While most of us know that EPF is an effective tool that helps generate a corpus for life post retirement, many of us are unaware that we can benefit by making a withdrawal from our EPF account for urgent cash requirements.

However, an EPF account cannot be treated like any other saving bank account implying that there are certain specified criteria under which withdrawal is permitted from an EPF account. An individual needs to furnish all relevant documents and satisfy the necessary requirements in order to be eligible for premature withdrawal of Employee Provident Fund.

Here are the categories and other details with respect to premature withdrawal from EPF.

On switching jobs, an employee can apply for transfer of money from the EPF account through a form which is filled by the employee and attested by the designated authority at the employer.

Withdrawal of money from the account in between two jobs is permissible only when a member is in between two jobs or if the member has been unable to find another job for over two months.

Grievance

There is a mechanism to address grievances of EPF members which comes under the Consumer Protection Act. To report a grievance, a member needs to:

* Log on to the website www.epfigms.gov.in.

* Click Register Grievance.

* Enter the details and information in the specified field.

All grievances related to the following subjects can be addressed to the grievance cell:

* Withdrawal or final settlement

* Scheme certificate.

* Transfer of accumulated PF amount.

* Issuance of PF balance or slip

* Return or misplacement of cheque.

* Payment of insurance benefit.

EPF is the corpus that helps build financial stability post retirement. It is, therefore, advisable to leave the amount undisturbed during employment tenure unless the circumstances are unavoidable.