EPFO: What can a nominee do if the PF member dies?

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) provides social security to all its members. The EPF savings enables account holders to build a corpus fund for their retirement. A certain amount of a worker's basic salary and dearness allowance (12 per cent) is contributed each month by the employee and an equal amount is deposited by the employer.

The current interest rate on the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) is 8.15 per cent.

The EPFO has made it mandatory for account holders to designate a nominee. In case of the account holder's untimely demise, the nominee will be entitled to their accumulated Provident Fund corpus.

There is a certain process that needs to be followed by the nominee in case of the EPF account holder's death.

Here is a step-by-step process of what the nominee needs to do in case the PF member dies.

EPF withdrawal by nominee

Step 1: Fill out EPF Form 20 with the details of the nominee and the deceased PF member.

Step 2: Submit the form through the last employer of the PF member. In case the form is downloaded from the EPFO website, all pages should be signed by the employer and the nominee.

Step 3: After submission of the application, the EPFO will send SMS updates to the claimant regarding the processing status of Form 20. The nominee will get the money after the claim is approved.

The payment will be deposited directly in the bank account mentioned by the claimant. The nominee must attach a copy of a bank passbook or cancelled cheque where the account number and IFSC code are clearly visible in case of NEFT payment. The PF corpus will be transferred via a money order only if the amount is less than Rs 2,000.

What happens if no nominee is designated by an EPF account holder?

If no nominee has been chosen, the corpus is given to the family members. If the member has no family, the amount will be transferred to the person legally entitled to it.

What documents does a nominee require to claim PF amount?

•        Form 20.

•        A cancelled cheque.

•        Death certificate.

•        Guardianship certificate.

•        Form 5(IF) for claiming Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme benefits.

•        Form 10C for withdrawal benefit, if the PF member has died before reaching 58 years of age and had not completed 10 years of service on reaching the age.

•        Form 10D for claiming pension benefit in case the nominee is spouse/child below 25 years on the date of the PF member’s death, dependent parent or the individual was nominated by the accountholder to receive the corpus.