Form 19 – PF Settlement Form

Nowadays, the withdrawal of the Employee Provident (EPF) has been a recent addition to the facilities that can be availed online. Many of the financial transactions are being conducted online which means that now the EPF members do not have to struggle to wait and visit their employer or the EPFO Staff. The claim can be settled within a few hours. About 85% of the EPFO’s workload is due to the claims processing which is now covered in the online EPF withdrawal.

In this article, we will be talking about the PF settlement form (Form 19) and the documents required.

If a person is a part of the EPFO Family then, then he/she has to fill in and submit the Form 19 for the final settlement of the Provident dues. Form 19 should be filled in by the member with detailed and correct information. It should also be attested by the employer for a hassle-free and a quick settlement.

Employee’s Provident Fund Account Settlement

For the settlement of the Provident Fund, the member has to fill in and submit the Form 19. The Form 19 can be easily obtained by downloading it from the Official website/portal- www.epfindia.com

The member has to fill in the required details before submitting this form to the previous employer. In many cases, the salaried persons do not remember their EPF account numbers, in such cases, they can make an official request to the human resource development of their companies and they will establish a contact with the ex-employer of their employers. The members can make their contact with their ex-employers and can obtain the required information.

In some cases, it has been seen that the ex-employees may shut up the shops or while there have been cases where the salaried employers have to quit their establishment under certain unfavorable circumstances. This can be difficult to make any contacts with the previous employers.

The members can fill in the PF Settlement Form (Form 19) along with the required details. The form has to get attested by the Bank manager where they have their EPF Account. The members have to provide their personal details along with the Proof of Identity. The Form 19 has to be submitted to the Regional Provident Fund Manager for the approval and seal of authentication details.

What does Form 19 entail?

The PF Settlement form allows the member to withdraw the provident fund balance. This can be in cases such as after the job retirement, quitting of the job or superannuation etc. Form 19 requires the following to get filled by the user.

• Name of the member – This section should be filled with capital letters. It is to be noted that the name in the application form, bank account, and the claim form should not differ
• Father’s Name – should be filled in legible capital letters. The name should not differ in the application form, bank account, and the claim form.
• Date of Birth
• Name and complete address of the establishment/factory (including the Pin Code).
• Provident Fund Account Number (Format: State/Office/Establishment Code/Account Number). The allotment number remains the same until the user/applicant does not quit the factory/establishment and transfers the fund to the new employer.
• Universal Account Number
• Joining Date (establishment)
• Date of Leaving Service
• Reason for leaving the service. This can be in cases such as Voluntary Retirement Scheme, Disability, Migrating Abroad (permanently), retrenched, resigning (claim should be submitted after two months of leaving service, The women who are leaving the service because of marriage will be given immediate settlement), the service terminated due to the ill-health of the member, discontinuation of the business of the employer or any other factor beyond the member’s control.
• Permanent Account Number(PAN)
• Copies of Form No. 15G/15H
• Complete address of the member (house number, street name, block, city and Pin Code)
• Payment Mode (for the accumulations below Rs 2000, payment is made through the money order and while for the amounts above Rs 2000 the payment is done through cheque).
• Savings Bank Account Number, Bank Name, Address in addition to the IFSC Code. It is important to note that the account payee cheque is sent to the scheduled bank which maintains the savings bank account of the member. Therefore, the full address of the bank branch should be mentioned.
• Signature of the member
• Advanced stamped Receipt (in case the payments are made through cheque, the receipt must be signed by the member. A one rupee revenue stamp is also affixed by the member and the amount will be filled by the OIC at the office of EPFO).
• The contribution for the current financial year (the information includes the contribution along with the wages). In an alternate Form, 3A is also furnished with an attestation by the employer.
• The signature of the employer along with the seal of the employer. If in case the factory/establishment has been shut down, the attestation can be done from any of the Officials listed down below:

1. Sub-Postmaster
2. Gazetted Officer
3. Bank Manager
4. Magistrate
5. Chairman of Municipal Body
6. Head of the Village Panchayat
7. Head of an Educational Institution (recognized)
8. Central Board of Trustees
9. Member of the Parliament/ Legislative Assembly
10. Liquidator (appointed by the Court)