The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) may make a big change in the rules for withdrawing money from accounts. A report claims that the retirement fund body has presented a proposal, which says that EPFO members should be allowed to withdraw their entire amount or part of it once every 10 years.
If this proposal is passed, it will provide relief to more than 7 crore active EPFO members working in the organized private sector. Moneycontrol’s report says that the central government is considering easing the rules for withdrawal of money by members after completing 10 years of service.
This is being considered keeping in mind those people who want to retire early. In such a situation, instead of waiting till 58 years, they can claim the entire PF amount as soon as they retire.
Why is this change necessary?
Till now, the entire amount could be withdrawn from EPF only when an employee retires at the age of 58 years or remains unemployed even two months after leaving the job. But there are many people who want to change their career at the age of 35 to 40 years or are unable to do a regular job due to some reason. In such a situation, this change will be very helpful for them.
EPFO made these changes
- There will be a facility to withdraw up to Rs 1 lakh instantly from EPF account through UPI or ATM. This will make it easier to withdraw money in an emergency.
- Earlier, claims up to Rs 1 lakh were settled automatically, but now this limit has been increased to Rs 5 lakh. Verification will not be required for this.
- To simplify the process, EPFO has reduced the number of documents required for claim verification from 27 to 18. Due to this, this process is now completed in 3-4 days.
- Now 90% amount can be withdrawn from PF account, if 3 years of service is completed and that money is to be used for down payment or EMI of house.
It is worth noting that the government keeps making changes from time to time regarding withdrawal from EPF account, so that the private sector employees get a simpler process. These changes have also been made so that employees can use their money without any hassle in times of emergency. Let us tell you that 12 percent contribution in the PF account is given by the employee and 12 percent contribution is given by the employer.
