EPF 5 years continue service condition for withdrawal

Dear Community,

I have a situation where I worked for two companies. The first company from April 14 to May 18 for 4.1 years, and the second company from May 18 to Feb 19 for 9 months, hence my total service as an employee is 4.10 years. Now, I don't contribute to the EPFO and am working as a freelancer. I have a query regarding my PF. Let's say, for the time being, I am not contributing to the EPFO and also do not wish to withdraw the amount now, as I expect to join a new company 6 months later (by Aug '19). So, if I join a company again in Aug '19 and start contributing to the EPFO, will my EPFO duration be continued with the previous total of 4.10 years? If not, do I only have the choice of withdrawal with 10% TDS before completing 5 years of service?

EPS: Also, please suggest what will happen to my EPS in the same scenario and what I need to do.

Please note that my PF amount is more than 50000 and my recent company had a PF trust.

Thank you for your help.

Dear Friend,

Two companies with different employment durations will consider a break in employment as not being part of the continuation, and the same condition applies for EPS as well. You may withdraw your EPF, or you may transfer it, but since you mentioned that your recent company is under a trust, transferring the EPF may cause difficulties.

Thank you.

Dear Ravi,

I have already transferred the PF amount from the 1st company to the 2nd company. After accumulating service from both companies, it amounts to 4.10 years of continuous service. Yes, my second company is a trust, but I don't see any issues in the withdrawal process. The query is, if I don't withdraw and join a 3rd company after six months or more with no contribution to EPFO, will my service for the 3rd company be added to the continuation of the previous 4.10 years or not? I hope I have clarified. Please mention if anything is not clear, and I'll try to elaborate wherever possible.

Hi,

Yes, it will be considered as continuity of service provided if you use the same UAN number for the third company as well, which was used in the past two companies. If you are using the same UAN number, you can transfer your PF by yourself in your UAN login. The only thing is that you need to submit your old UAN and request to continue under the same UAN.

EPF (a/c 01) can be claimed under certain conditions, but EPS cannot be claimed unless the employee attains the age of 58+. Exemptions are applicable for leaving India permanently or in the event of death. An additional exemption for female employees is marriage, along with their undertaking not to work in the future.

Steps have been implemented to avoid duplication of UAN and to prevent the generation of short-term contribution accounts. An Aadhar-verified UAN is the only account that will continue for the entire duration of the employee's tenure. Ensure your UAN is KYC compliant first, and then you will be in a position to avail the benefits.