The Ministry of Labour and Employment, under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), introduced a special withdrawal provision to meet the financial need of members during the pandemic.
The member employee can withdraw a non-refundable second advance (need not deposit the withdrawn money back to his/her PF account) to the maximum extent of basic wages and dearness allowance of three months or up to 75% of the amount standing to member’s credit in the EPF account, whichever is less.
Members can apply for less advance amount also. The members who have already availed the first COVID 19 advance can also opt for the second advance.
As the second wave of COVID 19 pandemic, and the spread of black fungus (mucormycosis) epidemic affecting the public at large, EPFO has stepped forward once again to lend a helping hand to its members to meet their financial needs. (Press Release of the Ministry of Labour & Employment dated 31 May 2021).
The applicant member should have the Universal Account Number (UAN) issued by the EPFO.
The Aadhar, Permanent Account Number (PAN) and the Bank Account should be linked with the UAN of the applicant.
The member employee can submit an application as a hard copy or online through the Advance Claim Form 31.
While submitting online, there will be verification of the applicant’s bank account number (last 4 digits). The applicant has to provide the reason for advance along with the address, scanned copy of the bank cheque and request for Aadhar OTP to verify and submit the application.
The urgency of the situation is taken into consideration and the COVID 19 advance claims will be settled within 3 days of their receipt by the EPFO.
The EPFO has deployed a system driven auto-claim settlement process in respect of all such members whose KYC requirements is complete in all respects. Auto-mode settlements enables EPFO to reduce the claim settlement cycle to just 3 days.