EPFO subscribers may soon be able to access their provident fund savings more easily, as the retirement body is allowing subscribers to transfer funds directly to their bank accounts through the UPI payment gateway. The move will reduce paperwork and significantly cut waiting time.
However, many members are still unclear about one key question — how much money can actually be withdrawn from the EPF account, and whether subscribers are allowed to withdraw the entire balance. Here’s a closer look at the rules governing EPF withdrawals.
What is EPFO 3.0?
EPFO 3.0 is a major digital upgrade initiative by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) that will enable subscribers to withdraw or transfer their Provident Fund (PF) money instantly in a paperless manner.
The new system will eliminate processing delays by allowing subscribers to access and transfer their provident fund savings directly through and UPI-enabled ATMs.
How much can you withdraw from your EPFO account?
Under EPFO 3.0, subscribers may be able to withdraw 50% to 75% of their EPF balance via UPI or UPI-enabled ATMs, depending on applicable conditions. The exact rules and limits include:
- Maximum withdrawal limit: You are typically allowed to withdraw between 50% and 75% of your total EPF corpus.
- Mandatory retention limit: At least 25% of your total EPF contribution must remain in the account as a mandatory buffer at all times.
- Auto-settlement limit: The auto-settlement limit has been raised to ₹5 lakh from the existing ₹1 lakh. This increase in the limit will allow many EPFO members to access their EPF funds within three days for needs such as medical treatment, education, marriage or buying and building a house.
EPFO 3.0 launch date
Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, earlier this month, informed that testing of the facility has been completed and the service is expected to be rolled out soon.
However, he did not provide any exact date.
“We have completed the testing of the facility where members can withdraw EPF (employees’ provident fund) through the use of the UPI payment gateway. The withdrawn amount will be directly transferred into the bank account of the member,” Mandaviya said.
How EPFO withdrawal will work
- Subscribers will be able to see the eligible EPF balance available to transfer into their seeded bank accounts.
- They will be allowed to use their linked UPI pin for completing the transaction to ensure a secure transfer of money into their bank accounts.
- Once the money is transferred into bank accounts, members can use it as they wish, such as making payments electronically or withdrawing cash at bank ATMs with debit cards.
The EPFO has more than seven crore members.