You cannot empty your EPF account while you are still employed. Under the Employees’ Provident Funds Scheme, 2026 — notified as G.S.R. 525(E) on 29 June 2026 — a partial withdrawal must leave a Minimum Balance of 25% of the money standing to your credit (your share, the employer’s share, and interest). The rest is the Eligible Member Balance, roughly 75%. Full, 100% payment is a different paragraph: retirement at 55, disability, emigration, retrenchment, a qualifying VRS, or — if you have simply left a covered job — 12 months without another covered job.
This page is the how-to, not tax advice. We read paragraphs 46, 49 and 54 of the 2026 Scheme, the 4 August 2026 corrigenda (G.S.R. 703(E) — typos, not a rewrite), and the 12 August Lok Sabha reply reported by Business Standard, on 20 August 2026. If a later Gazette or EPFO circular disagrees with a line here, that text wins.
Key facts (as of 20 August 2026)
Law: Employees’ Provident Funds Scheme, 2026, G.S.R. 525(E), 29 June 2026 — replaces the 1952 Scheme under the Code on Social Security, 2020
Partial withdrawal: not less than ₹1,000; must leave the 25% Minimum Balance
What you can take while working: up to 100% of the Eligible Member Balance (that is the 75% slice) after 12 months of membership, by purpose
Illness: no frequency cap in paragraph 46(2)(a)
Education: up to 10 times; marriage: up to 5 times; housing: up to 5 times
Special circumstances: up to twice in a financial year
Full 100%: paragraph 49 — age 55, disability, emigration, retrenchment, qualifying VRS, or 12 months out of a covered job (women resigning to marry: no 12-month wait)
Claim clock in the Scheme: settle a complete claim within 20 days (paragraph 54(7)). Viral “3-day” posts are not that clause
Portals: epfindia.gov.in · Member e-Sewa unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in · UMANG
Can I withdraw 75% of my PF in 2026?
Yes — as a partial withdrawal, not as a blank cheque. Paragraph 46 invents two numbers that aggregators mash together:
Minimum Balance: 25% of the total credited to you (employee + employer + interest) on the date of the claim. That slice must still be in the account after the payment.
Eligible Member Balance: everything else. Paragraph 46 lets you take up to 100% of that amount — which is why people say “75%.”
Worked example. Passbook total ₹4,00,000. Minimum Balance = ₹1,00,000. Eligible Member Balance = ₹3,00,000. An illness, education, marriage, housing or special-circumstances claim can go up to ₹3,00,000. The remaining ₹1,00,000 stays and keeps earning interest until a paragraph-49 full settlement.
The 12-month membership clock is required for those in-service purposes. Illness is no longer a zero-wait exception. Paragraph 46(5) is the narrow extra: if you leave employment before 12 months of membership, you may still take a partial withdrawal, but only up to the Eligible Member Balance. Paragraph 46(6) resets the “how many times” counters from 29 June 2026. A 2019 education advance does not eat the new ten.
The three buckets (and the housing list)
The Scheme collapsed the old 1952 advances into three groups. All pay only the Eligible Member Balance. For a serving member, all sit behind 12 months of membership.
Essential needs — paragraph 46(2). Illness of self or family: up to 100% of the Eligible Member Balance, with no numerical cap on how often. Education of self or family: same amount cap, not more than ten times in the whole membership. Marriage of self or family: same amount cap, not more than five times.
Housing — paragraph 46(3). Purchase of a flat or house; a site to build; construction; repayment of a home loan taken for those; or additions, alterations, renovations or improvements to an existing house or flat. Amount: up to 100% of the Eligible Member Balance. Frequency: not more than five times in the membership.
Special circumstances — paragraph 46(4). Up to 100% of the Eligible Member Balance, not more than twice in a financial year. Still cannot touch the 25% floor. Payment goes to your seeded bank or post-office account (paragraph 48). Nobody is authorised to take an OTP and “UPI the claim” for a cut.
When is 100% allowed?
Paragraph 49, not 46. Full payment is allowed on retirement after 55 (or if you have already left and turn 55 before payment is authorised); on certified permanent and total incapacity; immediately before emigrating or taking a job abroad; on mass or individual retrenchment; or on a mutually agreed VRS. Some factory-closure / transfer cases still carry a two-month wait before the actual payment.
If none of those apply and you have simply left a covered job, paragraph 49(2) still allows a full withdrawal — but only after 12 continuous months without employment in any establishment to which the Code applies. Switching straight to another PF-covered employer does not start that clock. The wait does not apply to a woman member who resigns in order to marry.
“I resigned yesterday, so I get 100% on Monday” is false unless you fit a paragraph-49(1) event. After a normal resignation you can still file a partial claim for the Eligible Member Balance. The 25% floor waits. MoS Shobha Karandlaje told the Lok Sabha in August 2026 that partial rules were liberalised; premature final settlement was not (Business Standard, 12 August).
How to withdraw EPF online
Paragraph 54: claims go on the designated portal — Member e-Sewa from epfindia.gov.in, or UMANG. Lookalike “pf-claim-refund” sites, APKs, and anyone who wants an OTP to “speed up Form 31” are not EPFO.
Confirm KYC on the UAN: Aadhaar, PAN and the bank account you want paid, all verified. A pending KYC is why most claims never leave the first screen.
Sign in to unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in (or UMANG → EPFO). The live menu still often labels a partial claim as PF Advance / Form 31 and a full settlement as Form 19. The 2026 Scheme does not depend on those old numbers — pick the option that matches paragraph 46 or 49.
Verify the last four digits of the registered bank account when asked. Accept the undertaking.
Choose the purpose that matches your case (illness, education, marriage, housing, special circumstances, or final settlement). Enter an amount that does not eat the 25% floor. The portal should refuse an oversize figure; do not try to “round up.”
Submit with the Aadhaar OTP sent to the Aadhaar-linked mobile — not a different WhatsApp SIM.
Save the claim acknowledgement. Track status on the same login. Credit lands in the seeded account, not in UPI.
If the portal is down, paragraph 54 allows a physical claim through the employer, who must forward it in five days. Paragraph 54(7) then gives the Commissioner 20 days from receipt to settle a complete claim, or 20 days to say what is missing. Viral “3-day auto-credit” posts are not that clause. Paragraph 54(6) lets the Board pay some accounts without a claim, subject to a ceiling it sets — the Gazette we opened does not print a rupee figure, so we are not inventing one.
Traps, tax, and what the 25% is for
The floor is a retirement lock. It stays invested until a paragraph-49 event. If you are moving to another covered employer, transfer the UAN; do not settle. Tax is a separate statute: as a rule of thumb, EPF after five years of continuous service is not taxed as salary; earlier withdrawals can attract TDS. That is not advice for your assessment year — see the ITR last date 2026 explainer if a PF credit will show up in AY 2026-27, and confirm on incometax.gov.in. A 1952-era claim already paid is not reopened. File new claims under 2026 rules.
What to do next
Open the e-passbook. Note the total and your membership start date. Multiply the total by 0.25 — that must remain after a partial claim.
Finish Aadhaar–PAN–bank KYC if any line is unverified.
File only on epfindia.gov.in, unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in or UMANG. Screenshot the acknowledgement.
If you left a job and want 100%, count 12 months without a covered employer — unless you fit paragraph 49(1) or the marriage proviso for women.
Related on this desk: the ITR last date 2026 explainer, PM-KISAN status and eKYC if Aadhaar seeding is also blocking a DBT, and RRB JE 2026 (apply until 13 September). This page starts the Money how-to cluster. If EPFO later changes the claim screens, we will update this URL rather than publish a second title.
FAQ
Can I withdraw 75% of my EPF while I am still employed?
Yes, as a paragraph-46 partial withdrawal, after 12 months of membership, for a listed purpose, and only up to the Eligible Member Balance. The 25% Minimum Balance stays.
Can I withdraw 100% of my PF without leaving the job?
No. Full payment is paragraph 49. Age 55, certified incapacity, emigration, retrenchment, a qualifying VRS, or 12 months out of a covered job (with the marriage exception for women) — not a mid-career advance.
I just resigned. When do I get the rest?
You can claim the Eligible Member Balance as a partial withdrawal. The remaining 25% waits until you qualify for full settlement — usually 12 continuous months without a covered job.
Does the 12-month membership wait apply to medical emergencies?
Yes, for a serving member. Paragraph 46(2)(a) requires 12 months’ total membership. Paragraph 46(5) only helps if you have already exited employment before that anniversary.
How long does EPFO take to pay?
Paragraph 54(7): a complete claim is to be settled within 20 days of receipt by the Commissioner. Track it on the same login. We are not printing a 3-day promise the Scheme does not make.
What if Aadhaar KYC is pending?
The live portal will usually not accept the claim. Seed Aadhaar, PAN and the bank account on the UAN first. The OTP goes to the Aadhaar-linked mobile. The 25% floor is not confiscated — it stays in the Fund, earning interest, until a paragraph-49 payment.
Sources
Ministry of Labour and Employment, Employees’ Provident Funds Scheme, 2026, G.S.R. 525(E), 29 June 2026 — paragraphs 46, 48, 49, 54. Gazette ID CG-DL-E-01072026-273957; also listed on Gazette Tracker.
Ministry of Labour and Employment, corrigenda G.S.R. 703(E), 4 August 2026 — typographical; does not rewrite the withdrawal percentages.
EPFO, epfindia.gov.in and Member e-Sewa unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in.
Business Standard, 12 August 2026 — Lok Sabha reply by MoS Shobha Karandlaje on the 75% / 12-month / 36-month EPS distinction.
Last checked: 20 August 2026. This is an explainer of the notified Scheme, not advice to file a particular claim. If a later Gazette, PIB note or EPFO circular disagrees with a number here, that text wins — we will update this page.