New Delhi: In order to offer some relief to people in the midst of the pandemic, the Employee Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) allows its members to withdraw up to Rs 1 lakh as a medical advance against their investment in the state fund for emergency illness, hospitalization.

If you are an EPF subscriber, you can also take up to Rs 1 lakh in advance for the treatment of any life-threatening illness, including Covid-19. You do not have to submit an estimate of hospitalization costs to the EPF office for the withdrawal of your advances.

How to request the medical advance:

1. Visit the official EPFO ​​portal: https://unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/
2. Log into your account by entering your UAN, password and captcha information.
3. Go to the “Online Services” tab and click on the “Complaint (Form-31, 19, 10C and 10D)” option.
4. On the new page, verify your bank details linked to UAN.
5. After checking the bank details, accept the general conditions of EPFO ​​after reading carefully.
6. Press “Submit a claim online” and among the withdrawal request options, select “Medical emergency”. Only eligible members will be able to see the option.

The medical advance will be provided to the patient’s employee or family member by following these steps:

• The patient should be admitted to a government hospital / public sector unit (PSU) / CGHS for treatment. If he has been admitted to a private hospital due to an emergency, the competent authority will examine the case and only then a medical advance will be given.
• The employee or a family member will need to submit a letter of request with details of the hospital and patient. The letter must state that the estimate is not known, thus, a medical advance must be given.
• A medical advance of up to Rs 1 lakh will be granted for the treatment of the employee or for depositing the advance with the hospital for the start of treatment.
• This medical advance must be granted immediately, preferably on the same day if it is a working day if not the working day immediately following receipt of the request for the advance. The grant should be awarded without requiring the estimate of expenses from the hospital / other documents.
• An additional advance may be granted if the withdrawal rules of EPFO ​​allow it. However, such an advance will only be issued after receipt of the quote for further treatment but before the patient is discharged from the hospital. However, the additional advance will be reduced by the amount previously sanctioned.
• The amount of the medical advance can either be credited to the employee’s salary account or be paid to the relevant hospital at the request of a family member.

After discharge from hospital:

An employee will be required to submit medical bills within 45 days of the date of their leave. The amount of the medical advance will be adjusted from the final hospital bill according to the EPF withdrawal rules. Depending on the amount to which an EPF member is entitled, the adjustment of the medical bill or the recovery of the advance must be done when processing the employee’s medical bills.

Remember that there are certain conditions that must be met in order to be able to withdraw money from your EPF account. In accordance with the rules of the EPF scheme, money for a medical emergency can be withdrawn for the treatment of specific procedures of oneself and members of one’s family.

The money that can be withdrawn is the lesser of the following:
a) 6 months of base salary and cost allowance of the member or
b) Member’s contribution with interest

The money can be withdrawn at any time after joining the EPF program. EPFO members can withdraw an additional advance by sharing the receipt of the quote for treatment before the patient is discharged. EPF members can collect the amount of the medical advance directly on their own account or on that of the hospital.