your PF withdrawal and one is for Pension contribution. Make sure that you’ve received both of these.
o Now you need to compare these amounts with the contribution which you’ve made for your PF with previous employer. Ask for Form 3-A from your previous employer. It should have all the information about the contribution made towards the PF. You need to compare PF amount which you’ve received to the combined contribution which you and employer made toward PF. You need to compare pension amount with the 8.33% contribution which your previous employer made towards pension scheme. This should be clearly mentioned in form 3-A.
o You will get Form 23 (Annual PF Statement) from the RPFC which you can verify against the claim credited in your account. You would receive to the address which you’ve mentioned in your withdrawal form. In case you need scanned copy then you can use the same forum of grievance.
