An Employees’ Pension Fund (EPF) or Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) is a retirement scheme enfranchised by EPFO for individuals employed in organised sectors. Both the employee and the employer contribute to EPF during an individual’s service period in that specific company using Universal Account Number (UAN).
UAN is a unique number which is assigned to every member of EPFO and comprises 12-digits.
An EPF certificate provides the employment details of an individual – his/her service period and family members who will benefit from this scheme in case of the death of an employee.
When an individual retires from a company, they can either carry forward their EPF to their next company or withdraw the same. However, in case of withdrawal, that person needs to fileEPF Form 10C.
How to Fill 10C Form?
Form 10C can be filed both online and offline. These are the steps needed to follow to file the online form, post visiting the official website of Employees’ Provident Fund –
Step 1 –Scroll down to the Employers Portal tab and click on it.
Step 2 –In the next page, enter your UAN number and password in the Username and password section.
Step 3 –Select the tab “Online Services” from the menu bar at the top.
Step 4 –Click on ‘ClaimForm 10C, 19, and 31’ from the dropdown menu.
Step 5 –Check your employment, KYC, and member details on the next page.
Step 6–Enter the last 4 digits of your registered bank account for verification.
Step 7 –Agree to the terms and conditions of “Certificate of Undertaking”.
Step 8 –Go to the bottom of the next page and click on the “I want to apply for” and select
“Only Pension Withdrawal Form 10C”.
Step 9 –Select the “Get Aadhaar OTP” button after entering your address.
Step 10 –You will receive an OTP which you need to put in your form and click on “Validate OTP and Submit Claim Form”.
After completion of theEPF withdrawal form 10Cfiling process, you will receive an SMS notifying the same. The accumulated amount will be transferred to your registered bank account within a few days.
Benefits of EPF 10C Form
The benefits ofForm 10C are available to three sets of members who fulfil specific eligibility criteria. For member type 1, the eligibility criteria are mentioned as follows–
- An individual resigned from his job before completing 10 years of service.
- An individual turned 58 years, before completing 10 years of service.
The Benefit Available to This Set of Members is –
- He/she can availPFwithdrawal post-filing Form 10Ctheir EPF before permanent retirement.
Eligibility Criteria for Member Type 2 to Apply for Epf Form 10c are
- Individuals who have fulfilled 10 years of service before turning 50 years.
- Individuals who are above 50 years and below 58 years.
Benefits Available to Such a Member Are–
- An individual fulfilling both criteria is entitled to receive a scheme certificate.
- An individual meeting only the ‘b’ criteria can withdraw a reduced pension after filing Form 10D.
The Eligibility Criteria for Member Type 3 is –
- If the individual is a legal heir or nominee of a deceased member, past the age of 58 without completing 10 years of service.
The Benefit to Such Members is –
- The individual can avail withdrawal benefits after filingEPF Form 10C.
If any member has retired service due to some bodily impairment, he/she can also withdraw his EPS under disablement pension after filing Form 10D.
The Scheme Certificate, which will be provided to Member Type 2, also has certain benefits to it. These are –
- It acts as proof of the years of service of an employee.
- The individual can availEPF withdrawal using Form 10Cif that individual is unable to find employment after retiring from their previous job.
- In case, the member dies before 58 years of age, family members or legal nominee of the individual can withdraw the amount from EPS account.
The eligibility criteria of the 3 kinds of members are demonstrated in the following table
| Member 1 | Member 2 | Member 3 |
| Did not complete 10 years of service. | Completed 10 years of service before turning 50 years. | Legal heir or nominee of a deceased member, who was past the age of 58 and could not complete 10 years of service. |
| Turned 58 years before completing 10 years of service | Is above 50 years of age but less than 58 years. |
An individual is not eligible to receive any benefits if he/she is only a member for less than 180 days.
Contents in EPF Form 10C
- Name of the claimant.
- Date of birth
- Father’s name
- Husband’s name (if applicable)
- Address and name of a company where a member was employed before retirement.
- Region code, establishment code of a previous company and an individual’s PF account number.
- Joining date in a previous establishment.
- Reason and date of leaving service.
- Complete Address of a claimant.
- Confirmation whether an applicant will accept a scheme certificate instead of withdrawal benefits.
- Family details of spouse (if any), children (if any), and legal heir or nominee.
- In the case of a deceased member, date of decease and name of an applicant and his/her relationship with the late member.
- Mode of remittance – a. Postal Money Order or b. Cheque or electronic payment.
Attestation Procedures
TheEPF Form 10Cis to be attested by either the employer or both the employers and employees depending on the circ*mstance. The following cases are –
- In case, an individual has applied using a form procured from a centre; it needs to be attested by their employer of the previous establishment.
- If the individual has downloaded theEPF Form 10C online, both the employers and employees need to attest the form.
- In case, the previous establishment is a closed organisation, the following officials can attest the form – Magistrate; Postmaster; Chairman or Secretary of District Local Board; Gazetted Officer; Bank manager pertinent to the individual’s savings account, President of Village Union or Panchayat.
Documents Required
Individuals need to produce the following documents during application –
- Photocopy of a blank or cancelled cheque.
- Birth Certificate of the member’s children (in case of scheme certificate application).
- Death and succession certificate if the legal heir of a deceased member is applying.
- A revenue stamp of Re 1 needs to be pasted with theEPF Form 10C.
EPF is a beneficial scheme for investors who are looking to guaranteed returns. However, the rate of returns in case of such schemes is limited. On the other hand, market-linked investment schemes like Mutual Funds can generate a considerable amount of gains.
Individuals can invest the amount they withdraw from their EPF account into Mutual Funds for higher returns. They can withdraw 75% of the EPS corpus after 1 month of unemployment after filingForm 10C. The rest can be withdrawn after 2 months.
