EPF Advance Withdrawal: How to Use Form 31 Online

Suresh Yadav, a factory worker in Faridabad, needed money fast for his father's hospital treatment. He did not have to quit his job or wait for retirement. He logged in to the EPFO member portal, filed Form 31, and claimed a non-refundable medical advance from his own PF account. The cash reached his bank in a few working days.

Short on time? Jump to the step-by-step on filing Form 31 online below, then check the limit for your purpose in the table.

An EPF advance is a partial withdrawal from your Provident Fund while you are still working. You do not pay it back. This is different from a final settlement (Form 19), which closes the account when you leave service, and different from just checking your balance.

Form 31 is the form used to claim an advance. The Employees Provident Fund Scheme, 1952 sets out the allowed reasons, the minimum service for some of them, and how much you can take. You file it yourself online. No employer signature is needed for most online claims once your KYC is approved.

If you only want to see your corpus before deciding, use the EPF balance check guide first.

You can file the advance claim online when all of these are true:

• Your UAN (Universal Account Number) is activated.
• Your Aadhaar is linked to the UAN and shows as verified.
• Your bank account number and IFSC are seeded in your KYC and approved by the employer.
• Your mobile number is linked to the UAN for the OTP.

If any KYC field is missing or unverified, the portal will block the claim. Fix the KYC first, then file.

These rules come from the official EPFO Form 31 guidance under the EPF Scheme, 1952. Limits are the lowest of the options listed, so the actual payout is often less than the headline figure.

Notes on the table:

• Medical (68J): no minimum service. You can claim it more than once. A medical certificate (Certificate C) is part of the form.
• Housing (68B): you need 5 years of membership. The withdrawal is allowed once for purchase or construction.
• Marriage and education (68K): you need 7 years of membership. You can claim up to 3 times in total across all these purposes.
• Pre-retirement (68NN): allowed after you turn 54, within one year of retirement, up to 90% of the balance.
• Unemployment (68H): a partial advance is allowed during a lockout, closure, or when wages are unpaid for over 2 months. The exact share depends on the case.

Discontinued: the special COVID-19 non-refundable advance is no longer available. Do not rely on any guide that still lists it as a current option.

Heads up on upcoming reform: In October 2025 the EPFO Central Board of Trustees approved a plan to merge the many advance grounds into three broad categories (essential needs, housing, and special circumstances) with a single 12-month minimum service and a minimum balance to be kept in the account. These changes apply only once they are formally notified and live on the portal. Until then, the para-based rules above are what the EPFO Form 31 guidance still uses. Verify the current rule on the portal before you file.

1. Go to the EPFO member portal at unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in and log in with your UAN and password.
2. Open the Online Services menu and choose Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C and 10D).
3. Confirm the last 4 digits of the bank account seeded in your KYC and click Verify.
4. Accept the Certificate of Undertaking when prompted.
5. Choose Proceed for Online Claim, then in the claim type dropdown select PF Advance (Form 31).
6. Select your purpose of advance (illness, housing, marriage, education, and so on).
7. Enter the amount you want and your address. Upload any document the purpose needs, such as the medical certificate.
8. Tick the certificate, get the Aadhaar OTP on your linked mobile, enter it, and submit.

Keep the claim reference number. You can track the claim status in the same portal or on the UMANG app.

Advance claims are usually settled within a few working days to about 20 days once KYC is clean and the claim is complete. Treat this as a general range, not a guaranteed date.

A genuine advance for a permitted purpose, such as a medical advance, is not treated as a taxable withdrawal. TDS rules are different for a final withdrawal made before 5 years of continuous service, which can attract tax. If your case is borderline, confirm with the EPFO office or a tax adviser before you file.

• Filing before your Aadhaar or bank KYC is verified. The claim will fail.
• Claiming a housing or marriage advance before you cross the 5 or 7 year membership mark.
• Entering an amount above the limit for your purpose. The system trims it to the admissible figure.
• Forgetting the required certificate (for example, the medical certificate for a 68J claim).
• Mixing up an advance (Form 31) with a final settlement (Form 19).

Suresh Yadav had 4 years of EPF membership when his father fell ill. Housing (5 years) and marriage (7 years) advances were out of reach for him. But the medical advance under Para 68J has no minimum service, so he qualified. He filed Form 31 online, chose illness as the purpose, uploaded the certificate, and received the lower of 6 months wages or his employee share. The money arrived in his seeded bank account within a week.

If your advance claim is stuck, marked under process for weeks, or rejected without a clear reason, you can use the Right to Information Act, 2005 to get answers. EPFO regional offices are public authorities under the RTI Act, 2005.

File an RTI with the Public Information Officer of your regional EPFO office. A sample line:

“Please provide the current status of my PF advance claim under reference number [your claim ID], the reason for any delay or rejection, the name and designation of the official handling it, and the date by which it will be settled.”

The PIO must reply within 30 days. If the reply is missing or evasive, file a first appeal within 30 days of the deadline.

Need help drafting these? Use the AI RTI Drafter to write the application, the First Appeal Builder if the deadline passes, and the PIO Reply Checker to test whether the reply you got is complete.

For a deeper walk-through of RTI tactics, see The RTI Playbook.

• Log in to the EPFO portal and check that your Aadhaar and bank KYC show as verified.
• Note which advance purpose fits your need and confirm you meet the service requirement.
• If KYC is clean, file Form 31 online and save the claim reference number.
• If a past claim is stuck, draft an RTI to the EPFO PIO with the AI RTI Drafter.

No. An advance is a partial, non-refundable withdrawal while you are still employed, claimed through Form 31. A full withdrawal happens when you leave service and is claimed through Form 19. The two have different forms and different rules.

For most online claims, no separate employer signature is needed at the time of the claim, as long as your KYC (Aadhaar, bank, PAN) is already verified and approved by the employer. If KYC is incomplete, get it fixed first.

For illness under Para 68J, you can take the lower of 6 months of your basic wages plus DA, or your employee share with interest. There is no minimum service requirement, and you can claim a medical advance more than once.

You need at least 5 years of EPF membership to claim a housing advance under Para 68B for buying a plot, or buying or building a house. The amount is the lowest of the wage-based multiple, your combined share with interest, or the actual cost.

Yes, under Para 68K, after 7 years of membership. You can take up to 50% of your employee share with interest. This applies to your own marriage or that of your son, daughter, brother, or sister, and to post-matriculation education of your children. It is allowed up to 3 times in total.

No. The special COVID-19 non-refundable advance was a temporary measure and has been discontinued. Use one of the standard advance purposes under Form 31 instead.

Usually a few working days up to about 20 days, provided your KYC is verified and the claim and documents are complete. Track the status with your claim reference number on the EPFO portal or the UMANG app.

A genuine advance for a permitted purpose, such as medical treatment, is generally not taxed. Tax and TDS rules are different for a final withdrawal made before 5 years of continuous service. Check your specific case with the EPFO office or a tax adviser.

File an RTI with the Public Information Officer of your regional EPFO office asking for the claim status, the reason for delay or rejection, and a settlement date. The reply is due in 30 days. If there is no reply, file a first appeal within 30 days of that deadline.

• EPFO, Instructions and Guidelines for the Advances to be Claimed through Form 31, epfindia.gov.in (TypesOfAdvances_Form31.pdf).
• The Employees Provident Funds Scheme, 1952, Paras 68B, 68H, 68J, 68K, 68NN.
• EPFO Unified Member Portal, unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in, Online Services, Claim (Form-31, 19, 10C and 10D).
• Ministry of Labour and Employment / EPFO Central Board of Trustees decision, October 2025 (approved, pending notification at the time of writing).

• How to check your EPF balance
• AI RTI Drafter
• First Appeal Builder
• AwaazRTI voice complaint tool

Reviewed by Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak. Last reviewed: June 2026.