Employees Provident Fund Organisation is gearing up to roll out a new withdrawal facility. Through this, the EPFO will be enabling subscribers to withdraw their provident fund in real time using UPI. According to a CNBC-TV18 report, government sources said this functionality is being worked upon for an imminent release.
Additionally, the labour ministry is working on a system through which people can withdraw upto 75 per cent of the available EPF balance instantly through UPI. This service will be rolled out for use through a new mobile application as well as a dedicated window on the EPFO portal. The tentative timeline for the launch of this application is said to be April.
What is the current EPF withdrawal rule?
According to EPFO, the current EPF rules state that subscribers can withdraw upto 75 per cent of the available balance immediately.
whereas for people wanting to withdraw upto 100 per cent of their pension fund will only be allowed if the person has been unemployed for a year.
How to withdraw the complete pension fund?
To initiate a transaction, the member will have to select a reason for withdrawal (such as illness, education, marriage, or housing), after which the eligible amount will be transferred directly to the savings bank account linked with their PF account.
The transaction will be authenticated using the subscriber’s linked UPI PIN, and the entire transfer will be routed through the UPI payment gateway, enabling near-instant settlement.
What is the status of the EPF withdrawal app currently?
EPFO is currently testing the system using around 100 dummy accounts to identify technical glitches and improve system stability before the public rollout.
Existing access points, the UAN portal and the UMANG app will continue to operate as usual. The new app is meant to supplement, not replace, these platforms.
Besides withdrawals, the app and portal window will also allow members to check their EPF passbook balance and access other account-related services.